Tom Stoppard and the Crime-Writing Genre

It could be said that The Skull beneath the Skin is quite typical of the crime genre, however P.D. James has somewhat subverted the genre. The novel incorporates a combination of Intuitionist, Realist and Hard Boiled styles of crime fiction. Usually crime novels fall into one of the three afore mentioned styles. Although obviously an Intuitionist or classically styled crime novel, Skull beneath the Skins as I have previously stated incorporates all three creating a unique novel while still following the traditions and conventions of the crime genre. This can be seen from this essay reference will be made to setting, dialogue, characterisation, dramatic irony, humour, narrative structure and the conventions of crime fiction.

My post-reading and post-viewing dissatisfaction with The Mousetrap’s ending proves doubly noteworthy when one takes into consideration the genre of Christie’s work. After all, why should it matter that a murder mystery concludes on a comedic note?

In the play 'An Inspector Calls', many contrasts and paradox's are present and at the centre of them all is the character known as Inspector Goole. However, the inspector is not any ordinary inspector. I believe that the inspector is used as a device by Priestley to explore the wider themes of the play and to depict other characters true personalities. This essay will explore some of the techniques Priestley presents the inspector in An Inspector Calls.

When the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson and the play, Trifles by Susan Glaspell were written both literary pieces dealt in depravity. The two main genres engage in violent acts with no remorse. Both genres reveal emotional turmoil, that’s the battle within their mind and soul, taken pleasure in immoral behaviors. Although The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Trifles are genres depicting male and female depravity, they are alike and different in social issues, such as violence, murder and justice for all.

Throughout the study of JB Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, it is easy to identify that there are many points in which this text both conforms and subverts to the conventions of the mystery genre. The author explores the archetypal mystery genre through firstly, the dead body and murder of Eva Smith, as well as the clues and motives that are revealed throughout the investigation. This is further followed by the series of intertwining characters, and the inquiry of their involvement in the death. However, this typical mystery text can be contradicted by the fact that this death was not a murder, but a suicide case, changing the expectations to instead of who killed her, but what were the lead up in events to result in Eva killing herself.

Suspense is an important trait in many works of fiction. In David Montrose’s novel The Crime on Cote Des Neiges, he uses narration, digression and secondary characters to create suspense throughout the novel.

“The third stage of narrative development was characterized by the appearance of rogues… relying on cleverness more than force, and motivated more by profits than by passion” (Williams 14). Rogues defied whatever came in between their pursuit, whether it be law or authority (Williams 14). In the third stage of criminal literature, the protagonists were all rogues despite of their unlawfully ways, they “aroused reader sympathy” (Williams 16). Williams described these rogues as “outsiders, existing apart from the social structure either by choice or by fate” (William 16). He also described these rogues as “individualistic, opportunistic, self-reliant” as well as “defiant of authority and entirely free” (Williams 16). William argues that the evolution of these narratives took place in three stages: the first being the “early execution sermons and final confessions”, the second being “the incomplete narratives of life and, finally the full length rogue narrative” (Williams 17). Williams’ article describes how criminal literature changed from “promoting obedience, [to] encouraged defiance” (Williams

Day’s, ‘The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender’, powerfully engages with the responder and effectively subverts the crime fiction genre to create a new era of crime fiction. Day critics modern society through the protagonistic voices of Claudia Valentine and Harry Lavender to challenge the audience's perception of what crime and criminality is. Day uses the subversion of female characters to challenge and question our perceptions of gender stereotypes. Day also effectively synthesises the insight that the dynamic personality of criminals, like Sydney, is evolving. Ultimately, “The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender” highlights these fundamental ideas to examine the impact of the narrative voices in order to gain insight into crime fiction and to address traditional conventions of modern society.

“The Real Inspector Hound” is a play is a parody of murder mystery genre, while “Trifles” is a play widely regarded as a feminist drama, which takes on gender equality during that era. One significant similarity between two plays are that they are inspired from true events. “The Real Inspector Hound” is inspired from Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap”, while “Trifles” is loosely based on an event that the author covered during her career as a journalist. While watching both plays, the audience may not find much similarities between them, as far as the storyline is concerned. However, both play follow a close resemblance in terms of its theme of justice and identity. In “The Real Inspector Hound”, the author presents an aberrant version

“The Real Inspector Hound”, a play written in 1961 by Tom Stoppard is a play within a play, consisting of narratives of the critics watching the play, and the play they are reviewing. In contrast, “Trifles” was written in 1916 by Susan Glaspell and builds upon the murder investigation of John Wright. While, both plays were influenced from distinctive

The opening establishes and embodies the world of the justice system, “the man’s world”, accompanied by its seriousness, organisation and harshness in its outlook on reality, the depiction of a typical arrest, identification and trial of a convicted criminal. However, this “world”, according to Wood is threatened, stating that it is somewhat disrupted by the protagonist’s “frivolousness, selfishness, and triviality” (272).

While American and British authors developed the two distinct schools of detective fiction, known as “hard-boiled and “golden age,” simultaneously, the British works served to continue traditions established by earlier authors while American works formed their own distinct identity. Though a niche category, detective works reflect the morality and culture of the societies their authors lived in. Written in the time period after World War I, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and “The Gutting of Couffignal”, and Raymond Chandler’s “Trouble Is My Business” adapt their detectives to a new harsh reality of urban life. In “hard-boiled” works, the detective is more realistic than the detective in “golden age” works according to the

According to many critics which experienced playwright, Tom Stoppard’s, plays, there is an ongoing debate whether his plays can or cannot be taken seriously, or searched for a deeper meaning. Throughout many of his plays, people claim and prove that they can be taken seriously and have an underlying meaning. However, his farce, The Real Inspector Hound, cannot be considered a serious play because the playwright told others not to take it seriously, because of the detective-themed stereotypes, and the jokes within the play.

Detective fiction has often been perceived as a lesser form of literature. Many scholars believe that detective fiction is below average in quality and does not offer much more beyond entertainment. Time and time again detective fiction has been belittled for its quality of literature, being place below other genres. Some scholars have come to the defense of detective fiction. Scholar R. Austin Freeman stated, “The status of the whole class has been fixed by an estimate formed from inferior samples” (Freeman) and this is true. Detective fiction has been plagued with average works, however, it does offer more than just a story about crime. Detective fiction can be used as a medium to comment on social issues. Early in the 20th century, the United States was still battling an epidemic of racism and violence towards african-americans. Continual incidents of lynchings, beatings, and verbal abuse barraged the african-american community. During this time period, detective fiction was used to comment on this racial inequality by pushing for equality through underlying themes in stories.

American writer and director Paul Auster uses different literary devices and narrative styles to create a new form of crime fiction, that links the traditional genre characteristics with experimental metafiction and postmodern irony. In the “New York Trilogy” novels published sequentially as “City of Glass” (1985), “Ghosts” (1986) and “The Locked Room” (1986), Auster uses a number of different narrative styles including pastiche, parody and intertextuality to mix postmodernism with crime fiction. Previously, the most important aspect in a detective story according to Encyclopedia Britannica has been: “solving the crime and answering the whodunit question” (“Detective Story”). For that reason, most literature on criminal fiction has focused