Miss Marple

A PORTRAIT OF MISS JANE MARPLE

 

THE BIRTH OF MISS MARPLE

 "...but I cannot remember  where, when or how I wrote it, why I came to write it, or even what suggested to me that I should select a new character - Miss Marple - to act as the sleuth in this story."

One of the cover of first Miss Marple book: The Murder at the Vicarage

Miss Marple first appeared in a series of six short stories in Britain's The Sketch magazine. She was a member of the Tuesday Club, a discussion group that met in the quiet Kentish village of St. Mary Meade to discuss unsolved crimes. Other members included the vicar; Miss Marple's nephew, Raymond West, a successful novelist; his fiancee Joyce, an artist; and others. However, it was Miss Marple who always arrived at the solutions to the crimes.

These short stories were collected with seven others written especially for the volume as The Thirteen Problems U.S. title The Tuesday Club Murders in 1932 (cointains the following short stories; The Tuesday Night Club, The Idol House of Astarte, Ingots of Gold,The Bloodstained Pavement, Motive versus Opportunity, The Thumb Mark of St.Peter, The Blue Geranium, The Companion, The Four Suspects, The Christmas Tragedy, The Herb of Death, The Affair at the Bungalow, Death by Drowning) two years after Miss Marple's first novel appearance, in Murder at the Vicarage (1930). 

Miss Marple

This is what Agatha wrote in her Autobiography "Murder at the Vicarage was published in 1930, but I cannot remember  where, when or how I wrote it, why I came to write it, or even what suggested to me that I should select a new character - Miss Marple - to act as the sleuth in this story. Certainly at that time I had no intention of continuing her for the rest of my life. I did not know that she was to become a rival of Hercule Poirot."

In her Autobiography Christie also wrote the reason, because of which she had created Miss Marple. It goes like this: "I think it is possible that Miss Marple arose from the pleasure I had taken in portraying Dr Sheppard's sister in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. She had been my favourite character in the book - an acidulated spinster, full of curiosity, knowing everything, hearing everything: the complete detective service in the home."

Miss Marple on the stamp

In 1939 The Regatta Mystery and  other stories was published (it contains the following short stories; The Regatta Mystrey, The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest, How Does Your Garden Grow?, Problem at Pollensa Bay, Yellow Iris, Miss Marple Tells a Story, The Dream, In a Glass Darkly, Problem At Sea).

There are twelve years between the first Marple novel and the second, The Body in the Library (1942), although some short story appearances intervened. In the same year (1942) another Miss Marple novel was published The Moving Finger. In 1950 another novel was published A Murder Is Announced. Two years later, so in 1950 They Do it with Mirrors (Murder with Mirrors, US title) came out. In 1953 another mystery Pocket Full of Rye. 4.50 From Paddington (What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw / Murder She Said) followed in 1957, and was a few years later made into film with Margaret R. as Miss Marple. Five years later (in 1962) a new novel The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side (The Mirror Crack'd), which plot has a strong similaraty to the icident that occurred in the life of one actress.

Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple on a stamp

A Caribbean Mystery in 1962, another Miss Marple novel. In this novel Miss Marple meets Mr. Rafiel, who after his death, will call upon the detective for help in Nemesis (1971) but meanwhile is another novel, At Bertram's Hotel (1965). Nemesis is tehnically the last Marple mystry written althoug Sleeping Murder was the last published in 1976. Christie wrote it at the same time as Poirot's last case, during world war II (because she was afraid she would be killed in a war) and was kept in a vault until its publication more than thirty years later. In 1979 (three years after Christie's death) new collection of short stories Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories is published . This book contains six short stories and despite the title these stories recount cases from the middle of her career, rather than her final adventures, and all are reprinted from earlier collections. 

In all together that she appeared in twelve novels (Murder at the Vicarage -1930, The Body in The Library-1942, The Moving Finger-1942, They Do it with Mirrors-1950, Pocket Full of Rye-1953, 4.50 From Paddington-1957, The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side-1962, Caribbean Mystery-1962, At Bertram's Hotel-1965, Nemesis-1971, Sleeping Murder-1976) and twenty short stories  over a period of forty-one years-- making her quite elderly by her last case!

 

A PORTRAIT OF MISS MARPLE

 "In appearance Miss Marple is a tall woman with a pink, wrinkled face, pale blue eyes and snowy white hair which she wears pilled upon her head in an old-fashioned manner."

Joan Hickson as ultimate Miss Marple

One can often come across the statement that Miss Marple is in fact a portrait of her grandmother and I think that Agatha Christie herself explains this the best in her Autobiography.

It says: "I started with Miss Marple, the sort of old ladies who would have been rather like some of my grandmother's Ealing cronies - old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl. Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was. But one thing she did have in common with her - though a cheerful person, she always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and was, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right."

 

ST. MARY MEAD

 "Miss Marle was born in a small village St. Mary Mead at the age of sixty-five to seventy."

 Miss Marple was born in a small village St. Mary Mead at the age of sixty-five to seventy.

St. Mary Mead - a village of Miss Marple

Together with her were born also Miss Hartnell, Miss Wetherby and Colonel and Mrs. Bantry. And there was ofcourse also Miss Marple's nephew Raymond West, a modern novelist. Miss Marple, Miss Hartnell, and Miss Wetherby all three of them old spinsters, live next door to each other.

She lives in St Mary Mead in the county of Downshire. For Miss Marple this village is the heart of the old world, a small village, where she not only knows all the people but also their gossip and secrets. Nevertheless St. Mary Mead is far from being a boring place, which is revealed by the village's statistics: In the timespan of approximately forty years there were sixteen murder cases in this village - five through poison, two were shot, two died by drowning, two were strangled and five due to non-identifieable causes. In addition to this there were four murder attempts, by poison, strangulation and blows to the head. During the same time there were also five robberies, eight embezzlements and two series of blackmailing. They were all solved by Miss Marple.

 

 THE MANY FACES OF MISS MARPLE ON TV & SCREEN

 "Geraldine McEwan is the new Miss Marple."

 

Geraldine McEwan as brand new Miss Marple

Brand new Miss Marple dramatizations, starring Geraldine McEwan as Miss Jane Marple this set features four feature length films, The Body In The Library (2004), A Murder Is Announced (2004), Murder At The Vicarage (2004) and 4.50 From Paddington (2004).

Geraldine McEwan is a new Miss Marple, previous there were, Gracie Fields, Margaret Rutherford, Angela Lansbury, Helen Hayes and Joan Hickson.

The first Miss Marple was played by British stage star Gracie Fields as Miss Marple in a US TV play entitled A Murder is Announced (1956).

The character wasn't revived again until 1961 when MGM splashed out on the wonderful and highly popular Murder, She Said (1962) starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. The tone was overall far more jolly and humorous than the darker novel and the following three films Murder at the Gallop (1963),

A scene from Murder Most Foul (1964), starring Margaret rutherford as Miss Marple and Charles Tingwell as Inspector Craddock.

Murder Most Foul (1964) and Murder Ahoy (1964) became increasingly silly, if still rather fun. Despite her hatred of the MGM films Christie still became great friends with Rutherford and dedicated a Miss Marple book, "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" to her.

A British film adaptation of that book by EMI was made in 1980 entitled The Mirror Crack'd (1980) starring Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple. This remarkably stodgy movie was made even more ridiculous by the fact that Lansbury was obviously too young for the role.

The same comment could hardly be made of that grand dame of American theatre Helen Hayes as Miss Marple, who appeared in the mildly entertaining A Caribbean Mystery (1983) and at the age of 85 in the dreary Murder With Mirrors"(1985).

The ultimate Miss Marple was played by Joan Hickson in the long running BBC TV series (1985-1992). Ultimate not only because most fans thought so, but because Christie once remarked "someday I would like you to play my Miss Marple" to a young Joan Hickson.

 

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Movies: Murder She Said (1962)