Golden Age a Detection Fiction of the Interwar Period - Essay Example

Why the Detection Fiction of the Interwar Period Was Described as a “Golden Age” Introduction The Golden Age of detective fiction refers to both specific subgenre and (the cozy) and the historical period (the interwar years) (James, 2009). It is loosely defined as a soft-boiled detective fiction released between the two war (World War 1 and World War 2). The Golden Age of Detective Fiction” was arguably caused by the interwar period (James, 2009). This essay seeks to discuss, with reference to different fiction novels of Agatha Christie, why the Detection Fiction of the Interwar Period Was described as a “Golden Age." During this period, the detective novels were largely characterized by their intellectual games between the reader and author, and the clue-based mysteries (Scaggs, 2005). In this era, a Detection Club that consisted of renowned detective authors, agreed on rules that a writer of detective fiction was to operate. One of these rules was the “Cluepuzzle." From the clues both the reader and detective were to ensure they drew rational conclusions. Other rules agreed upon included the crime, the detective, the setting, and the criminal. These rules made the Golden Age a distinct sub-genre within the context of crime fiction. It was during this period that the spinster detectives became more popular especially on the fictional stage. Prior to this era, detectives were dominated by men, with women taking roles of villains or victims. Women were rarely played a role of the main protagonists (Scaggs, 2005). To this effect, women authors had to come up with a way that they could bring in female detectives that would not end up threatening the male dominated territory. The harmless old spinster became the perfect solution. Clever yet innocent-looking spinster detective like Agatha Chritie’s Miss Marple, and Dorothy Sayers’ Miss Climpson were introduced. These two detectives were conceived well with the English readership. This helped open up new kinds of detective fiction. The World War 1 played a significant role in the success of the spinster detectives. In the pre-war society, few rights were granted to women as they were meant to live very restricted lives. Women who were unmarried had lower social status. They were seen as women who had failed to fulfil natural duties required of her as a mother and a wife. The World War 1 created opportunities for women to demonstrate and prove themselves (Ross, 1973). This resulted into multiple changes for the women. Besides, many men had been lost in the course of the war. It was estimated that about 2 million women in the United Kingdom who lacked husbands. All these paved way for the beginning of the Spinster detectives. The aim of this essay is to discuss with reference to the fiction of Agatha Christie why the detection fiction of the interwar period described as a “Golden Age" (Scaggs, 2005). Body of Literature The Golden age novels continued to appear into 1950s. “The Mysterious Affair at Style (1920)” Agatha Christie’s novel is referred to is the first ever Golden Age novel. The hard-boiled mysteries of America appeared in 20s and 30s emerged as alternatives to Golden Age fiction. Although, British authors dominate the Golden age, some Americans such as John Dickson Carr, S.S. Van Dive and Ellery Queen were also involved (Ross, 1973). Stephen Knight preferred “Clue-puzzle” to the golden age since puzzle plots seemed to have dominated the fiction (Julian, 1992). However, the terminology “Golden Age” tends to evoke pastoral association, a vital element of these mysteries. The two most important authors from Britain are Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Anthony Berkeley, Ngaio Marsh and Margey Alligham (Julian, 1992). Detective novels by the aforementioned authors are still popular with readers. The novel during this was puzzle-driven. Writers of this period focused on intriguing and cleaver storylines, at the expense of the development of character. In this novels, the crime is murder and plot includes certain accessories such as railway timetable, maps and floor plain. The central thing about this novels is the idea that the reader tries solving and detecting a crime ahead of some brilliant detectives such as Lord Wimsey and Hercules (Julian, 1992). Solving criminal activities is a rational deductive process, which is the main characteristic of the “Golden Age novel. The most striking feature of such types of novels is that they have a setting, which is clearly set apart from the theories’ predecessors, provides for rational analysing determinedly circumstantial evidence (Scaggs, 2005). During the 1920’s, various rules were proposed by various authors s guidelines for the time. Van Dive established 20 rules for writing detective stories; Chesterton G.K wrote about the ideal detective story. Ronald Knox, a mystery write developed the detective story Decalogue. This was a set of strictures for genres. The key thing about the Golden Age Novel was the concept of having a “fair play” between the reader and the author. Authors were required to give enough clues to the reader in order to help solve the mystery. Characters of the Golden Age “tended to flatten fictional personalities to help enhance the puzzle element’s motivic rationale, frequently resorting to ethnic, class and racial stereotypes. Characters were frequent members of the upper-class society; victims have authority or wealth; and murderers are part of a similar social class (Julian, 1992). Detectives were presented as being incredibly observant and clever: most are amateurs and most are male. As observed by Ross Macdonald, readers of the Golden Age mysteries get attracted to a romanticized view of the affluence depicted in the novels. In the Golden Age novel, events occur in the village and rural settings, circumscribe, landscape with self-contained rather than sprawl. The places have little relation to realities of the post-war world most of them are well informed. Most of these novels tend to have a pastoral retreat about them. The two key subsets of the genre are based up settings: the country-house mystery and locked-room mystery (Scagga, 2005). Rowland argues that the country house is a structure that tend to oppose the social instabilities formed by modern capitalism (Rowland 2001). The highly valued issue of the mysteries presented here is stability and certainty. Towards the end of the Golden Age novel, James (2009, 75) explains “all the problems will be solved, all mysteries explained and peace and order would return to a mythical village that, despite its above average rate of homicide, never loses its innocence or tranquillity”. The Golden Age mystery novel is arguably the interwar perfect fit. During the Great depression and the aftermath of the world War one, people wanted to return to happier times and order. The detective novel provided a perfect model of stability and order and distracted people from present anxieties. Not surprising argues Rzepka, detective fiction tended towards being conservative, preserving the status quo. Despite the lack of sophisticated characterization and conventional leaning, there emerged some notable fine examples of good and skilful detective fiction (Julian, 1992). The Historical Explanation The golden age for the fiction detective is mostly span from 1920 to 1939. Howard Havcraft introduced the phrase by insisting that the golden age was to cover the 1920. The phrase is referred to in the reverential terms and for appropriate reasons since it gave a chance to Agatha Christie to introduce Hercule Poirot. The proper period of the golden age is always taken to refer to any category of fictery of fashion that dominated the 1920s and the 1930s and was written from the year 1911 and is still being developed in smaller portions today (Ross, 1973). During the history of story detection, Bloody murder by Julian Symons tops the two chapters that are devoted to the golden age during the twenties and the thirties. Symons argued that Philip Van Doren the author of one article referred to as the corpse of the Blind Alley served as the obituary during the golden age (Julian, 1992). The different authors in the period of the golden age had the British origin. These included Allingham Margery of the year 1904 to 1966, Berkely Antony of the year 1893 to 1971, Innes Michael of the year 1906 to 1993, MacDonald Philip of the year 1900 to 1980, Sayers Dorothy of the years between 1895 and 1982 had New Zealand origin but her detective was from Britain. Simenon George was from Belgium and released his piece in French. A number of the authors including Diskson John Carr, Dine van, and Queen Ellery had American origins but had related styles. Other authors like chandler Raymond and Hammett Dachiell had similar but boiled styles of America (Julian, 1992). Golden Age of detective fiction involved the genre apex that embodied different relevant elements that made a form appealing. It involves the collection of the created atmosphere in novels, the complex solved puzzle. The puzzle was solved by sheer with or with no modern forensic science help and the nostalgia that provoked the people to continue reading the novel. Even as authors like Sir and Poe of Dayle gave birth to the modern story of detection, the Golden age authors like Agatha Chistie, have failed to shift away from fashion. Different writers some with experience like Christie fell by the way side and out of favour. The setting of this era is seen as traditionally English, and was expected to be somewhat predictable and formulaic. The country house of English cruise ships, trains, and the sleepy English village were personified by Miss Marple of Agatha Christie (Rzepka, 2005). Different golden age writers sort for personal experience for the settings and the background of the plots. For example, Ngaio marsh, a famous theatrical producer mostly utilized theatre as one backdrop. The freeman Crofts Wills who was a railway engineer was delighted and bored his audience different aspects that related to the railway. Even though the different influential age detective fiction was produced and written in the early period, the prodigious output in the different authors implies that the consistency and the quality were suffered later on. Golden age period theoretically ended in the year 1939 (Rzepka, 2005). Different authors advanced their writing and some new authors set in and obtained their roots from the golden age. Different todays contemporary authors have followed the patters of the golden age and they locate their pattern from the golden age predecessors. In this respect, a detective story needs to have the unravelling of the mystery. The elements of the mystery should clearly be presented to those readers at an initial stage of the proceeding. The nature of the work should arouse curiosity that is gratified at the end. This would be the pattern of the ‘cosy’ golden age detective fiction for the many writers to come (Rzepka, 2005). Some clichés and conventions were made to limit the surprises from the reader’s side to the plot details. This was basically relevant in identifying the murderer. Most of the novels of the golden age, and the different authors excelled after having their readers successfully mislead. This happened in identifying the least likely convincingly suspect as being a villain. There existed some predilection in some cases of certain things and characters with the secluded country English house and the top class inhabitants being extremely common (Knight, 2004). The golden mystery were, considered as being games and were codified through Ronald Knox. As per Knox, any detective story needs to have the main interest unravelled in the mystery. A mystery with elements clearly displayed to the reader at the early proceeding stage and whose nature was arousing the curiosity that was gratified in the end. The ten commandments of Knox, included the criminal need to mention in the initial section of the story whose ideas need not be known by the reader. The preternatural and supernatural agencies were ruled out due to the course (Knight, 2004). The other rule is that no more than a passage can be allowable. No undiscovered poisons can be used nor any appliance that would need a lengthy scientific discussion in the end. The story was also expected not to have Chinaman. For the understanding of the significance of female detection in the golden age of the detective Fiction, there was an understanding of the cultural shift that happened in Britain at the time of the First World War. According to Dorothy L, on the spinster detection of Miss Climpsons, genre description of changes. During the old days, one unmarried woman arrived with his suitcases alone and was not taken to be respectable (Knight, 2004). This was a wonderful difference that one could find. When the First World War came to an end, the social environment of Britain was altered and in the population of female, there existed different opportunities. An initial step towards the suffrage of females was seen after the war. This led to the right to give women the votes. In universities, women were given full membership and obtained access to the male professions. This is described as a duration when the women could be legally recognised and taken as persons who are morally responsible. Even though the war was a turning point for a shift in culture, the independence of the women debate was not new. The movement of feminists like the suffragettes for many years did fight violently for the equal rights of the women. The war provided an unprecedented occasion that displayed the vital function of providing security to the British nation. The women seized the chance of joining the war by taking up the vacant positions of work when the men went out to battle. In the year 1914, over six in the nineteen million women with ages above ten in Britain were employed to fill up the empty spaces in the domestic service, industries together with commerce. In a time of war, the number increased to about 7.3 million individuals who were working (Knight, 2004). To the different middle class women, the war provided them the first chance of working away from home. In this case, women war-workers abandoned the stiff corsets, which were mandatory to the girls over the age of thirteen years. The lengthy skirts of the prior era had been exchanged for the short skirts. The short haircut that had been adopted by homeland-workers in the war were extremely popular. The female munition clothing worker was inspired by a new universal fashion of the boyish figures, which was ideal to the pre-war hourglass figure. The new fashion and hairstyle was an outward sign of the women with freedom (Knight, 2004). When the war came to an end, women were not seen as patriots who served their countries and were expected to return home and have their positions vacated from the returning soldiers. A number of women were used to the new lifestyle of financial independence and were not ready to give up their jobs to the men who needed the war. Increased pressure from the trade union made the women be dismissed from their jobs in printing, factories, engineering and the transport of work with no unemployment benefits. The young women who the war demobilized them decided to get married. Finding a husband was equally one great challenge (Knight, 2004). Before the onset of the war, there were many women in Britain. The multiplication of war causalities made the situation to worsen. About 25 percent of the men were killed in the battle field. About one point five million of the men were incapacitated permanently by the sustained injuries. The 1921 Census showed that there existed a prospect of over two million surplus women who could never get married and have children because of the shortages of men (Rzepka, 2005). Conclusion This study reported the reasons why the detection fiction of the interwar period was described as a ‘Golden Age. The paper clearly highlights the fiction of Agatha Christie during the golden age. The study found out that the detective novels by the aforementioned authors are still popular with readers. The novel during this period was puzzle-driven. Writers of this period focused on intriguing and cleaver storylines, at the expense of the development of character. In this novel, the crime is murder and plot includes certain accessories such as railway timetable, maps and floor plain. The central thing about this novels is the idea that the reader tries solving and detecting a crime ahead of some brilliant detectives such as Lord Wimsey and Hercules. Solving criminal activities is a rational deductive process, which is the main characteristic of the “Golden Age novel. The most striking feature of such types of novels is that they have a setting, which is clearly set apart from the theories’ predecessors, provides for rational analysing determinedly circumstantial evidence. References Agatha, C. 1967.Hercule Poirots Christmas. London: Pan Books. James, P. 2009. Talking about Detective Fiction. New York, NY: Afred Knopf. Knight, S. 2004. Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Death, Detection, Diversity. Houndmills. UK: Palgrve Macmillan. Ross, M. 1973. The Writer as Detective Hero. In Crime Writing. Santa Barbara, CA: Capra. Rzepka, C. 2005. Detective Fiction. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Scaggs, J. 2005. Crime Fiction. London. Routledge. Julian, S. 1992. Blood Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel. New York: Mysterious Press. Read More