The document discusses a structuralist analysis of Agatha Christie's play "The Mousetrap". It analyzes recurring patterns in the play, including characters being introduced one by one and interviewed, the motif of "three blind mice" appearing three times, and the play subverting the typical "whodunnit" formula by revealing the detective as the killer. It argues that these structural elements and the inversion of common structures make the play meaningful and interesting to readers familiar with the typical mystery structure.
The document discusses a structuralist analysis of Agatha Christie's play "The Mousetrap". It analyzes recurring patterns in the play, including characters being introduced one by one and interviewed, the motif of "three blind mice" appearing three times, and the play subverting the typical "whodunnit" formula by revealing the detective as the killer. It argues that these structural elements and the inversion of common structures make the play meaningful and interesting to readers familiar with the typical mystery structure.
The document discusses a structuralist analysis of Agatha Christie's play "The Mousetrap". It analyzes recurring patterns in the play, including characters being introduced one by one and interviewed, the motif of "three blind mice" appearing three times, and the play subverting the typical "whodunnit" formula by revealing the detective as the killer. It argues that these structural elements and the inversion of common structures make the play meaningful and interesting to readers familiar with the typical mystery structure.
Structuralism is a critical theory that language is used to
construct the world. Therefore its a focus how the text is constructed. This means that a structuralist would be interested on the form, the overall structure, and the patterns of language in it, especially the pairs of opposites. Its developer, Ferdinand de Sausseure, says, Language is a complete, self-contained system and should be studied as such. This essay is a structuralist reading of The Mousetrap. The Mousetraps story works through its play with a different version of the common structure as seen through the recurring patterns, the number three, and the whodunnit formula. There are different patterns that could be seen in Agatha Christies The Mousetrap. This study would analyze it based on the order of the play. At the first part of the play, there are people introduced. It could be seen that the people are introduced one by one, all with a chat with an interview with Giles, and/or Mollie. This is constantly done for each of the characters that are introduced. However, it could be seen that the Detective was not interviewed when he arrived. Also another pattern shown was the interview of the killer. It was shown the police officer interviewed each person in the room, one by one. This then adds possible clues and red herrings to the story. Each character is then given traits that would make him be considered by the detective. This can be seen through the descriptions that fit Christopher Wren, or the fact that the Ralstons knew Mrs. Lyon. It can be seen that almost all characters except the detective could have possibly killed Mr.s Lyon, and eventually Mrs. Boyle. Another repeated motif was the three blind mice. It can be seen that it was repeated three times. The first was during the start when the police officer was describing the murderer. The second time it was played was during the murder of Mrs. Boyle. The third time would be during the attempted murder on Mollie. It can be seen that the number three was used a lot of times in the play like the three children, the three blind mice and the three times it was played. Lastly, there is the basic whodunnit formula. The formula is the clich for mysteries, where the detective solves the crime, and exposes the remaining secrets. The play goes against this formula, and reverses it. The killer is then revealed to be no other than the police officer, and then the other characters are also revealed. This is seen to follow a reverse formula, as the detective was the actual killer. Also, contrary to the formula, the play has an element of surprise. Usually, texts that follow the formula would have clues laid out, and the reader would have figured out the mystery before the end of the book. The clues here all lead to red herrings, and werent really used for the readers to figure out who the killer was. The play creates a played around structure that is the inverse of the formula, which makes it new and interesting.
It can be seen that the play, The Mousetrap, is a meaningful play
through the structure. The inversion of certain parts of the common structure makes the play meaningful. It gives a defamiliarized version of the common whodunnit structure. This inversion leads to an interesting turn of events for the reader who is familiar with the structure, and is able to appreciate the whodunnit structure and the defamiliarized structure.