A Historical Overview of Crime Writing

By Niamh Sygrove

Ancient Greek Tragedy – Oedipus RexSynopsis:• Oedipus has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle to learn what he must do. When he

returns, Creon announces that the oracle has instructed them to find the murderer King Laius, who ruled Thebes before Oedipus did. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end them of the cursed plague.

Elements of Crime:• Murder• Investigation• Punishment• Good vs. Evil• Bodies

Greek epic poetry – Homer’s IliadSynopsis:• “The Iliad” recounts some of the significant events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the

Greek siege of the city of Troy. The story begins nearly ten years into the seige of Troy by the Greek forces led by Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. The Greeks are quarrelling about returning to Chryseis, a Trojan captive of King Agamemnon, to her father, Chryses, a priest of Apollo.

Elements of Crime:• Violence• Murder• Romance• Good vs. Evil• Allies

Bloodthirsty Roman Tragedy - SenecaTen of these plays exist, of which most likely eight were written by the Stoic philosopher and politician Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The group includes Hercules Furens, Medea, Troades, Phaedra, Agamemnon, Oedipus, Phoenissae, Thyestes, Hercules Oetaeus, and Octavia.

Elements of Crime:• Death• Betrayal • Good vs. Evil• Violence• Deception• Motive

Bible Stories – Ten Commandments, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel• The 10 Commandments List, Short Form• You shall have no other gods before Me.• You shall not make idols.• You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.• Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.• Honour your father and your mother.• You shall not murder.• You shall not commit adultery.• You shall not steal.• You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.• You shall not covet.

Bible Stories – Ten Commandments, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel - ContinuedThe story of Adam and Eve is central to the belief that God created human beings to live in a paradise on earth, although they fell away from that state and formed the present world full of suffering and injustice.

• Deception• Betrayal/Trust• Motive• Good vs. Evil• Greed

Bible Stories – Ten Commandments, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel - ContinuedCain and Abel were the two sons of Adam and Eve. They worked as food producers for their family; Cain – a crop farmer, Abel - a shepherd. When they sacrificed to God, he favoured Abel's sacrifice over Cain. Cain kills Abel, committing the first murder. God expelled Cain, but lightened his punishment after Cain complained it was difficult to bear.

• Murder• Punishment• Good vs. Evil• Motive• Jealousy• Violence

Old English - BeowulfSet in Scandinavia, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes King of the Geats. After a period of 50 years, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.

Elements of Crime:• Violence• Death• Allies• Good vs. Evil• Bodies

Medieval Quest Narratives – Sir Gawain and the Green KnightSir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who challenges any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time. In his struggles to keep his bargain Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving Lady Bertilak, the lady of the Green Knight's castle.

Elements of Crime:• Violence• Truth• Romance• Motive• Honour

Medieval Morality and Mystery Plays using Abstract ‘Types’The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as interludes, a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral.

Elements of Crime:• Good vs. Evil• Motive• Death• Appearance vs. Reality• Morality

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – Pardoner’s TaleSetting out to kill Death, three young men encounter an Old Man who says they will find him under a nearby tree. When they arrive they discover a hoard of treasure and decide to stay overnight to carry it away the next morning. The tale/prologue are concerned with what the Pardoner says is his "theme": ‘Greed is the root of all evils’.

Elements of Crime:• Allies• Motive• Moral• Blasphemy• Violence• Death• Greed

15/1600s Renaissance tragedies and revenge tragedies – Hamlet, OthelloClaudius murders Hamlet's father and becomes King. He marries Gertrude. Hamlet's father appears as a ghost and tells him he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet kills Polonius because he thinks he is Claudius. Laertes decides to then go on and kill Hamlet in revenge. He challenges Hamlet to a sword fight, and puts poison on his own sword. Claudius makes poisoned wine for Hamlet to drink in case that doesn’t work. Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine without knowing, and dies. Laertes pierces Hamlet with a poisoned blade, but Hamlet stabs Laertes with the same sword. Laertes dies. Hamlet kills Claudius. Hamlet tells everyone that the Norwegian prince, Fortinbras, should be king, and then dies.

Elements of Crime:• Violence• Death/Murder• Bodies• Deception• Betrayal/Trust• Gothic Elements

15/1600s Renaissance tragedies and revenge tragedies – Hamlet, Othello - ContinuedOthello, a general in the army, promotes Cassio to lieutenant. Iago, his ensign, is angry/jealous and plots against Cassio by making him look bad, making Othello uncertain about keeping him as his lieutenant. He also tells Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with Cassio. Cassio is demoted and Iago is promoted to lieutenant. Othello kills Desdemona and is then told by Iago's wife, Emilia, that Iago plotted against him. He goes after Iago, and injures him but doesn’t kill him. He then kills himself next to his wife after telling Emilia to say sorry to Cassio for what he has done.

Elements of Crime:• Violence• Death/Murder• Good vs. Evil• Appearance vs. Reality• Betrayal/Trust• Deception• Romance• Jealousy• Regret• Motive

1600s Paradise Lost - MiltonThe poem is about the Christian story of the Fall of Man: how Adam and Eve got out from the Garden of Eden and about the fallen angel Lucifer.

Elements of Crime:• Good vs. Evil• Allies• Violence• Fear• Deception• Criminals• Guilt

Mid-late 1700s – Development of Gothic FictionIts origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel. It originated in England in the second half of the 18th century and had much success in the 19th, as witnessed by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Elements of Crime:• Violence• Death/Murder• Fear• Romance• Good vs. Evil• Appearance vs. Reality• Mystery

Newgate Calendar semi-fictionalised accounts of crime

The Newgate Calendar, subtitled The Malefactors' Bloody Register, was a popular work of improving literature in the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally a monthly bulletin of executions, produced by the Keeper of Newgate Prison in London, the Calendar's title was appropriated by other publishers, who put out biographical chapbooks about notorious criminals such as Sawney Bean, Dick Turpin, John Wilkes and Moll Cutpurse.

Elements of Crime:• Criminals/Victims• Violence• Hidden Clues• Mystery• Secrets

Late 17 & early 1800s Romantic poetry – ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’

Relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on the way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The wedding-guest's reaction turns from bemusement, to impatience, to fear, to fascination as the mariner's story progresses, as can be seen in the language style.

Elements of Crime:• Fear• Allies• Death• Good vs. Evil• Violence• Guilt

1800s – Browning’s monologues; George Crabbe’s Peter Grimes, Oscar Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol

The Borough is a collection of poems by George Crabbe published in 1810. Written in heroic couplets, the poems are arranged as a series of 24 letters, covering various aspects of borough life and detailing the stories of certain inhabitants’ lives.

Of the letters, the best known is that of Peter Grimes in Letter XXII, which formed the basis for Benjamin Britten’s opera by the same name.

Now the great Bear and Pleiades where earth movesAre drawing up the clouds of human grief,Breathing solemnity in the deep night.Who can decipher,In storm or starlight,The written characterof a friendly fate –--As the sky turns, the world for us to change?But if the horoscope' s bewilderingLike a flashing turmoil of a shoal of herring,Who can turn skies back and begin again?

But dreaming builds what dreaming can disown.Dead fingers stretch themselves to tear it down.I hear those voices that will not be drownedCalling, there is no stoneIn earth's thickness to make a homeThat you can build with and remain alone.

1800s – Browning’s monologues; George Crabbe’s Peter Grimes, Oscar Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol - Continued"The Ballad of Reading Gaol" is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile either in Berneval-le-Grand or in Dieppe, France, after his release from Reading Gaol on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison.

Elements of Crime:• Criminals/Victims• Punishment• Unlawful Act• Violence• Murder/Death

Late 1800s melodramas and domestic tragedy – A Doll’s House

The play is significant for its critical attitude toward 19th-century marriage norms. It aroused great controversy at the time, as it concludes with the protagonist, Nora, leaving her husband and children because she wants to discover herself.

Elements of Crime:• Romance• Betrayal/Trust• Transgression• Honour• Motive

C18th and 19th century novels e.g. Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders and Dickens’ Oliver Twist

The daughter of a thief, Moll is placed in the care of a nunnery after the execution of her mother. The actions of an abusive priest lead Moll to rebel as a teenager, escaping to the dangerous streets of London. Further misfortunes drive her to accept a job as a prostitute from the conniving Mrs. Allworthy. Moll meets Hibble, who is working as Allworthy's servant and takes a special interest in the young woman's well-being. With his help, she retains hope for the future, falling in love with an unconventional artist who promises the possibility of romantic happiness.

Elements of Crime:• Romance• Violence• Secrets• Betrayal/Trust• Death/Murder

C18th and 19th century novels e.g. Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders and Dickens’ Oliver Twist - Continued

The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who starts his life in a workhouse and is then sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin.

Elements of Crime:• Criminals/Victims• Good vs. Evil• Fear• Jealousy• Violence

C19th - development of crime fiction as a literary genre – Conan Doyle & Sherlock

Known as a "consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for a proficiency with observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.

Elements of Crime:• Detective• Sidekick• Mystery• Hidden Clues• Secrets• Murder/Death• Bodies• Criminals/Victims• Good vs. Evil

1920s/30s ‘golden era of detective fiction’ – Agatha Christie, Greene.

Agatha Christie was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, notably those revolving around the investigative work of her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and six romances under the name Mary Westmacott.

1920s/30s ‘golden era of detective fiction’ – Agatha Christie, Greene. - ContinuedGraham Greene was an English novelist and author regarded by some as one of the great writers of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them).

Mid-late C20th and C21st – dystopia (Orwell: Animal Farm), Morse (Colin Dexter), McEwan ...

According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union.

The animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. Gradually a cunning, ruthless élite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, takes control. Soon the other animals discover they are not all as equal as they thought, and find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another.

Elements of Crime:

• Deception

• Betrayal/Trust

• Allies

• Good vs. Evil

• Motive

Mid-late C20th and C21st – dystopia (Orwell: Animal Farm), Morse (Colin Dexter), McEwan ... - Continued

The death of Sylvia Kaye figured dramatically in Thursday afternoon's edition of the Oxford Mail. By Friday evening Inspector Morse had informed the nation that the police were looking for a dangerous man - facing charges of wilful murder, sexual assault and rape. But as the obvious leads fade into twilight and darkness, Morse becomes more and more convinced that passion holds the key.

Elements of Crime:• Death/Murder• Sexual Assault• Rape• Inspector/Detective• Good vs. Evil• Police

Mid-late C20th and C21st – dystopia (Orwell: Animal Farm), Morse (Colin Dexter), McEwan ... - ContinuedOn the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her too is Robbie Turner who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever, as Briony commits a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Elements of Crime:• Deception• Betrayal/Trust• Regret• Guilt• Romance• Motive• Allies• Jealousy• Transgression