Since her first introduction to mystery readers in the short story, “The Tuesday Night Club” published nearly eighty-five years ago, the amiable and omniscient Miss Marple is forever underestimated by the characters surrounding her. The dozen or so novels which demonstrate her cunning methods of crime solving, beginning with Murder in the Vicarage, (1930) have been read in numerous languages during the ensuing decades. Even today Miss Marple books are likely available in every bookstore and library around the globe, as well as in most e-reader formats.
So what is it about Miss Marple? Why does she live forever on our bookshelves and in our minds, even as gunslinging women with exceptional physical prowess have come to prominence in the mystery world? (See Carrie Netzer Wajda’s Criminal Element post “Today’s Female Crime Fighters: Not Nancy Enough?”)
It is likely that Miss Marple’s near invisibility lets the reader identify in an “if she can solve the puzzle, so can I” kind of way. I know I’d be hard pressed to chase criminals around town and it isn’t likely that I could force a confession out of a villian. Miss Marple is proof that an attentive and rational intellect can be more effective than actual pugnacity. People differ extensively in degrees of brawn and physical skills but every reader has a brain and while we may not like to repeat gossip, we often listen when it comes our way. I once wrote that Miss Marple has staying power because every reader knows that within the events and conversations of each novel or short story are the subtle hints to the resolution of the mystery, and yet, no one sees the clues except, of course, the deceptively unassuming Miss Marple who infers the worst and is frequently correct.
Take a look at this BBC article on the actresses who took on the modest and reticent look of the venerable Miss Marple.
If Jennifer Garner wants to be Miss Marple, let her have the role when she earns her own gray hair, wrinkles and a penchant for dowdy clothes. Barring that, I’ve heard Hollywood can do wonders with make-up.
Go to the TV Crime feature section for more articles and discussions of your favorite small-screen shows.
Terrie blogs at Women of Mystery. One of her recent short stories can be found in the anthology Crimes By Moonlight and another can be read on the Beat To A Pulp website.
Please say it ain’t so! Not content with ruining perfectly good books by bad casting they’re now going to ruin classics by ‘modernizing’ them? Lord save me from constipated imaginations.
Loved this post until the last bit. Jennifer Garner? From Alias?
It’ll never fly Orville.
@bungluna–I wish I hadn’t read it repeatedly with my own two eyes, but it is so! @Leslie, yes, that Jennifer Garner! Can you believe it?
>Miss Marple is proof that an attentive and rational intellect can be more effective than actual pugnacity.
Yes, exactly. I read a recent Hollywood trend report that warned movie goers not to expect thoughtful American films anytime soon. Sad we live in an era that devalues intelligence in favor of mindless combat, but at least we can fall back upon libraries of great stories.
There is one interesting point… What was Miss Marple like in her youth?
Leigh, I seem to recall that in the Marple novels and stories we get glimpses of a younger Miss Marple through conversations with her long standing friends or her own recollections and I think that Christie wanted us to believe that even as a young woman Jane Marple was a “sit in the corner, knit, and watch the world go by but take it all in” kind of young woman. Of course that may be how I read it because I love her as she is. What Hollywood wants us to see may be another thing entirely.
lol