Miss Marple

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Jane Marple , better known as Miss Marple , is a fictional character in several detective novels and short stories by the English author Agatha Christie (1890-1976). Miss Marple is an elderly lady who works as an astute amateur detective. She determined in 12 novels and 20 short stories.

Fictional CV

Miss Marple is a cultivated, tall, somewhat pale-skinned and fragile-looking older lady with blue eyes who comes from the upper middle class. She appears to be around 65 when she first appeared in short stories in the 1930s, and when she first appeared, she wore her white hair pinned up under a black lace cap, while her favorite pastime was knitting, her hands with black lace gloves with half fingers covered. Her life seems to be based on her parents' inheritance, but she has to be very economical. Your father seems to have been a canon of a cathedral. In her childhood she lived in a nursery with mauve-colored irises on the wallpaper, had a sister and was looked after by a German teacher. Even at that time she knew how to work with invisible ink , was interested in magic tricks and loved visiting Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London. Miss Marple had a grandmother named Clara, a great aunt named Fanny, a great uncle named Thomas who was a retired admiral, an aunt Helen, an uncle Henry, an uncle who was canon of Chichester Cathedral , and another uncle named Thomas, was the Canon of Ely . There were also two cousins ​​named Anthony and Gordon and cousins ​​Fanny Godfrey and Ethel, Lady Merridey. At the age of 14 she was allowed to spend a vacation with her aunt Helen and uncle Thomas in Bertram's hotel, which she remembers very well after almost 60 years. At the age of 16, Miss Marple was sent to a school in Florence, Italy , where she met two Americans, Ruth and Carrie Louise Martin, who would play a role in her later life.

The relatives are all mentioned once in the novels, but at the time the stories are told, they are no longer alive apart from their nephew Raymond West. Although she had several lovers, she was never married. Raymond West takes great care of Miss Marple, supports her financially from time to time and is very concerned about her health, which even leads to the fact that he gives her several vacations. Miss Marple is prone to bronchitis , has had pneumonia twice and has been prescribed eye drops with atropine sulfate for her deteriorating eyesight . Otherwise, she doesn't think much of medication and swears by traditional home remedies such as flaxseed compresses, camphor oil for coughs or chamomile tea.

Miss Marple lives in the fictional little village of St. Mary Mead , a typical English town in the equally fictional county of Downshire not far from the larger central town of Much Benham , where the criminal investigation department is also based. Still, the village is by no means a sleepy town: in a period of about forty years there have been sixteen murders - five by poison , two by gunshots, two by drowning , two by strangulation and five by unknown causes. In addition, there were four attempted murder using poison, suffocation and blows to the head, as well as five robberies, eight embezzlements and two series of extortions. Miss Marple cleared them all up.

Miss Marple first appeared in a series of short stories in The Sketch Magazine. Here she was a member of the Tuesday night club ( Tuesday Night Club ), a panel discussion in the vicinity of St. Mary Mead, which dealt with unexplained crime. Other members of the club were Raymond West (Miss Marple's nephew and a successful writer), whose fiancée Joyce Lempriere, an artist, the cosmopolitan Sir Henry Clithering, who was a commissioner at Scotland Yard in previous years, the elderly Dr. Pender, the little lawyer Mr. Petherick, the plump Mrs. Dolly Bantry and her husband Colonel Arthur Bantry, the somewhat limited actress Jane Helier and the everything from a medical point of view Dr. Lloyd. However, it was always Miss Marple who found the solution to the crimes. These short stories were five others in the book The Thirteen problem (1932, US title The Tuesday Club Murders combined), but only two years after the first Miss Marple novel Murder at the Vicarage ( Murder at the Vicarage , 1930) issued.

Agatha Christie later regretted having created her favorite figure as an old lady and therefore having to hand over the “best cases” to the “younger” Hercule Poirot . In the 1976 novel, Roughly Quiet , she last appeared at the age of about 81. We learn from the Roman Bertrams Hotel that Miss Marple has already visited this hotel when she was 14 years old. According to her, it was almost 60 years ago. Therefore, when Bertram's Hotel appeared , its age can be estimated to be around 74 years.

This is countered by Miss Marple from the well-known films: a lovable, quirky old maid , who, however, proves her sharp, logical mind when it comes to solving puzzles. In the best crime tradition, she amazes the local professional law enforcement officers by usually making analogies to previous events and people from village life.

A first well-known actress was the British actress Margaret Rutherford , who played the quirky old lady in four films from 1960 to 1964.

Books with Miss Marple

Novels

Short stories

  • 1932: The Thirteen Problems (German: The Tuesday Night Club ):
    • The Tuesday Night Club (Eng .: The Tuesday Night Club )
    • The Idol House of Astarte (Eng .: The Temple of Astarte)
    • Ingots of Gold (Eng .: the missing gold bars)
    • The Bloodstained Pavement (Eng .: The red bathing suit)
    • Motive v Opportunity (German: The outwitted spiritualist)
    • The Thumb Mark of St Peter (Eng .: The thumbprint of St. Peter)
    • The Blue Geranium (dt .: The blue Geranium)
    • The Companion (dt .: The shareholder)
    • The Four Suspects (dt .: The four suspects)
    • A Christmas Tragedy (German: A Christmas Tragedy )
    • The Herb of Death (dt .: The Deathweed)
    • The Affair at the Bungalow (Eng .: The strange affair with the bungalow)
    • Death by Drowning (Eng .: The Fall of St. Mary Mead)
  • 1960: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Eng .: a diplomatic incident ). Actually an anthology with five Poirot stories, the sixth story is a short story with Miss Marple:
  • 1979: Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories (dt .: Miss Marple's last case )
    • Sanctuary (German: The Asylum)
    • Strange Jest (Eng .: a strange joke)
    • Tape-Measure Murder (German: The pin)
    • The Case of the Caretaker (German: The caretaker)
    • The Case of the Perfect Maid (Eng .: The Pearl)
    • Miss Marple Tells a Story (Eng .: Miss Marple tells a story)

Movies and TV series

cinemamovies

Under the direction of George Pollock played Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple in four films, of which only the first, Murder, She Said , based on a Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie, namely 4:50 from Paddington . The basis for the next two are Hercule Poirot stories and the plot of the last film was based only on motifs by Agatha Christie. The music for these four films was written by the British composer Ron Goodwin . In the film adaptations with Margaret Rutherford, Miss Marple lives on Old Pasture Lane in the fictional village of Milchester .

In these films (but not in the books) Miss Marple also talks about her sporting activities in her youth. In 1910 she claims to have won the “Junior Silver Spurs” at the Rockbrook horse show (The Wax Bouquet) , in 1921 the women's golf championship (4:50 p.m. from Paddington) , and in 1925 she won a gold medal in the women's handguns (four women and one Murder) , and in 1931 she was the national English fencing master (murderer ahoy!) (In the German dubbed version she speaks of 1932).

Miss Marple is accompanied in the films by the librarian Mr. Stringer (played by Stringer Davis ), who does not appear in the literary models. Margaret Rutherford had insisted that her husband appear in the films and so a role was added for him. The two had a short guest appearance in these roles in " The Alphabet Murders " ( The Alphabet Murders , 1965) with Tony Randall (also with the music of Ron Goodwin).

However, Agatha Christie was not impressed by the four Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford. The reason she gave was that while the producers at 4:50 p.m. from Paddington (Murder She Said) had stuck to essential parts of the novel, The Wax Bouquet and Four Women and a Murder had simply replaced Poirot with Miss Marple. Killer ahoy! After all, based on no novel of hers at all, which angered her. Christie was also dissatisfied with the selection of Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, as this did not correspond to the description of her fictional character. According to the novels, Miss Marple was a fragile-looking, slender, pale, and sophisticated lady, whereas Margaret Rutherford was short, well-built, and quite quirky in demeanor. In addition, Rutherford gave the novel character Miss Marple comedic traits. However, it was precisely these films that made her known to viewers who had never read a novel by her before. After Agatha Christie saw how popular Margaret Rutherford had made her fictional character, she dedicated the volume The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side to her .

Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple in the British film Mord im Spiegel from 1980 ; she was supported by such famous stars as Tony Curtis , Rock Hudson , Geraldine Chaplin , Kim Novak and Liz Taylor . The later television series Murder, She Wrote (Eng. " Murder is her hobby ") with Angela Lansbury as crime writer Jessica Fletcher has to some extent parallels to the fictional characters Miss Marple and Ariadne Oliver from the novels of Agatha Christie.

A parody of the Miss Marple character was Elsa Lanchester as "Jessica Marbles" in the film A corpse for dessert .

TV Shows

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple

From 1984 to 1992 the BBC produced a 12-part television series under the title Agatha Christie's Miss Marple . In addition to the leading actress Joan Hickson as Miss Marple and exquisite equipment, this series is characterized above all by the fact that the films are true to the original. In the film version of Murder She Said with Margaret Rutherford 1961 Joan Hickson had a supporting role , the cleaning woman played Mrs. Kidder. The television series is available on DVD in Germany.

Helen Hayes as Miss Marple

In the 1980s, three American television films based on Agatha Christie were produced with Helen Hayes , the last two with her as the clever Miss Marple.

1982: Murder is easy based on the novel "Das Die in Wychwood" by Agatha Christie

1983: A Caribbean Mystery, the film adaptation of The Caribbean Affair , which Lee Holdridge wrote the music for

1985: Murder with Mirrors, the film adaptation of Fata Morgana

Agatha Christie's Marple

From 2004 to 2013 the English television station ITV produced a new Miss Marple series Agatha Christie's Marple in six seasons with 23 episodes. Dominik Scherrer was responsible for the music in this series . The role of Miss Marple was played in the first three seasons by Geraldine McEwan , from the fourth season in 2008 Julia McKenzie took over the role until the end of 2013. Well-known actors appear in the individual episodes, such as u. a. Derek Jacobi , Julian Sands , Jane Seymour or Joan Collins . The first four seasons of this television series have already appeared on DVD with German synchronization.

Radio plays and audio books

All of the novels and short stories with Miss Marple have been published as audio books. The readings are given by Ursula Illert , Katja Brügger , Beate Himmelstoss , Traudel Sperber and others. a. presented.

The radio play series Mimi Rutherfort and the Falls ... with Gisela Fritsch in the eponymous role is not based on the original Miss Marple cases, but by using the surname of the well-known Miss Marple actress Margaret Rutherford echoes of the Agatha Christie -Trimis created, which is reinforced by the use of the theme melody composed by Ron Goodwin of the films with Margaret Rutherford.

Quote

"The young people think the old people are fools, but the old people know the young people are fools."

"Young people think the old are fools, but the old know the young are fools."

- Miss Marple's motto in various books and short stories

literature

  • Anne Hart: Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Her Life and Her Adventures. according to "original documents". Scherz, Bern 1994, ISBN 3-502-51447-X .
  • Luise Berg-Ehlers: With Miss Marple in the country: English crime writers between tearoom and crime scene , Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-938045-77-0 .
  • Klaus F. Rödder: They have their methods - we have ours, Mr. Stringer: Dame Margaret Rutherford - In the footsteps of Miss Marple . Bösche Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-923809-87-5 .
  • Georg Seeßlen : George Pollock and the British Miss Marple films. In: Georg Seeßlen: Murder in the cinema. History and mythology of the detective film. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3-499-17396-4 .
  • Thorsten Winter: "Miss Marple - The Films with Margaret Rutherford" . MPW-Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-942621-05-2 .
  • Judith Kretzschmar, Sebastian Stoppe, Susanne Vollberg (ed.): Hercule Poirot meets Miss Marple. Agatha Christie intermedial . Büchner, Darmstadt 2016, ISBN 978-3-941310-48-3 .
  • Klaus F. Rödder "The Faces of Jane Marple" - The most important actresses of Miss Marple in the cinema, TV and on stage. ISBN 978-3-000562-90-7

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Anne Hart: Miss Marple - her life and her adventures. Chapter 7.
  2. ↑ Anne Hart: Miss Marple - her life and her adventures. Cape. 3.
  3. ^ A b c Anne Hart: Miss Marple - her life and her adventure. Cape. 2.
  4. ↑ Susan M. Kelly: Margaret Rutherford - Great Literary Detectives Series I: Miss Marple
Works by Agatha Christie


Novels with
Hercule Poirot

The Missing Link in the Chain  (1920) • Murder on the Golf Course  (1923) • Alibi  (1926) • The Big Four  (1927) • The Blue Express  (1928) • The House on the Dune  (1932) • Thirteen at Table  ( 1933) • Murder on the Orient Express  (1934) • Nicotine  (1935) • Death in the clouds  (1935) • The murders of Mr ABC  (1936) • Murder in Mesopotamia  (1936) • With open cards  (1936) • Death on the Nile  (1937) • The dog playing the ball  (1937) • Death awaits  (1938) • Hercule Poirot's Christmas  (1938) • Morphine  (1940) • The secret of the buckled shoes  (1940) • Evil under the sun  (1941) • The Unfinished Portrait  (1942) • The Owl House  (1946) • The Death Whirlwind  (1948) • Four Women and a Murder  (1951) • The Wax Bouquet  (1953) • The Kleptomaniac  (1955) • Reunion with Mrs. Oliver  (1956) • The Cat in the Dovecote  (1959) • On a Double Track  (1963) • The Forgetful Murderess  (1966) • The Snow White Party  (1969) • Elephants Don't Forget  (1972) • Curtain  (1975)

Novels with
the Beresfords

A Dangerous Adversary  (1922) • Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf  (1941) • Lots of charming old ladies  (1968) • Age does not protect against ingenuity  (1973)

Novels with
Miss Marple

Murder in the Rectory  (1930) • The Dead in the Library  (1942) • The Shadow Hand  (1943) • A Murder Is Announced  (1950) • Fata Morgana  (1952) • The Secret of the Gold Mine  (1953) • 4:50 p.m. from Paddington  ( 1957) • Murder in the Mirror  (1962) • Caribbean Affair  (1964) • Bertrams Hotel  (1965) • Fate in Person  (1971) • Rough Rest  (1976)

Novels with
fellow investigators

The Man in the Brown Suit  (1924) • The Count's Memoirs  (1925) • The Last Joker  (1929) • The Secret of Sittaford  (1931) • A Step into the Void  (1934) • The Dying in Wychwood  (1939) • And then There was no more  (1939) • Shortly before midnight  (1944) • Avenging ghosts  (1944) • Hydrocyanic acid  (1945) • The crooked house  (1949) • They came to Baghdad  (1951) • The uncanny way  (1954) • Fatal error  ( 1958) • The pale horse  (1961) • Murder made to measure  (1967) • Passenger to Frankfurt  (1970)

Anthologies

Poirot accounts  (1924) • Pandora's Box  (1929) • The Strange Mister Quin  (1930) • The Tuesday Night Club  (1932) • The Dog of Death  (1933) • Something's Lazy  (1934) • Parker Pyne Investigates  ( 1934) • Hercule Poirot Never Sleeps  (1937) • The Labor of Hercules  (1947) • A Diplomatic Incident  (1960) • Poirot's First Cases  (1974) • Miss Marple's Last Cases  (1979) • The Murderous Tea Round  (1991) • As long as it bright is  (1997)