Reflection of the 1930s British Society in a Selected Work of British Fiction

Abstract

This thesis analyses the British society of the 1930s. The acquired historical data are compared against the detective novels written by Agatha Christie in order to find out to what extent the examined works are reliable. The first chapter outlines a true picture of the British society in the thirties. In particular, there are highlighted the key events that influenced the happenings and developments in the British society. The historical facts are illustrated with examples from Agatha Christie's life. The following chapter covers British literature of that period. It also includes detective prose which experienced its Golden age in the 1930s. This section defines the concept of detective genre, specifies the rules that had to be followed in the course of writing of these stories, and last but not least, also lists the authors engaged in this type of creation. The following part is devoted to Agatha Christie herself. The methods of her creation are uncovered i.e. how she wrote, where she got her ideas, what influenced her creation. Subsequently, typical characters from her books are described, with emphasis on their peculiar appearance and characteristics, but also on possible similarities with real people that could inspire the authoress. The main focus of this thesis, however, are women living in the thirties, that is why the last chapter is devoted exclusively to the position of women in the society of the examined era. These facts are analysed on the novels written by Agatha Christie.