Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Wallace, Miriam
Keywords
Women, Christie, Agatha, Rinehart, Mary Roberts, Detectives, Gender
Area of Concentration
English
Abstract
This thesis focuses on women detective in the works of British Agatha Christie and American Mary Roberts Rinehart. I look at Christie’s first Miss Jane Marple novel, The Murder at the Vicarage, and the two Nurse Hilda Adams novels by Rinehart: Miss Pinkerton and The Haunted Lady. This work examines the way in which the works of these two authors change the genre of detective fiction, making it more feminized compared to their earlier male counterparts. Utilizing research on the genre of detective fiction itself, Miss Marple if looked at first to understand the ways Marple functioned within the novel that was different and similar to established genre expectations. Nurse Adams was explored in relation to Marple to illuminate the different concerns each author had in there works concerning societal norms, the genre, and the ways in which these women exercise gendered expectations to their advantage in solving murders in their respective novels.
Recommended Citation
O'Meara, Olive, "HUMAN NATURE AND INTUITION: WOMAN’S DETECTION IN CHRISTIE AND RINEHART" (2015). Theses & ETDs. 5086.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5086