Unwed Pregnancy And Social Perceptions In Agatha Christie's Crime Story

To what extent, and how, do texts appear to be about more than simply the criminal investigation but about the problems of the society as a whole?

This essay is based on the crime story, Death by Drowning by Agatha Christie. The essay argues that the text does not merely reflect on the investigation of the crime, but also reflects on a problem within the society of perceptions with regard to unwed mothers and sets this problem against the cultural and historical contexts of the period of time when this book was first published. These cultural and social contexts are specifically related to the position of women in the society, social attitudes to unwed motherhood, and the hierarchical nature of the British society at the time, which put women from the lower classes in subordinated positions.

In the story, the central motive for suicide/murder is the unwed pregnancy of the victim. It is important to note that the issue of unwed pregnancy in the Victorian England was seen to be something that was not acceptable socially. There was even a Bastardy Clause in one of the legislations to make financial conditions for unwed mothers “so untenable that females would be deterred from having premarital sex and getting pregnant out of wedlock.” Therefore, at the outset of this essay, it is important to note that unwed pregnancy itself is something unacceptable socially and this provides a context to Death in Drowning, where unwed pregnancy becomes the centre of the story and helps us understand the motivation for the crime as well as the assumptions made by the investigating officers.

In the introduction to Death by Drowning, the reader is introduced to the event that is the beginning of the crime, which is the drowning of a girl. In the way that the event is introduced by Mr Bantry to Sir Henry Clithering, the social problem of unwed motherhood as well as class differences and the position of the women in the way hierarchical structure of the society is set up, are also introduced to the reader. The close reading of the paragraph in which Mr Bantry speaks of the event reveals all these latent themes of the cultural and social contexts. Mr Bantry speaks about how the deceased girl “Got herself into trouble”. The phrase getting into trouble is a cultural reference to unwed pregnancy. It could be said to be a euphemism for saying that the girl got pregnant out of wedlock. The phrase can also be seen as one that places blame on the woman for the pregnancy by saying that she got into trouble, rather than saying that someone else got her into trouble. Literature also suggests that there is a use of the word ‘trouble’ to signify the event of unwed pregnancy. Literature also suggests that unwed pregnancy was more common in lower and working classes as compared to women from middle and upper classes in that period of England when the Agatha Christie story is placed; this may also be due to the middle and upper classes being more capable of keeping their lives more private and such events more secret as compared to women from lower classes.

Thus, the social problem of unwed motherhood is one that places the blame on the woman and sees the woman as being the social outcast for delinquency or social crime of unwed motherhood. This is also alluded to by Mr Bantry who says that “Girls know what they’re about. Fellow who seduces a girl’s not necessarily a villain. Fifty-fifty as often as not.” There are two points of significance in these utterances: first, that there is a belief or understanding that women are aware of what they are doing and the choices that they are making with regard to entering into a relationship with a man; and second, that a man who seduced a woman is not necessarily a villain. Even though Sir Henry Clithering takes a different point of view, saying that “Seduction … is quite an old-established crime though it does not, of course, date back so far as murder.” Nevertheless, the statements made by Mr Bantry and the surprise with which the Colonel Melchett received Sir Clithering’s comparing of seduction with crime, can be taken to surmise that the general societal position on seduction was not to see it as villainy while the consequence of such seduction, that is, unwed motherhood, was socially unacceptable enough for women in such position to be naturally presumed to have killed themselves and not murdered if suspicious death did taken place.

Even if Mr Bantry’s statements can be taken at their face value and may be accepted to be correct to a degree, when seen in the context of the event that has transpired, which is the death of the girl concerned, these sentences do not reflect on the bigger problem, which is, that even if the woman can be said to be more self aware of her choices, the society still sees unwed motherhood as a social faux pas, enough for it to be taken for granted that such a women may commit suicide. This is also the position taken by Mr Bantry who calls the deceased girl a “Poor pretty little devil” who may have taken this step because of her father is a hard man and “she just felt she couldn’t face the music.” Facing the music refers to facing the consequences of our actions, and the use of this phrase here is significant because it once again seems to put the onus of the woman for unwed pregnancy.

The social attitudes to unwed pregnancy and unwed mothers, when taken in conjunction with the period of the time when the book was written, it can be understood that the first assumption in cases such as the event of the girl, Rose Emmott drowning, would be that the girl must have killed herself. This is being portrayed in the story itself as not merely the criminal investigative process in such cases, but the impact of social attitudes to events involving girls from the lower classes of the society. This is also revealed in the following excerpt of the book with the Chief Constable explaining to Sir Clithering what they thought of the case: “I’m afraid it’s all very sordid and straightforward. First idea was that the girl had pitched herself in. She was in the family way, you understand.” The first idea, that the Constable notes is that the event was the consequence of a suicide, which means that due to the fact of the unwed pregnancy, the simple assumption was that this was a suicide. This is further explained by saying that the girl was in a family way. Therefore, the cause of pregnancy was thought to the natural cause of the event, which was thought to be suicide. This does not only reflect on the investigative process of the police but the social attitudes to unwed pregnancies in early 20th century England.

Furthermore, Mr Bantry, while describing this event to Sir Clithering, explains it as the “Usual story”. This is a clearer reference to a social problem because the use of the term ‘usual’ suggests that the problem is common in the society and the event that is being alluded to is not as uncommon. This statement also puts the issue in the cultural and social contexts of the time period, in which period the book was written, when such problems may have occurred in the society, but the position or women, particularly women of the lower class may have exposed them to social censure in the event of an unwed pregnancy. The women in the society may be more sympathetic to such women, but the men may not be sympathetic enough, as reflected in the different attitudes of Mr and Mrs Bantry to the same event, with the former taking a more sympathetic view of the man and the latter being “all up in arms for the girl” and taking the position that “men are brutes”. At the same time, it may be noted that there was a different attitude to male pre-marital sexuality, which was seen as necessary for men to gain experience, and female pre-marital sexuality which was seen to be something of a taboo in the society of the time. The different attitudes to male and female sexuality in that period can be understood to be the reason why unwed pregnancy may have been seen as a problem in the society at that time, and this is also reflected in the story.

Another important aspect of the story is that the social hierarchy of the English society was very strict at the time, and women from the lower classes, as Rose Emmott is in the book, came lower in the social ladder. This also meant that such women or their prestige may not have been considered to be as important by people in the upper classes, or that they were not considered sympathetically by others when they got into trouble. This is reflected in some parts of the story. For instance, Colonel Melchett snaps “Stick to your own class” with reference to Rose’s relationship with Sandford, who is an architect and above Rose’s class, and Rose’s earlier boyfriend who is of her class. The utterances of Colonel Melchett can be seen as showing his perception (and perhaps general perception) of women who try to go above their class. Taken in the context of the story and the event of Rose’s drowning, these utterances can also be seen to be a reflection on the perception that Rose’s pregnancy and her death, are the consequence of Rose breaching the class barrier by entering into a relationship with a man from the upper class. In other words, this reflects on the social perception of class and the position of the lower class women in the social hierarchy. In this way, the story also reflects on the perceptions of social class in the society and the position of women in particular; this is also substantiated by the part of the story where Mrs Bartlett expresses shock when the police men ask her to sit down with them in her own kitchen. When asked to sit down, she says, “Oh, no, sir, I couldn’t think of it.” This statement of shock of having been invited to sit with upper class men, and that she could not even think of it, reflects on the issue of class, and position of women of lower class in particular. This also substantiates the contention that there is a class difference in the English society at this time, and provides a context to the position of Rose Emmott.

Class may also be seen as a reason why Sandford may have been emboldened enough to think that he could pay Rose some money or make some other arrangements instead of marrying her. The following excerpt is significant:

“I thought I’d get back to town—see my lawyer—make arrangements about money and so forth, for her.”

The above statement not only reflects on the intention formed by Sandford that he would make arrangements for paying her some money instead of marrying her, but also that an upper class man like him can take the help of his lawyer to make such an arrangement. Therefore, there is an understanding within the society of that time as to how upper class men may make arrangements for dealing with women from the lower classes who they may have impregnated out of wedlock.

A financial response by a man from an upper class for impregnating a lower class woman also appears to be acceptable to members of society and in that sense, it may be thought to be a commonplace arrangement. It may also be considered that this is appropriate response to a women of this class because members of the lower class may be ready to compensate the loss of their social prestige with money. This is also reflected in the opinion of the investigating officers that Rose Emmett and her father were “out to—well—practically blackmail him.” There is no suggestion that Rose and her father wanted to blackmail the architect; however, this is the assumption made by the police officers. This may also reflect on the social perceptions about class in general and women of lower class in particular. The differences between classes in the English society is something that is also suggested in the literature. Literature suggests that until 1950 at least, English society, particularly in the rural areas, where people were conscious of class differences in the society.

To conclude, Death by Drowning depicts certain social problems and goes beyond the crime and criminal investigation in this case. The social problem that is depicted is the common or ‘usual’ story of a girl getting into ‘trouble’ which is a euphemism for becoming pregnant. The story is couched not just in terms of sexuality, where female sexuality is seen to be problematic; but also in terms of class, where the woman going out of her class to presume to be with someone who is her social superior is seen to be problematic. The story depicts the way in which society at that time did think about unwed mothers and how this also impacts the presumptions that the police officers make. The presumption in this case is first that the girl killed herself because she was pregnant and did not want to face the music. The other presumption that is made is more linked to her class, where it is presumed that the girl and her father wanted to blackmail the father of the unborn child. The criminal investigation itself was influenced by the societal perceptions of female sexuality and motherhood out of wedlock. Presumptions of the investigating officers were made on the basis of these perceptions and both presumptions are likely to take the investigators on the wrong route. Thus, the investigating officers almost decide that the case is that of suicide and later almost decide that the murder happened at the hands of the architect because Rose and her father wanted to blackmail him. Therefore, the story does go beyond depicting criminal investigation and tries to depict certain social problems or perceptions towards these problems.

Take a deeper dive into Unveiling the Value of Team-Based Work with our additional resources.

Bibliography

Christie, A, Death by Drowning (Nash's Pall Mall Magazine 1931).

Giles, J, The parlour and the suburb: domestic identities, class, femininity and modernity (Oxford: Berg 2004).

McKibbin, R and Mc Hissun, R, Classes and cultures: England 1918-1951 (Oxford University Press on Demand, 1998).

Sterling, E., ‘Desperate Motives for Murder: Mercenary Female Baby Killers in Victorian England’ (2019) Perspectives on Violence, Human Cruelty and Messy Morality 136.

Thane, P and Evans, T, Sinners? Scroungers? Saints?: unmarried motherhood in twentieth-century England (Oxford University Press, 2012).