Christie's Silent Killers: Class Inequality and Gender Issues in Interwar Britain Šarić, Ivona Master's thesis / Diplomski rad
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| Abstract Aside from cleverly crafted murder mysteries, Christie’s novels – The Murder at the Vicarage and The Mysterious Affair at Styles – offer an insight into the by First-World-War affected society of interwar Britain. Despite being set in one of the most tempestuous periods inhuman history, the literature of that time avoids addressing the problems arising between the two world wars directly. Instead, it offers a short escape from the everyday turmoil by placing the reader in a comfort of domestic sphere run by feminine yet marginal detectives, Poirot and Miss Marple. To the careful eye it also unravels the ways in which the First World War changed the lives of Britain’s society. Out of all changes, those in the domain of gender and class distinguish themselves as the most important ones and are, for that reason, discussed within the scope of this thesis. While for women these changes brought a liberation from their prescribed role, for the lower classes they meant the equalization of their social position with the upper and middle classes. Considering how easily the effects of the First World War snuck upon the unsuspecting society, it is no wonder that the interwar Britain succumbed so easily under its influence. Keywords murder mystery, Christie, Vicarage, Styles, interwar, gender, class Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 The Faces of Stigma and Marginalization ............................................................................... 4 1.1. Hercule Poirot ................................................................................................................... 4 Miss Jane Marple .............................................................................................................. 6 Interwar Britain as the Village of St. Mary Mead in The Murder at the Vicarage ................. 9 Echoes of the Edwardian Time ......................................................................................... 9 Men Playing Women ...................................................................................................... 11 Women Choosing Their own Roles to Play ................................................................... 13 3. Matriarchate at the Styles Country House ............................................................................. 17 Manly Women ................................................................................................................ 18 Womanly Men ................................................................................................................ 21 Class Distinction .................................................................................................................... 23 Keeping up With the Upper Classes ............................................................................... 24 Good Servant-Bad Servant ............................................................................................. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... Works cited ................................................................................................................................... 31 |