In an essay response discuss how The Case of Lady Sannox, the Cask of Amontillado, Murder on the Orient Express and Playback contribute to your understanding of the crime fiction genre.
Through the chosen texts a greater understanding of the crime fiction genre has been achieved. The four authors are all writing in different time periods which is reflected in the content of their respective text. Although, the four texts are all a part of the crime fiction genre, each has different qualities making the genre seem very broad. The genre has been through an evolution since its beginnings in which the conventions of the genre have changed to reflect the social values at the time.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing is a reflection of the social attitudes and vales of time he lived. It is a product of an English environment in the Industrial Revolution and his work often had a capacity to focus on Science and technology. The case of the Lady Sannox was published in 1894, in England. The story is about a famed surgeon Douglas Stone who is having an affair with Lady Sannox. One night a mysterious Turk asks him to attend his wife, who has cut her lip on a poisoned dagger. The Turk insists that amputation offers the only hope of recovery. Anxious to pocket the proffered gold, and impatient to get to his mistress, Stone dismisses his professional misgivings. He excises the lower lip of the veiled, drugged woman--only to find that he was tricked into disfiguring Lady Sannox herself. Lord Sannox (disguised as the "Turk") thus gains his revenge with his wife morally chastised and Stone's career meaningless. The story tells us of social values of the time. It has an examination of gender, sexuality, and body image issues. The amputation of the lip functions as a surrogate castration. "If the poison be on the finger, take the finger off," explains the Turk; and Stone's use of a specialized scalpel suggests a castration. Social notions of femininity drive the assumption that a fitting punishment for an adulterous woman would be to destroy her beauty and sexuality. "The mouth will not be a pleasant one to kiss (after amputation), "comments Lord Sannox as the Turk.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing is a reflection of the social attitudes and vales of time he lived. It is a product of an English environment in the Industrial Revolution and his work often had a capacity to focus on Science and technology. The case of the Lady Sannox was published in 1894, in England. The story is about a famed surgeon Douglas Stone who is having an affair with Lady Sannox. One night a mysterious Turk asks him to attend his wife, who has cut her lip on a poisoned dagger. The Turk insists that amputation offers the only hope of recovery. Anxious to pocket the proffered gold, and impatient to get to his mistress, Stone dismisses his professional misgivings. He excises the lower lip of the veiled, drugged woman--only to find that he was tricked into disfiguring Lady Sannox herself. Lord Sannox (disguised as the "Turk") thus gains his revenge with his wife morally chastised and Stone's career meaningless. The story tells us of social values of the time. It has an examination of gender, sexuality, and body image issues. The amputation of the lip functions as a surrogate castration. "If the poison be on the finger, take the finger off," explains the Turk; and Stone's use of a specialized scalpel suggests a castration. Social notions of femininity drive the assumption that a fitting punishment for an adulterous woman would be to destroy her beauty and sexuality. "The mouth will not be a pleasant one to kiss (after amputation), "comments Lord Sannox as the Turk.