MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (original) (raw)
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Autobiography She Wrote: Agatha Christie and the Problem of Female Authorship
2020
Best known for being a best-selling author of mystery and detective fiction, little attention has been paid to the six non-mystery novels Agatha Christie wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Moreover, other than in biographical studies, scant critical attention exists surrounding her autobiography. Taking these seven overlooked texts into consideration, this thesis seeks to build on current Christie scholarship by looking at Christie's commercially constructed authorial persona and looking at the ways in which the Mary Westmacott novels can be read as a form of alternative biography. By offering a close reading of both Christie's autobiography, the work of her main biographers, and each of the six novels, I will identify the larger feminist implications of Christie's relationship to, and portrayal of, the role that marriage and motherhood play in the 20 th century British woman's life. The thesis will conclude with a consideration of Christie's traditional detective fiction through the lens of the Westmacott novels. Although my argument will remain unable to perform a full rehabilitation of Christie as a radical feminist, it will attempt to highlight the moments of feminist potential that are often overlooked by many Christie scholars as well as by modern portraits of the author.
Crime and punishment: Re-reading Agatha Christie’s novel murder on the orient express
International Journal of Advanced Academic Studies
Agatha Christie was one of the most prominent writers during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. She was at the height of her success in the 1920s and 30s and was often called the "Queen of Mystery" by her fans and lovers. She is even more important in the historical context since she started writing at a time when not many female authors were writing. Her contemporaries and predecessors mostly included male writers. When she started writing, Sherlock Holmes was at the pinnacle of stardom and it was a challenge for Christie to create a detective that would be different than Sherlock and yet appeal to the readers. Credit goes to Christie for taking up this challenge and making a position of her own. It is said that only Bible and William Shakespeare have outsold her. Many of her novels were listed in Guinness World Records for the number of copies sold. Christie wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short stories collection. She also wrote 5 novels under the penname Mary Westmacott. Among the many sleuths and detectives whom she created, two became widely famous and enjoy the immense amount of success even today, namely Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. "Murder on the Orient Express" is one of the most famous and successful novels written by Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective. It has been adapted into popular culture such as TV and cinema number of times. Poirot has stood the test of time and remains one of the most popular detectives in the literary world. This research paper will critically analyse and evaluate the novel "Murder on the Orient Express". The reason for selecting this novel was its fame, success and the author who wrote it. This novel has been adapted into cinema various times. Two such noteworthy movies would be one from 1974, directed by Sidney Lumet and another one released in 2018, directed by Kenneth Branagh. This novel has been reprinted hundreds of times. Many readers have reread it. Being a mystery novel, once a reader has read it and has known the mystery, one would think there would be no incentive behind reading the same mystery novel a second time. But this is not the case with Christie's books. MOE is one such novel and thus it was felt that a deeper understanding of this mystery novel by a critical evaluation is essential from the academic context. Another reason for selecting this novel for the purpose of analysis is that this novel was a lot different than the other whodunit mystery novels penned by Christie. The setting of the story is the same. There are typical elements in the novel one would see in any Agatha Christie novel. What sets this one apart is the number of culprits involved in the murder, the way all the suspects are related to each other and the victim and the moral issues and sense of justice served in the end. In fact, the sense of justice as shown by Poirot in this novel differs from his usual mannerisms in the other novels. This novel is important because Christie chose to break away from the formulaic plot and broke the rules of the genre to write a story which was a breath of fresh air. This paper will critically analyse the aspect of justice, ethics and morality and will try to analyse if the victim in the novel was really the victim or whether the 12 suspects were the real victims. This research paper will also analyse the source of inspiration for the novel, narrative style used in the novel and the presence of stereotypes and their importance in the novel. This research paper will also critically analyse the aspect of moral judgement and justice shown.
Murder and Crime-Solving Strategies in Agatha Christie’s Works
Folia linguistica et litteraria, 2022
In Agatha Christie’s literary career, which spanned over more than fifty years, the tally of murdered people approached three hundred. Her job as a nurse during World War I left a lasting mark on her career because during that period she developed a special interest in chemistry, which later influenced her writing style and using poison became her forte. Consequently, many of her literary characters fell victim to some kind of toxin. However, a large part of her works features a wide array of more violent and manual death causes. Most of those crimes are solved by one of Christie’s two most prominent detectives, either a professional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot or a white-haired old lady Jane Marple. Due to their different lifestyles, both their characters and investigation methods largely differ, but they are both successful when tackling a crime. This paper attempts to offer deeper insight into some of the murder methods Christie resorted to in her oeuvre while simultaneously...
IJALEL, Australia, 2015
Considering the rise of detective fiction in the twentieth century, it is clear that Agatha Christie plays a very important role in the development of detective novels. As a female author, she achieves producing distinctive works and creating remarkable sleuths. Although her works reflect the conventional characteristics of detective narrative, what makes her fiction distinguished is the female sleuth Miss Marple, who is an unconventional character in terms of her position in Christie's writings. Particularly, in her The Body in the Library, the character, Miss Marple, comes to the fore as an amateur investigator, who surpasses the power of patriarchal society. Her appearance among the male sleuths changes the route of the investigation when she accomplishes attaining the truth about the murder and revealing the mystery of crimes. In this sense, in a male-dominated setting, Miss Marple establishes order and morality in society and proves that women are as intelligent, reasonable and challenging as men. In this paper, Christie's contribution to detective fiction by means of her character, Miss Marple in The Body in the Library, will be highlighted. Moreover, the stratagems Miss Marple employs to solve the uncertainties about the criminal case will be explored so as to emphasize the conflict between women and men not only in society but also in the field of criminal investigations, therefore together with her talents in the field of criminal cases, her struggles with the patriarchal values will also be discussed in this study. Thus, in this paper, Miss Marple's efforts to enlighten the murder, her overcoming the prejudice against women and her prevailing over male-domination will be analyzed.
"A Maze of Conflicting Passions": Gender Play in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple
2022
This thesis provides a discussion of gender in Agatha Christie’s selected novels through a study of the means of representation of her famous sleuths Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. It presents a reading of the ambiguity and fluidity of these characters in terms of masculinity and femininity. Agatha Christie’s novels were written and published during a time of political and social change. Her self-aware and deliberate stereotyping calls into question her texts’ traditionalist championing of the status quo. My research treats the different layers that constitute Hercule Poirot’s otherhood and the way their inherent disjunctions further alienate him from conventional masculinity. Furthermore, it highlights his acquired awareness of his status and his methods of turning it into a form of agency. At a subsequent level, “Cloak and Dagger” tackles Jane Marple’s sinister character, her manipulation of her weak physique and her mastery of feminine rhetorical practices. Her three ways of knowing (surveillance, gossip and deceit) equally create an ambiguity in the representation of femininity. My research is, therefore, situated within discussions of Crime Fiction and Gender Theory to argue that the process of the study, its emphasis on the textual and my findings can contribute to the broader disciplinary understanding and appreciation of Christie and Detective Fiction as a whole.
Metafictional Agatha Christie: Self-Parody as the Perfect Crime
2016
The author examines the narrative structure of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, emphasizing the self-reflexive quality of the novel and seeking to establish its parodic intentions. Through the use of formulaic unreliability, clichéd characters, facile plot devices, and a comic detective, Agatha Christie deliberately constructs her text against the conventions of the genre.