Feminism in Crime Fictions – Agatha Christie as a Feminist Writer

Feminist literary theory assumes that a text is not simply a work of fictional literature that is separated entirely from the physical world. In this lens, the boundaries are non existent. The circumstances of how a work was written influence its criticism and analysis. The location, gender and class of the author and characters are vital to a feminist criticism (Feminist Literary Theory 1) .

Analyzing the ways in which a piece of literature includes feminist ideologies can bring out the potential messages that the creators of these productions were attempting to portray, while allowing the reader to critique the literature from a feminist perspective.

The main point of this article is that this story has most classic Christie themes including an enclosed setting (oriented express) and loose associates among suspects. In a detective novel, the suspects usually is much closer to the dead person. But in Murder On The Orient Express, the readers are aware that one after another passengers is connected with the Armstrong kidnapping case. In the end it turns out that everyone has something to hide; however, the criminals are let off scot-free because they have got rid of the world of a monster that law cannot reach,

Lastly, feminism is viewed in The Body in the Library. The detective, Jane Marple is the one who figures out the answer the question of who is the murderer. Agatha Christie creates this book to be more women friendly with more feministic views than some of Christie’s other books. One

As one of the most famous hard-boiled crime fictions, The Long Goodbye enjoys its reputation not only for the story itself, but also for its delicate social criticism. In fact, this novel is representative of how female characters are formed in the noir world. There are basically three main female characters in the book: the victim Sylvia Lennox, her sister Linda Loring, and the criminal (or villain) Eileen Wade. These characters show the typical roles that women play in the noir world – women can be very emotional, and thus commit crimes. Compared with men, who may get involved with crime for money, revenge and other issues, women seem to have more emotional desires, which in most cases involve love. In The Long Goodbye, Eileen, the representative of “Blonde,” somehow also portrays the “femme fatale” image that would often appear in noir fiction, while Linda Loring, who is pure and innocent and who falls in

In addition to having intriguing characters in a story, Agatha Christie also did a great job at adding a good deal of suspense to her stories. The way that she wrote plots and revealed each event to the reader made readers never want to put down the book. In And Then There Were None, Christie writes the quote, “It is perfectly clear. Mr. Owen is one of us.…” (Christie 101). This builds a great amount of

Lisa Scottoline in the novel, Lady Killer, skillfully illustrates the reality between the law and relationships. Scottoline supports her demonstration by telling the story between Mary DiNunzio, her work, and friendships. Scottoline’s purpose is to capture the reader with realistic events that are normally not talked about in order to grasp the interest of her readers, and reveal the reality of criminal justice. Scottoline writes in a conversational tone for her young readers without previous knowledge about criminals nor law.

As a result of the abuse female characters have faced, it has become an objective for authors to prevent this. There have been clear strides recently, putting women as the protagonists, and not in a manner that has them dealing with persecution. The amount of strong, female characters is a large stride in the right direction to end the conflict regarding women’s roles in literature. However, this sudden influx of women in literature may lead to the reversal of the issue; the absence or abuse of men. While certainly literary equality is the end goal, to flip the issue would be just as bad and lead to sexism on the opposite spectrum. To truly mend the rift between genders, there must be no discrimination, the idea that an author is trying to use sexist undertones by not writing the lead as a female should not have to be an idea that readers think about when analyzing modern books. While even still there are issues of gender inequality in literature, there must be moderation from both ends for a resolution to be possible. The only way for equality to be achieved is with the absence of sexist ideals from all

Once again, I got carried away by Agatha Christie's. Everytime I lay my hands across a detective fiction, I'm unstoppable, ready to uncover all the mysteries! As I flip through the pages, my heart beats faster, adrenaline rush through my body as I was slowly taken to the protagonist's world, experiencing terror and fear, while analyzing every single possibilities: who the real murderer is, how to break his perfect alibi, or how to get away unnoticed by him.

Fiction is often thought of as being “fake” or “false” interpretations of real life. While the people and events that occur in fiction are generally imagined, the most successful of these works appeal to audiences as being realistic to some extent. An example of this imagined interpretation of reality in fiction is the portrayal of women. One association given to women of many genres is that of the needy damsel. With that said, examples of heroism and wit have grown over time, adjusting with the trends of feminism today. While women are often considered delicate and in need of protection in fiction, across the genres of gothic, science and mystery, there are also many depictions indicating the contrary.

This essay is very effective in explaining the fascination of Agatha Christie (an English crime novelist who lived from 1890-1976) to the uneducated reader. The structure of the essay is cohesively structured into three main parts: the introduction (which contains a well developed thesis), the body (separated into three main arguments) and the conclusion (which adequately validates the opinion of the writer).The writer also targets their audience in the very first sentence by asking the rhetorical question: “Who does not enjoy a good mystery?” In this way, the reader immediately discovers that the essay is targeted towards anyone who is passionate about

While the women of the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and the drama A Dollhouse by Henrik Ibsen lead very different lives, they are similar in one very obvious way. Both women feel trapped by their husbands and by the expectations society places on them. The repression of Louise and Nora is inflicted upon them by both self and society; how does one remain an individual while also conforming to the traditional female role mandated by society?

Literature changes as current events change and as the structure of society begins to shift. American feminist literature started to become prevalent during the Victorian era, or around the latter part of the 19th century. This is the time when the first wave of feminism in the United States hit. The Seneca Falls Convention - the first women’s rights convention - and the emergence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony’s American Equal Rights Association in the middle of the 19th century are among some of the noteable events that sparked this movement in literature. Women across America were inspired by the changing of the times, and that is reflected in many American female authors’ writings.

As a 20th century work, "A Murder is Announced," was written at a period when the number of Alien residents doubled due to the Second World War. The plot of "A Murder is Announced," is held stable by the fact that characters are invading the tranquility of the idolized small community Of Chipping Cleghorn (Christie, 1950). Christie brilliantly deploys Miss Marples as her detective. Miss Marples plays her role at a time when the Spinster stereotype was high. Unmarried women were considered lonely, nosy and judgmental. Miss Marples is described as a being, “benignant and a good deal older” (Christie, 1950). The cultural beliefs during Miss Marples time situate Miss Marples in a position where she can observe the society as an unnoticed and unimportant character. Miss Marple's ambiguous position at a time when a woman’s role was predominantly domestic gives her peculiar power to move the plot forward and develop important

Agatha Christie is one of the most successful crime novelists and theater writers of the 20th century. Agatha Christie's shy life led her to a world of fantasy and has helped her to evoke many personalities, including famous detective such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marble.