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Personification
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter Twenty-Four
Explanation and Analysis—Fickle Fame:
In Chapter 24, Mrs. Otterbourne insists she knows the identity of Linnet's murderer. With a simile and imagery, Christie paints a picture of a drunkard author past her prime:
Mrs. Otterbourne swept it to one side and entered like a tornado. Her face was suffused with colour, her gait slightly unsteady, her command of words not quite under her control. “Mr. Doyle,” she said dramatically, “I know who killed your wife! […] My theories are completely vindicated. The deep, primeval, primordial urges—it may appear impossible—fantastic—but it is the truth!”
A simile compares Mrs. Otterbourne's entrance to a tornado, and that description seems deserved given the visual imagery that suggests she is drunk: for instance, her flushed face and unsteady gait. Note as well the dramatic way Mrs. Otterbourne speaks, illustrated with em-dashes, exclamation marks, and grand claims about "primordial urges." Deviating from her usual matter-of-fact style, Christie writes Mrs. Otterbourne's thoughts with similar heightened language and punctuation:
Yes, she was very happy—no doubt of it! This was her moment, her triumph! What of it if her books were failing to sell, if the stupid public that once had bought them and devoured them voraciously now turned to newer favourites? Salome Otterbourne would once again be notorious.
One might expect Agatha Christie to portray a popular female writer in more favorable light, given that she was one herself. But Otterbourne's salacious books, passing popularity, and drunkenness all make her a ridiculous character. It's worth noting that many female writers in the early 20th century (especially those who wrote romances and popular fiction) were treated with derision by critics and academics. There are many possible analogues for Mrs. Otterbourne's personality, including prolific British writer Marie Corelli, who died just a decade before the publication of Death on the Nile. Corelli's last book, published a year after her death, was Open Confession to a Man from a Woman (1925), a series of confessional vignettes about her infatuation with a painter. Otterbourne's dramatic manner of speaking and thinking, down to the punctuation and word choice, is reminiscent of Victorian-era romances, including those of Corelli and Elinor Glyn.
