© March 2021| IJIRT | Volume 7 Issue 10 | ISSN: 2349-6002

Female Sleuths and Edwardian New Woman: A

Critical Study of Agatha Christie’s Women

Athira Anilkumar
English Literature, Postgraduate, former Assistant Professor of Soka Ikeda College

Abstract - The traditional gender roles assigned to women entertain the readers, she was criticized for anti-
in literature were crushed by many women writers who feminist characters in her writings. But a close reading
depicted women in unconventional roles and a major of her works reveals very strong and independent
writer among them is Agatha Christie. In detective
female characters that were capable of breaking the
fiction, majority of leading characters have always been
norms of Victorian society.
men and women used to be the victims of the crime. But
Agatha Christie broke away from this conventional The 1900’s witnessed a drastic change in the condition
trend in crime fiction and created intelligent female of women and with the right to suffrage, inherit
detectives. She gave heroic attributes to women property and earn wages brought freedom into their
characters and proved that they are also capable of then restricted lifestyle. The Post World Era which
achieving the goals like men. She fought Victorian strengthened their willpower saw the emergence of the
literary conventions, which depicted women as weak and iconic new woman of 1920’s. The roaring twenties
dependent on men, to bring out females with sharp and saw a sudden change of society into modern
brilliant minds. But she was strongly criticized by her
consumerism and hot gender debates. The new
contemporaries for her stereotypical female characters.
empowerment was evident in the way of dressing and
This paper analyses the effective portrayal of the strong
and independent female detectives and new women of style. The image of a flapper with a bob hairstyle and
1920’s in Christie’s work. This paper also aims at finding short skirts or the androgynous look with shirt and
the feminist traits in Christie’s women characters and trousers became a symbol of Edwardian new woman.
their role in shattering the conventional stereotypes of This image of the modern woman created a gender
women in crime fiction. revolution and negotiation. Agatha Christie who
started her writing career around this turbulent period
Index Terms - detective fiction, female detectives, 1920’s was evidently influenced by the social scenario of the
new woman, gender revolution, gender, feminism,
time and mended her characters accordingly.
flapper, sleuth, stereotype, surplus woman, spinster.
In her works, one can find a wide array of women
characters ranging from submissive wives,
INTRODUCTION
compassionate mothers, naïve young women and
intelligent sleuths to ambitious career woman,
Agatha Christie, popularly known as “Queen of
inquisitive spinsters, modern flappers, unmarried
Mystery or Queen of Crime”, is a best-selling author
mothers, charming mistresses, and malicious
of detective fiction. She, along with Arthur Conan
murderers. She was often criticized for the traditional
Doyle, is regarded as one of the chief exponents of
gender stereotypes and villainous women characters in
Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Agatha Christie is
her novels. Critics targeted her for overt sexism and
remembered for her creation of extraordinary
her for being not a feminist. The diverse
unconventional and innovative characterization of
characterisation of Christie revealed an audacious
detectives. Though she was a prolific author, popular
notion that women are capable of doing anything and
among the literary circle and admired by both male
no way inferior to men. The virtuous and vicious
and female readers, the critics undervalued her works
women of Agatha Christie were a realistic portrayal of
as ones with no literary merit. But, during 1990’s,
the innate ability of the women in a patriarchal society.
critics started studying her as a serious and genuine
Consciously or unconsciously, Christie created some
writer of fiction and one of the major figures of
marvelous bold characters who, when analysed
popular literature. Even if her female characters

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through the feminist lens, broke away the societal she is a jaunty young woman who doesn’t want to
norms and stopped acting as the angel in the house. please or follow the customs of being a good
There are many examples for new women in housewife and is not afraid of constant criticism from
Christie’s works like Lady Eileen “Bundle”Brent, Ann the older ladies. Mrs Summerhayes of Mrs McGinty’s
Beddingfield and Henrietta Savarnake. They are Dead is another example for woman who enjoys a
adventurous, free-spirited women who are not ready to happy married life but not entangled by the societal
be tamed by the conservative society. They are always norm of being a good custodian of the household.
ready to embark on an adventure all alone. The iconic Joanna Burton of The Moving Finger is a lively young
flapper of 1920’s was notorious for smoking, drinking woman who is eager to get into married life but doesn’t
alcohol, driving cars, and having affairs with men. But get along the traditional way of being a gentle,
not all of them went to this extreme to celebrate their submissive prospective bride. She is a sprightly young
newfound freedom and selfhood, and those kinds of empowered modern woman who rides cars, criticizes
women are depicted in Christie’s novels. Bundle Brent the chauvinistic men around her and cannot be
who appeared first in The Secret of Chimneys is a disciplined according to the ways of a conformist
brisk and energetic young woman who with her lifestyle.
courage and intelligence helps in solving mysteries. Tuppence Beresford is one of the famous female
Like most of the new women she is a lover of driving sleuths of Agatha Christie. She is a representative
and likes to ride her Hispano-Suiza car so fast to be figure of new woman. She is a professional woman
called as a terrific rider. Likewise, Henrietta, an who chose a modern career, which was not much
antagonistic mistress to a murder victim, in The sought after by women, to satiate an excited, eventful
Hollow is very fond of driving alone so that she can life. This female detective, in her first appearance in
enjoy her escapades to the fullest. She is a self-made The Secret Adversary, is shown as a young pert side
woman, who is a professional sculptor and lives a life kick to the male lead investigator, later on swaps the
on her own way. Anne, the protagonist of The Man in gender roles and becomes the superior figure. She
the Brown Suit is a fearless young woman who makes marries the male detective Tommy Beresford but
a daring quest to a strange foreign land to unite with a continues her career even after the marriage. Her
man she loves. active feminine intuitive nature gets more attention
All these young woman shatters the concept of than the passive masculine rationality of Tommy.
marriage prevailed at that time. Anne and Bundle Being the active one among the detective duo she is
Brent reject the socially elite proposals of marriage the initiator of the investigation and finds immense
which were the ultimate goal of young women of the pleasure and excitement in unravelling a mystery.
Edwardian conservative society to find their own self Though she assumes the role of a mother and wife as
and identity. They smash the Victorian concept of well, she is not ready to get stuck into the home
women being weak. There is an instance where Anne comforts. Tuppence rejects the idea of being inferior
remarks that in the beginning the nomadic men and and wants to bring parity in her relationship with
women were strong alike and she believes that Tommy. Tuppence does not like the idea of Tommy
innately women are as strong as men. Although these looking after her; rather she wants to be self-reliant
representative flapper figures are not portrayed as and treated as an equal so that they can solve the
reckless, they are highly opinionated clever women mystery together. Serving as a nurse and driver during
with a zest for life. the First World War made her a strong-willed woman
There are some characters who entered or want to who does not want to be inferior to man in her abilities.
enter in a successful married life, rejects the idea of This helps her cross the boundaries existed between
being submissive in a liaison. They don’t succumb to the traditional detective duo of male being the
the age-old ways of domesticity like acting as a good dominant and female being the subservient. Tommy
caretaker of a house, tending a garden or even cooking and Tuppence appear in five works of Christie where
scrumptious meals. The young wife, Griselda of The Tuppence at times becomes the leading investigator by
Murder at the Vicarage, being a Vicar’s wife is finding a fair share of clues which Tommy could not.
supposed to be a woman who follows the traditional Her spontaneous quick-witted nature and Tommy’s
ways of looking after a household. On the other hand, deductive ability makes them solve the case and

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complement each other as opposed to the usual power innocent and sociable image of a surplus woman of
politics between a detective couple. 1920’s was seen in the later detective characters such
While creating the crime fiction writer Ariadne Oliver, as Dorothy Sayer’s Miss Climpson, Patricia
Agatha Christie tried to mirror herself. In this Wentworth’s Miss Silver, Anna Katherine Green’s
characterization Ariadne’s struggle of continuing with Amelia Butterworth as well. Among all others Miss
the character of Finnish detective Sven Hjerson Marple stands out with her indomitable spirit.
reflects Christie’s trouble with her most famous The portrayal of stereotypic inquisitive spinster was
character Hercule Poirot, the egoistic old Belgian seen as conservative, but as a matter of fact the
investigator. Through Ariadne she also exposes the population contained a number of surplus women and
mistakes she did as an author during her early writings. it was normal to adopt one as a character, whom many
She created her character as a proto feminist in her at that time can relate to. She has the benefit of hiding
ideologies. There are many occasions where Ariadne her detective skills under the facade of an old gossipy
points out that women are more adept. For instance, woman who does not know much about the way of the
she always asserts the idea of a woman heading the modern world. She, like many other sleuths of Agatha
Scotland Yard for successful completion of cases. She Christie, is gifted with the faculty of intuition and
is a friend of Poirot and appears alongside in many of incorporates her experience of living in a small town
his novels where she does an active role of more than named St Mary’s Mead while deciphering an answer
a side kick. Nevertheless, Poirot degrades most of her to a mystery or case. Here, she blurs the border
intuitive findings on the grounds of logic and reason, between intuition and logic and uses both the faculties
finds out at the end that her assumption was right from in an organised way in contrast to Ariadne Oliver who
the beginning. There is a constant struggle of intuition relies solely on her intuitive skills.
versus rationality and at many times Poirot admits her She has studied the traits of humanity while living her
skills. She is presented as a humorous woman and is whole life in a boring small town all alone and shaped
likened by everyone. her observation and deductive skills to entertain and
One of the most celebrated female detective figures of amuse herself in her own ways. According to her,
all-time is the famous old woman, Miss Jane Marple. prototypes of all human beings were available in St
The character shows the real craftsmanship of Agatha Mary’s Mead and she always relates to those
Christie. Deliberately, she chose an ordinary old experiences once she takes up the case. She is quick
uneducated village spinster, who rarely got out of her witted, lively, sociable women who is welcomed by all
town, as her character and through an intelligent and the social circles and thus makes it easier for her to
creative portrayal, made the old lady appealing to all find clues and gather information to help solve the
generations than any other young female sleuths. Like crime. According to Merja Makinen, the “ageism and
many of her other characters Miss Marple faced a lot the prejudice against spinsters is consistently shown to
of criticism for being a traditional narrow-minded be erroneous, Miss Marple’s astute shrewdness about
Victorian woman. But the reality is that, though Miss all aspects of human life put her at the center of
Marple appears to be a conservative old woman, she is society, rather than at the margins” (62). As opposed
aware of the modern ways and exhibits subtle feminist to the claims of early critics, Christie did not intend to
elements. create Miss Marple as a vulnerable old lonely lady but
Miss Marple is the representative figure of a social a genius experienced female detective, who takes
transformation occurred after the First World War. advantage of her image as a surplus woman without
After the world war, along with the new women marital or filial ties, to achieve her ends and lead a life
emerged the surplus woman. Surplus women are the she enjoys. This way the character of Miss Marple was
unmarried old women who chose to live a single life; intentionally created conservative to give her the
one reason being the shortage of male partners due to ultimate freedom. It is the same case with the negative
the causality of war. Agatha Christie herself was a characters. The Mrs. Hubbard of Murder on the Orient
single divorcee mother during the creation of Miss Express is a strong old woman who is courageous
Marple. Shaw and Vanacker in their critical study enough to face her fears and murder the person who
addressed ‘’the spinster’s potential as both fearsome brutally killed her grandchild. The criminals of
oddity and moral force” (99). The advantage of

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Christie are also intelligent masterminds who can

confuse those around them.
Also, Christie portrays in many of her novels a bond
between women which is much stronger than the
marital bond. Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd
show the epitome of female friendship and are
sometimes analysed as lesbian partners. This can be
seen as the “woman for woman” notion of feminism.
Thus, it can be concluded that Christie’s women are
incredibly unique and exhibits feminist traits of self-
sufficiency and independent thinking. Instead of
giving more importance to the socio-political scenario
of a turbulent era, Christie focuses on individuals and
their everyday life in the society and thereby making
the works appealing to readers of all generation.

REFERENCE

[1] Christie, Agatha, The Hollow, New Delhi: Harper

Collins,2002.
[2] The Murder in the Vicarage, New Delhi: Harper
Collins,2007.
[3] The Secret Adversary, New Delhi: Harper
Collins,2017.
[4] Murder on the Orient Express, New Delhi: Harper
Collins,2017.
[5] A Murder is Announced, New Delhi: Harper
Collins,2017.
[6] The Man in the Brown Suit, New Delhi: Harper
Collins,2017.
[7] Merja, Makinen, Agatha Christie: Investigating
Femininity, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan,2006.
[8] Shaw, Marian and Vanacker Sabine, Reflecting
on Miss Marple, London: Routledge,1991.

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