How Agatha's marriages influenced her stories

Agatha Christie was married twice in her life and each marriage influenced her stories in very different ways. Her relationship with her first husband, Archibald Christie, closely connects to some of the strangest plots of Agatha's stories. Her relationship with her second husband, Max Mallowan, was a much happier one and lasted until she died.

Agatha met her first husband, Archibald, at a dance and they were marriend on December 24, 1914. They married very shortly after they first met because Archibald was going away to war. Right after their wedding, he went to war and they were apart for two long years. During this time, Agatha said their relationship was very happy and strong. However, she soon learned that he was cheating on her and wanted a divorce. Archibald left Agatha heart broken and shocked.

This marriage connects to Agatha's art because she writes a lot about heartbreak and betrayal. In And Then There Were None, Vera is heartbroken and misses her love so badly that she even hallucinates about him being on the island. Another character, General Macarthur, is guilty of sending his wife's lover to death during the war. In my opinion, I think that General Macarthur's character connects to Agatha's first marriage. Both have to do with ruined relationships caused by cheating during the war.

Agatha's second husband, Max, was a much calmer and healthy relationship. They got married just six months after meeting each other in Devon. He was an archeologist and liked to spend a lot of time reading, just like Agatha. He was very interested in exploring the secrets of history and traveling to distant lands to dig up artifacts. After being married for a few years, Agatha started joining Max on his foreign trips to exotic lands. She was just as fascinated as him and htey lived happily together. Max was very faithful to Agatha and very open about telling her how much he loved her. This was a big change from her relationship with Archibald!

This marriage connects to Agatha's art because she uses the town they lived happily in together as newlyweds as a setting for some of her stories. And Then There Were None is set on an island just off the coast of Devon. She also uses foreign cities as other settings for other stories, influenced by the archeological digs she participated in with Max. For example, Death on the Nile takes place on a boat floating down the Nile River where she and Max had traveled to before. One of the characters in this story was even an archeologist!

It is clear that both of Agatha Christie's marriages were very different and influenced her writing in very different ways. The drama that she experienced with Archibald influenced the stories behind her most heart broken characters. The excitement she experienced with Max inspired Agatha to take her stories to new and foreign lands. Together, both marriages gave Agatha a ton of inspiration to use in her art!