Abstract

Agatha Christie who was recognized as the “Mistress of Mystery” brought British classical detective novels into a golden age and she achieved a unmatched height in this field. The society background, family background and her marriage experience make great influence on her creation. As a female writer, her detective novels reflect her feminist tendency. She created feminized detective images and some female criminals who had same abilities and intelligence as men. However, under the influence of the Victorian tradition, she was inevitably submitted to the male discourse. Thus Agatha Christie showed the anti-feminism view through her works. This paper aims to find out Agatha Christie’s feminist tendency and her anti-feminism view through analyzing the plot and some important characters in Endless Night and Death on the Nile. This article is characterized by the combination of Agatha Christie's personal background, the background of the time, and the ideas she reveals in her works to discuss her contradictory feminine consciousness.

Key words: Agatha Christie; detective fictions; feminist tendency; anti-feminist

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction . 1

2.Background of Agatha Christie. 2

  2.1. Historical Background. 2

  2.2. Childhood Experience3

  2.3. Marriage Experience3

3. Christie’s Feminist Tendencies 4

 3.1. Two Feminized Detectives: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple 4

  3.2. Brilliant female criminals .5

4. Christie’s Anti-Feminist View  6

  4.1. The end-result of woman: Marriage and Family.6

  4.2. Typical Female Images in Traditional Literature: Angle and Monster 7

5. Conclusion . 8

References9