Agatha Christie and the presentation of women in her novels throughout

the years.

How are Agatha Christie’s female characters constructed in order to give the reader

an impression of the changing women’s role in society?

Subject: Literature A, Category 1

Word count: 3,786

Contents page

Contents page 2

Introduction 3

Chapter 1: Context 4

Chapter 2: Archetypes 6

2.1 The Young girl 6

2.2 The Old woman 10

Chapter 3: Character comparison 11

3.1 The Protagonists 11

Conclusion 14

References List 16

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Introduction

Throughout time, the role of women in society has been persistently evolving. This

role, the concept of what a woman should be, has been dictated by society. The

ideal of a woman has never been motionless, beliefs and opinion, alongside cultural

changes, oppose each other and define the roles that women have to take on.

Throughout literature, one can see these roles represented clearly through

characters, there is a representation of real life that can help someone see how

society worked better than in academic and historic records. Virginia Woolf (1929)

said that “fiction is likely to contain more truth than fact”(p. 5), which is why I believe

that, by analyzing literary works, one can understand the roles women have been

placed in English society throughout history.

The opposing ideas of women can be narrowed down to their traditional values, what

is expected of them, and what society considers a modern woman during a specific

time period. Woolf writes, in A Room of One’s Own (1929, p. 32), that women are

second place to men because of money, as without it they are without freedom. She

points to English writers in this matter, specifically female writers, something that

impacts Agatha Christie, and which can be related to English society as a whole.

Women depend on men economically, and this affects their whole lives. It is

something that can definitely be seen in Christie’s work, which shows that, even

through her eyes, women have a distinct position. This contrasts with modern ideas,

specific to time periods, which are key in Christie’s life and therefore her work.

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One can, by analyzing Christie's characters, see not only the stereotypes of English

people and their role in Christie’s work as a crime novel, but the contrasting ideas of

what women are and where they stand in society throughout the years, as well as

the impact of important historical events on them. I think Christie’s characters,

caricatures on the surface, and excellent mirrors of the everyday life around her, can

give a deeper insight into British society and how women are set aside among it,

always considering Christie’s privileged position in society which translate to her

female characters. Therefore, one must look to answer the way in which Christie

constructs her characters and uses specific language in order to give the reader a

specific impression of them. How do these impressions translate to what was the

norm for women at that time period? How does Christie’s age affect the way she saw

women, around her age, as well as younger and older? How can the differences

explain the changes in society? Eventually, I arrived to the final question that helped

me guide my analysis: how are Agatha Christie’s female characters constructed in

order to give the reader an impression of the changing women’s role in society? I will

answer this question with the help of three Christie novels that represent her career:

Murder on the Orient Express (1934), The Body in the Library (1942) and Postern of

Fate (1973), in which her array of female characters feel distinct, but they always

have similarities, and looking at them can parallel society’s changing conception of

women.

Chapter 1: Context

Agatha Christie shaped the crime novel genre into what we know today, and

something that defines her work are the way her characters are constructed. She

wrote by observing and listening, interested by how humans behaved, according to

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Ro (2018), and created almost caricatures of classic English people “drawing on the

military gentlemen, lords and ladies, spinsters, widows and doctors of her family’s

circle of friends and acquaintances” (Agatha Christie Limited, 2016), which paints a

clear image of english society. Christie wrote throughout her entire life, from the early

1920’s until her death in 1976. This fact is important, as society changes alongside

her, and the characters she wrote about in 1920, although the same at its base, are

different to the ones in her later life, and have changes according to society and

Christie’s own impressions. As in Woolf’s (1929) words, “One can only show how

one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold” (p. 5), Christie’s life affects her

characters and her work, and the reader’s conception of them.

The 20th Century was full of historic moments and movements that advanced

women. Early on, the suffragettes made a groundbreaking change for their voting

rights and gave them a chance at politics. The First World War gave them financial

freedom, 1944 brought on the Education Act, and it only kept building in order to

achieve equal rights (Murray, 2011). It drove the world into what we know now, and

by affecting women directly, it affected the public’s idea of how a woman was

supposed to behave. Christie was a part of this time period, spending her formative

years, her early 20’s, during the First World War. During wartime, women were the

ones to take over production and stepped up to jobs they were not allowed to before,

Christie in specific worked in the Voluntary Aid Detachment at the Home Front. She

also lived through the Second World War, in this case working in the Dispensary at

University College Hospital in London. The first half of the 20th century, both World

Wars and its interwar period, was what greatly influenced her work. Her inspiration

for crime novels came from her surroundings in the hospital, as well as her

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knowledge for weapons and potions, but a much more subtle influence was the

ideology surrounding the part of women during these times. The ideas of strong,

modern, and independent women who work definitely arises because of the Wars,

but the same traditional values were kept at the same time. Her female characters

can show these values and ideas within themselves and against different characters,

come alive by Christie’s observant writing method, and a resemblance to her society

in real time can shine through.

Chapter 2: Archetypes

2.1 The Young girl

Most of Christie’s female characters are complete opposites: older and younger,

mean or good, superficial or modest. It creates a contrast where readers can easily

recognize which ones they are supposed to root for. In Murder on the Orient

Express, Mary Debenham is one of the most sympathetic characters. Poirot, the

detective in the novel, the one the readers have to pay attention to incase he points

out anything key to the plot, described her as “the strongest character amongst us”

(Christie, 2011, p. 48). Christie makes her role simple: the young, in her 20s, girl who

has her life under control and is strong and independent. She is very likable, and is

in fact one of the first characters from the train we get to meet. Still, her role is tied

with her soon-to-be husband, where one is the other one is close behind. Poirot is

direct and to the point, which is why he’s such a famed detective character of

Christie’s; by telling the readers, very early on the novel, while everyone is still

forming their first impressions of the characters, what we are supposed to think

about them. Highlighted by her very first description: “the kind of young woman who

could take care of herself with perfect ease wherever she went” (Christie, 2011, p.

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9). The use of pleasant adjectives sets the tone for her character as no other female

character in the novel is as likable as her.

There is a definite tone of empowerment in her, which can probably be traced back

to WWI; where women stepped up to do the work that had been left empty, which

resulted in a shift in ideology surrounding women. They wanted women to be

stronger, to take care of everything, and it translated to the young, modern woman

ideology the 1920’s presented. However, as time went on, society demanded for

women to go back to the model that had been present before the War. It was a shift,

but these opposing ideas and needs from the society are present in Mary, in her

strong character but fated destiny tied to Aburthnot, 20 years her senior. It is jarring

how, even with such a simple character, one can see the way society was pushed

onto their lives, and expected them to follow what they dictated and depend on a

husband, as Woolf was putting it, there can be no freedom in women when they are

economically tied to a man.

Agatha Christie’s later life saw a shift in her representation of young girls, most

recognizable how, in her last novel, the young female characters were barely there.

The ones that stand out are merely given one scene and forgotten about, and the

scene itself doesn’t move the story forward. It reads, at least, of a criticism to a

certain kind of woman. Beatrice helps Tommy and Tuppence with the cleaning. She

is young and shy, undecided. Her dialogue is long and chatty and it frustrates the

readers, and she involves another young girl, who works at a clothing store, with an

equally unpleasant description: “She made such a fuss and she was beginning to cry

and everything” (Christie, 1983, p. 40) The sentence has no stops, it has short words

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at the beginning that seem to overlap each other, and the words “fuss” and “cry” give

a certain tone to the situation indicating alarm and stress. It’s almost as if Beatrice,

not a particularly confident person, is doing the same as the girl. Their roles have

shifted, largely due to Christie’s age at the time it was written, and the protagonists

ages - in their 70’s. It seems as though the scene reflects on the difference of ages

and personalities in the generations. Tuppence, one half of the protagonist: a strong

woman that has appeared in a lot of Christie novel’s throughout the years, who has

been through two wars, just like the author; and a couple of young, modern girls,

who seem naive and clumsy. There is a definite change in opinions, but, one needs

to consider the fact that the young girls in the Postern of Fate are considered on a

much lower social class than the protagonist. Yet, in Murder on the Orient Express,

Mary, even if she was from a working class as well, was considered rather highly in

the descriptions. It is a peculiar contrast, especially when put against older

characters. As Christie ages, she seems to keep holding onto ideas from her

younger years, and they are present on Tuppence’s character. She resembles Mary

more than the young girls in Postern of Fate.

There is a similar case In The Body in the Library. First impressions are very

important, specially in crime novels where initial descriptions of situations tell us a lot

about the characters, the plot, and the eventual answer to the murder. This novel,

written in 1942 and during WWII, deals with dance hostesses at a very close view.

The first body is discovered to be of Ruby, an 18 year old dancer, the description of

her body is very memorable: "there was sprawled something new and crude and

melodramatic. The flamboyant figure of a girl.” (Christie, 1942, p. 21) Even when

Christie is talking about a young girl who has been horribly murdered, she finds time

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to describe her wardrobe, her superficial appearance, an evident link to the type of

life she led. The words “melodramatic” and “flamboyant” are not consistent with a

dead body, they are deliberately put in there to link the girl with a frivolous lifestyle, to

create assumptions of the victim. It is important to consider the fact that the narrator

at that moment is Miss Marple, the older recognizable spinster, one of Christie’s

three recurring detectives. Her character is very particular: she works mainly off the

social side of the crime, and for this reason, Christie may be describing the girl’s

body this way because it is how Miss Marple sees it, and focuses on. Still, it is

important to note the first impression she gives the younger female characters in the

novel. Left behind are the female characters that are modern and well liked, and

now, younger girls have different dimensions. The ones that do not present

according to what society dictates are remarked as different, loud, almost shameful.

It’s a definite reaction to Christie’s age and her ideology on women getting somewhat

stuck on earlier years. Christie is no longer one of those young, modern women, she

starts understanding society in a way that resembles her older characters, unable to

see eye to eye with younger girls. However, they still have a shade of the

contemporary and free woman.

2.2 The Old woman

Most of the characters in Christie’s work are caricatures. These come to be by their

class, age, and status. In her early work, the most emphasized stereotypes were

about older, wealthy characters, in a way, a response to what she saw around

herself everyday, and what is apparent of the time period of the written work. In

Murder on the Orient Express, Princess Dragomiroff is an example of the status and

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wealth underlined by a an unpleasant personality and therefore awful descriptions:

“sitting very upright, was one of the ugliest old ladies he had ever seen” (Christie,

2011, p. 29).The description is very vivid: this old woman is very rich and very ugly,

and her personality is probably as bad, so the reader shouldn’t like her. It continues

with: “She sat very upright. (…) hideously unbecoming to the yellow, toad-like face

beneath it” (Christie, 2011, p. 29). It is very unusual how Christie chose to mention

the way she was sitting twice; “very upright”, as in a way to highlight her stiff

mannerisms. Her wealth is emphasized, as is her “toad-like face”, with that image

being the last one on the paragraph and therefore the one that stays the most on the

reader’s mind. Comparisons are very common in Christie’s style, as it is a

straightforward way of letting the reader know about something and making a clear

image, an important aspect of a crime novel, as the reader’s impression on the

characters is what drives them to speculation of the plot. The impression is easy: old

and rich woman is not nice. This can be generalized to the period’s impression of

wealth, as interwar period was harsh on everyone, and someone with exceeding

wealth, still holding tight to past ideologies, could be seen as distasteful.

The unpleasant descriptions contrast intensely with the young and modern female

characters that are always intelligent and strong. The older rich women are tied up

with traditional values and a power different from the younger girls. We can see it

represented in Murder on the Orient Express: “A very ugly old lady, but rather

fascinating” (Christie, 2011, p. 49). It is peculiar how the one saying that piece of

dialogue is Mary, the strong female character in the same novel I already discussed.

She represents the young and strong modern woman, and when she speaks that

way of the older characters, Christie is making a distinction between the young and

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the old. It is a criticism, and it could be read as Christie making her views

surrounding the older generation heard, which is very likely considering the context

of the description: the caricature comes from the perception shift society had after

Victorian era and before WWI, which affects the way Christie saw the world and

wrote about it, and changed the role of women, out of the “Victorian pedestal"

(Vipond, 1981) The elderly characters represent the past values, old-fashioned and

outdated, in comparison with the modern woman. Which is why they read as

distasteful, sour characters the reader does not want to root for and has deep

suspicions for.

Chapter 3: Character comparison

3.1 The Protagonists

The characters that deviate from the archetypes are the protagonists. It makes

sense since they lead the plot and the reader into whichever mystery Agatha Christie

is trying to explain. Out of her four main detectives, which some are the protagonists

of the novels, two of them are female characters. Miss Marple, an amateur detective

that observes the town she has lived in her whole life, and Tuppence, who next to

her husband, take on usually war-driven stories. Both of them are an exception to

the old, mean, and rich lady stereotype, and, in their own mannerisms, very strong

characters. Miss Marple is always described in a negative way by other characters

that are not familiar with her, they ask if “the old lady [is] a bit funny in the head?”

(Christie, 1942, p. 66). The character descriptions done by outside watchers go hand

in hand with Miss Marple’s character, a direct characterization that reinforces what

the reader knows about her — from her actions in the novel. Even if she is seen as

nosy and mad, she is able to solve cases with her sole focus on human behaviour.

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She is not a professional detective, or objective and unbiased; she sees people as

they are and notices patterns in their behaviour, and she has “an interesting, though

occasionally trivial, series of parallels from village life” (Christie, 1942, p. 127). The

language is always consistent: they refer to her methods as “trivial”, in a

condescending voice, almost as if what she discovers are coincidences and she is

not doing anything. The dialogues about Miss Marple are the most certain pieces of

information the reader can get about other character’s opinions on Miss Marple,

since The Body in the Library is written in a very impersonal voice, and the

narrations are very simple and straightforward. Dialogue is a direct display of

opinions, and they show very key elements about the characters and their opinions

on Miss Marple.

In a similar fashion, Tuppence is regarded as less than what she is, constantly. Even

her own husband, Tommy, does so to a certain extent: “Tuppence was one of those

people you had to worry about” (Christie, 1983, p. 20) He sees her as rather

helpless, even though he has known her for a long time, and been through a lot with

her. It is a constant pattern of thought: Tommy worries about Tuppence, Tuppence

does whatever she wants, and she ends up being in the right path. It is her own

initiative what drives the plot, and yet, most characters around her paint her as

defenseless. The narrator in Postern of Fate reiterates that idea through the

omnipotence of the narrative voice: the reader knows every character’s thoughts and

opinions in everything surrounding them, as opposed to The Body in the Library’s

unbiased and objective narrator, Tommy’s thoughts about Tuppence are usually the

same as the last quote, it supports the idea that he sees Tuppence as somewhat

weak, even if he knows her well. In Postern of Fate, the protagonists are well into the

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70s, concern must be an ingrained part of life, though it still sounds odd and

controlling, the concern has its roots in love, which is another topic that I will be

diving into later on.

In spite of the unfavorable opinions about the female protagonists, they usually

topple the expectations people - including the readers - put on them, and are

unbothered by what other people think. Miss Marple, as an example, does not let

people dictate to her what she can or can’t do, and when it comes to the necessary

moment, she is decisive and focused. She talks “sharply”, knows how to get the

information she wants, and even speaks in a very different tone compared to what

she is usually presented in: “To keep back any piece of information is a very serious

offense” (Christie, 1942, p. 225) which is a complete difference in diction, going from

Miss Marple’s usual colloquial language to a sudden formal expression, almost like

she is a different person at that moment. The juxtaposition adds a layer to Miss

Marple, contradictory ideas expressing themselves amongst her, and it shocks the

reader into understanding her character better. These are the moments when the

strengths of Christie’s characters come out: in the perfect moment, with all the

answers in their hands, and ready to solve whatever murder has occurred. In

likewise manner, Tuppence is a key element in her novels. When placed next to her

husband, the second protagonist, she looks like the impulsive, brash one; despite

that, she always moves things forward and focuses on the mysteries with an

incredible fixation, like she is “out on the hunt” (Chrsitie, 1983, p. 75). She is

passionate about what she does, and that always gets her to a satisfying end point.

The overt the expectations from society, and in a way as modern as younger

characters in Christie’s earlier works. It goes to show how the author's own

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experiences and age influence the characters directly, and is a reflection of her life.

Perhaps by looking down on Miss Marple and Tuppence by other characters,

Christie is reflecting of women’s lower position on what men, and therefore society,

think they are capable of intellectually. This aspect was remarked upon by Woolf

(1929, p. 7), about women’s lack of accessibility to places of education because of

their social position.

Conclusion

The overall role of female characters on Agatha Christie’s work is very dynamic.

Putting Miss Marple and Tuppence aside, you are left with an array of varied

characters that are key to the novel. They can easily be categorized in some of the

archetypes I already mentioned, but there are as well combinations of every possible

aspect that society allows in a woman, or at least appears to allow. Even as

stereotyped characters, they have opposing ideas, conservative and liberal

ideologies fighting to be represented in them. Age does not change this fact, but

shifts according to Christie’s own viewpoint and experiences. That is the catch:

Christie’s characters are very faithful to what she saw in her surrounding life,

therefore they fit under social norms with ease, none of her female characters are

risky outliers of what the public is used to, which is definitely because Christie’s own

social circle. Her characters are not rebellious and anormal, they do not subvert

tropes or go against society. They are reflections and caricatures, something that

allows the reader to understand the function of British society, a white, middle-upper

high class society.

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What Christie does is surround the reader with that society. She uses language,

dialogue, and descriptions to fabricate this world where one can recognize the faults

and strengths in people, and where one can pinpoint society’s interchangeable

opinion on women, undermining and hiding their honest opinions on modernity and

independence. The conflicting representations are side to side with Britain’s

development as a culture and a working nation after two decisive wars shifted their

lifestyle. The characters are not exact reflections of Christie’s own opinions, and

even if there is nothing outwardly defiant about her work, it’s a representation of a

British society deeply rooted on its traditional values along women, and they do not

seem to move away, at least throughout Agatha Christie’s lifetime.

References List

Agatha Christie Limited. (2016). How Christie Wrote. Retrieved October 25, 2018,

from https://www.agathachristie.com/about-christie/how-christie-wrote

Christie, A. (2011). Murder on the Orient Express. New York, NY: Harper.

Christie, A. (1983). Postern of Fate. Fontana Paperbacks.

Christie, A. (1942). The Body in the Library. Retrieved from

www.perfectbound.com/agathachristie

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Murray, J. (2011, March 03). History - British History in depth: 20th Century Britain:

The Woman's Hour. Retrieved January 25, 2019, from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/jmurray_01.shtml

Ro, C. (2018, September 14). Culture - Agatha Christie shaped how the world sees

Britain. Retrieved October 25, 2018, from

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180907-agatha-christie-shaped-how-the-world-

sees-britain

Vipond, M. (1981). Agatha Christie's Women. International Fiction Review, 8(2), 119-

123. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from

https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/IFR/article/view/13509

Woolf, V. (1929). A Room of One's Own. Retrieved from www.feedbooks.com

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