A Feminised Male Detective 'On the Go': Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders

Abstract

This study explores the non-normative masculinity in Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders by examining one of the iconic detectives in literature, Hercule Poirot, through the lens of feminine masculinity, drawing on Jack Halberstam's theoretical framework. Renowned as the Queen of Crime, Christie is celebrated for her detective novels, yet very little scholarship has been done on her works due to its close affiliation to 'popular culture' and its classification as 'low literature'. This paper offers an original approach to the realm of detective fiction, particularly to the representation of the detective, Hercule Poirot, in that it adopts a Butlerian perspective, suggesting that gender is something one does, not something one becomes. It argues that Christie's portrayal of Poirot, a Belgian detective, blurs traditional gender binaries and challenges essentialist views of gendered behaviours of femininity and masculinity. Both Poirot as a detective, and, to some extent gender itself, are constructed identities. In this context, Poirot deviates from the masculine detective archetype established by his predecessors, such as C. Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes. Instead, he embraces a dandified persona favouring intuition over scientific positivism, paying attention to his appearance, and lacking a heterosexual appetite. Christie's portrayal of Poirot as a feminised male detective not only subverts the androcentric norms of the detective genre but also broadens our understanding of masculinity beyond traditional, heteronormative and biologically male expectations. Through close reading and queer theoretical analysis, this paper reveals how Poirot's hybrid gender identity-neither fully masculine nor fully feminine-demonstrates gender's acquired nature rather than its innate quality, highlighting the amount of femaleness within him. This analysis underscores Christie's innovative contribution to the detective genre and her subtle critique of societal norms concerning gender and sexuality.