Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of
Agatha Christie. She is a
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
novelist and a friend of
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
.
Profile
Mrs Oliver often assists Poirot in his cases through her knowledge of the criminal mind. She often claims to be endowed with particular "feminine intuition", but it usually leads her astray. She is particularly fond of apples, which becomes a plot point in the novel ''
Hallowe'en Party
''Hallowe'en Party'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
''.
In the books, Oliver's most famous works are those featuring her vegetarian Finnish detective Sven Hjerson. Since she knows nothing of Finland, Oliver frequently laments Hjerson's existence. In many of her appearances, Oliver – and her feelings toward Hjerson – reflect Agatha Christie's own frustrations as an author, particularly with the Belgian Hercule Poirot (an example of
self-insertion
Self-insertion is a literary device in which the author writes themself into the story as a fictional character.
Forms
In art, the equivalent of self-insertion is the inserted self-portrait, where the artist includes a self-portrait in a pain ...
). The self-caricature has also been used to discuss Christie's own follies in her earlier novels. For instance, in ''
Mrs McGinty's Dead
''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year.Chris Peers, Ralph ...
'', Mrs Oliver talks of having made the
blowpipe a foot long (30 cm) in one of her novels, whereas the actual length is something like four-and-a-half feet () – the same mistake Christie made in ''
Death in the Clouds
''Death in the Clouds'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on 10 March 1935 under the title of ''Death in the Air'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in ...
''.
In ''
The Pale Horse
''The Pale Horse'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1961,Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
'', Mrs Oliver becomes acquainted with the Rev. and Mrs Dane Calthorp, who are friends of
Miss Marple
Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Ch ...
(''
The Moving Finger
''The Moving Finger'' is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the USA by Dodd, Mead and Company in July 1942 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1943. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK ...
''), thus establishing that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot exist in the same world. In ''
Cards on the Table
''Cards on the Table'' is a detective fiction novel by the English author Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retail ...
'', there is a reference to Mrs Oliver's book ''
The Body in the Library
''The Body in the Library'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1942 and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in May of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.0 ...
''; this title was used by Christie six years later, for a novel featuring Miss Marple. Books by Ariadne Oliver and by a number of other fictitious mystery writers are discussed by characters in ''
The Clocks
''The Clocks'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 7 November 1963 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. It features the Belgian detect ...
'' (1963). Like Christie, she is a member of the
Detection Club
The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy, R. ...
. Christie even thought of setting a murder at the Club with Oliver being one of the suspects as well as the detective, but it came to nothing. (Although in ''Cards on the Table'', Mrs Oliver plays detective in a Poirot mystery of a murder during a bridge game.) A family crisis for Oliver's goddaughter Celia provides the plot in ''
Elephants Can Remember''.
Although Ariadne Oliver is consistently referred to as "Mrs Oliver", nothing is known about her husband. An offhand reference to her marriage is made in ''Elephants Can Remember''.
In a short piece in
''John Bull'' magazine in 1956, Christie was quoted as saying: "I never take my stories from real life, but the character of Ariadne Oliver does have a strong dash of myself." The author of the article went on to state: "It is perfectly true that sometimes she works at her stories in a large old-fashioned bath, eating apples and depositing the cores on the wide mahogany surround."
Literary function
Even in one of the two novels in which she appears without Poirot (''The Pale Horse''), Mrs Oliver does not function as a detective, in that she rarely participates in the investigation and contributes only tangentially to the solution. In ''Cards on the Table'', she does interview some of the suspects, which in turn allows her to discover a hidden motive that even the police were unable to find; in ''Elephants Can Remember'', she again interviews witnesses, but none of the essential ones. She is more usually used for
comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...
or to provide a
deus ex machina
''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...
through her intuitive or sudden insights, a function that is especially apparent in ''
Third Girl
''Third Girl'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shilling ...
'', in which she furnishes Poirot with virtually every important clue, or in ''The Pale Horse'', where she inadvertently helps the investigators to determine the type of poison used to kill the murder victims, saving the life of another character.
Further functions of Mrs Oliver are to enable Christie to discuss overtly the techniques of detective fiction, to contrast the more fanciful apparatus employed by mystery authors with the apparent
realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
of her own plots, and to
satirize Christie's own experiences and instincts as a writer.
Literary appearances
The true first appearance of Mrs Oliver was a brief appearance in the short story "
The Case of the Discontented Soldier" which was first published, along with four other stories, in the August 1932 issue of the U.S. version of ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'' magazine (issue number 554) under the sub-heading of ''Are You Happy? If Not Consult Mr. Parker Pyne''. The story first appeared in the UK in issue 614 of ''Woman's Pictorial'' on 15 October 1932, and was later published in book form in 1934 as ''
Parker Pyne Investigates
''Parker Pyne Investigates'' is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins (publisher), William Collins and Sons in November 1934.Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collin ...
'' (titled ''Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective'' in the USA). Within this story she appeared as part of Pyne's unorthodox team of freelance assistants. Within the same book, she also briefly appears in ''The Case of the Rich Woman''.
All her subsequent appearances (save ''The Pale Horse'') were in Poirot novels:
* ''
Cards on the Table
''Cards on the Table'' is a detective fiction novel by the English author Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retail ...
'' (1936)
* ''
Mrs McGinty's Dead
''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year.Chris Peers, Ralph ...
'' (1952)
* ''
Dead Man's Folly
''Dead Man's Folly'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1956 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 November of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.9 ...
'' (1956)
* ''
The Pale Horse
''The Pale Horse'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1961,Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
'' (1961) – Oliver's only appearance in a Christie novel without Poirot
* ''
Third Girl
''Third Girl'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shilling ...
'' (1966)
* ''
Hallowe'en Party
''Hallowe'en Party'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
'' (1969)
* ''
Elephants Can Remember'' (1972)
* ''Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly'' (2014) – a novella that was later expanded and published as ''Dead Man's Folly''.
An advert for Ariadne Oliver's ''With Vinegar and Brown Paper'' (as with Agatha Christie using nursery rhyme references) appears in the
Frontispiece of
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', ''Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock'', and ''Dracu ...
's book ''
The Devil in Amber
''The Devil in Amber'' is the second novel in a series featuring the fictional spy, Lucifer Box. It was published on 6 November 2006.
Plot summary
Box is feeling his age as he goes about the business of a Royal Academy assassin in 1920s New Yo ...
'' along with other adverts for made-up books.
In ''
And Then There Were None
''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as ...
'', a character, Emily Brent, mistakes the name Mrs. Owen for a Mrs. Oliver, perhaps an in-joke that Emily Brent and Ariadne Oliver may have encountered each other at one point.
Portrayals
Ariadne Oliver
The first appearance of Ariadne Oliver on television was in an episode of ''The Agatha Christie Hour'' (1982). In an adaptation of the Parker Pyne story "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", she was portrayed by
Lally Bowers
Kathleen "Lally" Bowers (21 January 1914 – 18 July 1984) was an English actress.
Bowers was born in Oldham, Lancashire, where she was educated at Hulme Grammar School. She worked as a secretary before walking-on and understudying at the ...
.
A 1986 television film adaptation of ''
Dead Man's Folly
''Dead Man's Folly'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1956 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 November of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.9 ...
'' starred
Jean Stapleton
Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actress of stage, television and film.
Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and devoted wife of Arc ...
as Ariadne Oliver, opposite
Peter Ustinov as Poirot.
Zoë Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is a British-American actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. A nine-time Olivier Award nominee, she won for '' Once in a Lifetime'' (1979) and ''Electra' ...
played Ariadne Oliver in six television episodes of the series ''
Agatha Christie's Poirot
''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...
'', starring
David Suchet as
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
. In the last shot episode of the series (but not the finale), Mrs Oliver is helpful to Poirot in an adaptation of ''
Dead Man's Folly
''Dead Man's Folly'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1956 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 November of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.9 ...
'', which was filmed on the Christie Estate.
In the BBC Radio 4 plays, Ariadne Oliver has been played by
Stephanie Cole
Patricia Stephanie Cole (born 5 October 1941) is an English stage, television, radio and film actress, known for high-profile roles in shows such as '' Tenko'' (1981–1985), ''Open All Hours'' (1982–1985), ''A Bit of a Do'' (1989), '' Waiti ...
(''The Pale Horse'' (1993), ''
Hallowe'en Party
''Hallowe'en Party'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
'' (1993), and ''Cards on the Table'' (2002)), and by
Julia McKenzie
Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...
(''Elephants Can Remember'' (2006), ''
Mrs McGinty's Dead
''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year.Chris Peers, Ralph ...
'' (2006), and ''Dead Man's Folly'' (2007)).
Sven Hjerson
The Swedish-German television series ' features the character of Sven Hjerson, the
Finland Swedish detective. The eight-part series combines Christie's stories with ''
Nordic noir
Nordic noir, also known as Scandinavian noir or Scandi noir, is a genre of crime fiction usually written from a police point of view and set in Scandinavia or Nordic countries. Plain language avoiding metaphor and set in bleak landscapes results ...
''. The characters speak Swedish in the series, which is set in contemporary time and partly filmed in
Åland
Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...
. The series is produced by
TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to:
*TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station
*TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network
**TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station
*South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...
,
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
,
Agatha Christie Ltd. and the
Government of Åland
The ''Landskapsregering'' is the government of Åland, an autonomous region of Finland. The government is led by a Lantråd, the premier of Åland, who is elected by the '' Lagting'', the parliament of Åland.
List of Premiers of Åland (since ...
, among others. The Swedish actor
Johan Rheborg
Carl Johan Rheborg (born 5 June 1963) is a Swedish comedian, actor and script writer. He is a member of the Swedish comedy group Killinggänget.
Rheborg is probably most known for his role as the space hero Kenny Starfighter, the irresponsible ...
has been cast in the role of Hjerson.
Bibliography
Books:
* ''The Lotus Murder'' (mentioned in ''
Cards on the Table
''Cards on the Table'' is a detective fiction novel by the English author Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retail ...
'')
* ''The Clue of the Candle Wax'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'')
* ''The Body In The Library'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'')
* ''The Death in the Drain Pipe'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'')
* ''The Affair of the Second Goldfish'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'' and ''
Mrs McGinty's Dead
''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year.Chris Peers, Ralph ...
'')
* ''The Cat It Was Who Died'' (mentioned in ''Mrs McGinty's Dead'')
* ''Death of a Debutante'' (mentioned in ''Mrs McGinty's Dead'')
* ''The Woman in the Wood'' (mentioned in and based on her experiences from ''
Dead Man's Folly
''Dead Man's Folly'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1956 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 November of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.9 ...
'')
* ''The Dying Goldfish'' (mentioned in ''
Hallowe'en Party
''Hallowe'en Party'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
'')
Published articles:
* ''The Tendency of the Criminal'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'')
* ''Famous Crimes Passionnels'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'')
* ''Murder for Love vs. Murder for Gain'' (mentioned in ''Cards on the Table'')
References
External links
Ariadne Oliver at the official Agatha Christie websiteAriadne Oliver at Hercule Poirot Central
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Ariadne
Fictional writers
Hercule Poirot characters
Author surrogates
Literary characters introduced in 1932
Characters in British novels of the 20th century
Agatha Christie characters
Fictional contract bridge players
Female characters in literature