1) The document provides a historical overview of crime writing from ancient Greek tragedies like Oedipus Rex to modern works like those of Ian McEwan, covering genres like detective fiction, Gothic novels, and dystopian works. 2) Key elements of crime explored across different eras include murder, violence, deception, motives, good vs evil, and detectives investigating crimes. 3) Famous works discussed include the Bible, Shakespearean tragedies like Hamlet, Gothic novels by Ann Radcliffe, detective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, and dystopian novels like Animal Farm by George Orwell.

1. A Historical Overview of
Crime Writing
By Niamh Sygrove

2. Ancient Greek Tragedy – Oedipus Rex
Synopsis:
• 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

3. Greek epic poetry – Homer’s Iliad
Synopsis:
• “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

4. Bloodthirsty Roman Tragedy - Seneca
Ten 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

5. 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.

6. Bible Stories – Ten Commandments, Adam
and Eve, Cain and Abel - Continued
The 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

7. Bible Stories – Ten Commandments, Adam
and Eve, Cain and Abel - Continued
Cain 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

8. Old English - Beowulf
Set 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

9. Medieval Quest Narratives – Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight
Sir 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

10. 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

11. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – Pardoner’s
Tale
Setting 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

12. 15/1600s Renaissance tragedies and revenge
tragedies – Hamlet, Othello
Claudius 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

13. 15/1600s Renaissance tragedies and revenge
tragedies – Hamlet, Othello - Continued
Othello, 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

14. 1600s Paradise Lost - Milton
The 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

15. Mid-late 1700s – Development of
Gothic Fiction
Its 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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 moves
Are drawing up the clouds of human
grief,
Breathing solemnity in the deep night.
Who can decipher,
In storm or starlight,
The written character
of a friendly fate –--
As the sky turns, the world for us to
change?
But if the horoscope' s bewildering
Like 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 drowned
Calling, there is no
stone
In earth's thickness to
make a home
That you can build with
and remain alone.

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 1920s/30s ‘golden era of detective fiction’ –
Agatha Christie, Greene. - Continued
Graham 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).

26. 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

27. 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

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