Jane Marple
The character of Miss Marple is based on Christie's step grandmother, or her Aunt (Margaret West), and her cronies.[2]Agatha Christie attributed the inspiration for the character of Miss Marple to a number of sources, stating that Miss Marple was "the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my step grandmother's Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl".[3] Christie also used material from her fictional creation, spinster Caroline Sheppard, who appeared in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. When Michael Morton adapted the novel for the stage, he removed the character of Caroline replacing her with a young girl. This change saddened Christie and she determined to give old maids a voice: Miss Marple was born.[1]
There is no definitive source for the derivation of the name 'Marple'.[4] The most common explanation is that the name was taken from Marple railway station in Stockport, through which Christie passed. Alternatively, Christie may have taken the name from a family named Marple, who lived at Marple Hall near her sister Madge's home at Abney Hall.[4][5]
