Agatha Christie is one of the most popular female writers of all time. She has written over ninety-six novels. She has written several plays, and seventeen of her novels have been made into major theatre productions; and even following the theatre productions they were then made into motion pictures. Christie is known widely as the “Queen of Crime”. Her work is very familiar to most literary scholars due to their complexity and the mystery of the book; it keeps you guessing the entire book up until the last few pages, they are often referred to as “whodunits”.
Agatha May Clarissa Miller was born on September 15, 1890. She was born in Torquay, UK. She was the youngest of her siblings, including an older brother and sister. Christie and her older sister stayed home while “Agatha’s brother was packed off to boarding school at an early age” (Smaridge 81). Agatha and her sister were not allowed to go to school due to it being very uncommon for girls during those years to go to school. Instead they had a tutor, also known as a governess, come to their house and help them receive some form of education.
Shortly after her brother was sent away to boarding school Agatha’s mother felt it necessary for her sister to be sent to an all girl boarding school as well. Luckily for Agatha her mother chose to keep her at home and become her personal tutor. As Smaridge says, “… her mother, who thought her daughters capable of anything, did not believe in aimless dreaming, even when a child was sick” (82). Her mother would encourage her to write stories when she had spare time, so that she was not just sitting around wasting time and brain power. “She wrote poetry, and she was interested in the soul” says Acocella. Agatha was very much inspired by...
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...ristie: Overview." St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers. Ed. Jay P. Pederson. 4th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1996. St. James Guide to Writers Series. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.
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Osborne, Charles. The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie. London: Collins, 1982. Print.
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Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, Devon, England on September 15th, 1890. She was the daughter of Frederick Alvah Miller and Clarissa Margaret Miller (Agatha Christie). Her father was an American who dwindled in stockbroking, but unfortunately died when Agatha was the age of eleven. (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). Her mother “Clara” was the daughter of a British army captain. Agatha was the youngest child and had one elder brother and one elder sister. Her elder brother, Louis Montant Miller, was ten years older and her elder sister Margaret Frary Miller was eleven years older (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). Agatha spent her childhood alone while her brother and sister were at school, and this isolation led to her extensive imagination (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). She never received a formal education but was taught by her parents and nurse (Magill 94-97). Agatha Christie was able to teach herself the ability of reading by the age of five (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). At the age of sixteen, she received her first formal education in Paris. She learned about singing and piano (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). Later at the age of twenty five, Christie began contemplating the idea of being an author. She was told by her sister that she was incapable of writing, and this is what inspired her to start writing books (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). In the year 1914, Agatha Christie married Archibald Christie whom she met while working as a nurse at the hospital (Agatha Christie). Archie and Agatha went on to have their only child, Rosalind Hicks, who was born on August 5th, 1915 (Agatha Christie’s Biography, Luzmore). This experience in the medical fi...
In Brother Grimm’s “Brother Lustig”, the main character, Brother Lustig, is initially portrayed as an honest, inexperienced and stupid young man, who shares all his possessions with others. For this reason, when analyzing Brother Grimm’s tale form a Jungian psychoanalytic perspective, will become a prime example of a character experiencing individuation, for he eventually becomes a more selfish, cunning and independent person. Through meeting his archetypes, Brother Lustig goes from an honest, stupid and generous person, who shares his wealth and possessions with the less fortunate ones to a cunning, selfish and self-sufficient trickster. Brother Lustig’s burgeoning conscious is demonstrated through an analysis of his Jungian archetypes, with the shapeshifting beggar, acting as his positive shadow, and St. Peter personifying as his symbolic Self.
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Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, published by Washington Square Press, is regarded by most critics to be her masterpiece. After publishing almost eighty books, this was the one she was truly most proud of. Why? Mainly, because critics have quoted it to have sold more copies than Shakespeare and the Bible. However, Christie has so much more to be proud of in this novel.
One of eight children born to George and Cassandra Austen in 1775, Jane grew up in a happy, loving home, filled with spirited, candid conversations (Teuber 5, 8). Although Jane was “discovered” again during Victorian times, she grew up during the Georgian era, which is considered a period of enlightenment (Laski 24). She was especially close to her only sister, Cassandra, and when she was sent away to school, Jane accompanied her even though she was only six (Swisher 16). Her mother commented, “If Cassandra were going to have her head cut off, Jane would insist on sharing her fate” (Laski 23). At eleven year of age, Cassandra and Jane came home and the rest of their education was overseen by their father (Swisher 16). Mr. Austen had distinguished himself in college as quite a scholar and had built up an extensive library which was at the girls’ disposal (Laski 24). The entire family were avid readers and no restrictions appear to have been placed on what the girls could read (Halperin 26). Although not very organized, the girls received a better education than most girls at the time (Laski 24).
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
In conclusion Agatha Christie wrote this very popular novel called And Then There Were None , to teach the readers that free or not you are never free from justice. By using both external and internal conflicts with the characters, symbolism with the poem Ten Little Soldiersand the china figures both symbolizing each character and irony of Justice Wargrave. This book is one of the reasons why Christie became the first grandmaster recognized by the mystery writers of America
Agatha’s purpose, as a woman once in high regard, is to exhibit and embody virtue, sensitivity and gentleness. This is what the Creature learns from just how she holds herself when she walks: “The girl was young and of gentle demeanour, unlike what I have since found cottagers and farm-house servants to be. [...] she looked patient,” (CITE FROM CHAPTER 11, PG 4). The monster also learns from her interactions with her blind father, “Agatha listened with respect, her eyes sometimes filled with tears, which she endeavored to wipe away unperceived” (93). Since he has never seen kindness before, through her inactive and tender nature, acts as a lesson for the monster towards healthy, human relationships formed out of love. Frankenstein’s monster’s next lesson comes from a close friend to Agatha,
married Colonel Archibald Christie. They had one daughter, whose name was Rosalind, and then they divorced in 1928. She started writing in 1920, and her first book published was The Mysterious Affair at Styles. She wrote And Then There Were None in 1939. Agatha Christie has become one of the most famous writer of mystery novels. And Then There Were None is a murder mystery type book.
"The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The 20th Century: Review: Summary." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The 20th Century: Review: Summary. W.W. Norton and Company, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Christie’s father died when she was young. She was raised by her mom. She grew up in family full of stories- from dramatic, suspenseful tales her mother told her at bedtime, to her elder sister’s frightening creations. Agatha Christie was encouraged by her mother to write poetry and stories from a very early age. When sh...