Arthur Hastings facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Arthur Hastings
Hugh Fraser as Hastings
First appearance	The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
Last appearance	Curtain (1975)
Created by	Agatha Christie
Portrayed by	Richard Cooper Robert Morley Jonathan Cecil Dmitry Krylov Hugh Fraser
Information
Occupation	Army Captain (ex), secretary, rancher
Spouse(s)	Dulcie Duveen (1923-unknown; her death)
Children	Two unnamed sons Grace Judith
Relatives	A sister Two grandsons
Religion	Anglicanism
Nationality	British
Birth date and place	abt. 1886 (30 in 1916) United Kingdom

Captain Arthur Hastings is a famous character created by the author Agatha Christie. He is the loyal friend and helper of the clever Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Hastings first appears in Christie's 1920 book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. He is also in seven other Poirot novels, including the very last one, Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975). Hastings tells many of these stories from his own point of view.

What Hastings Does in the Stories

Hastings is well-known for being Poirot's friend, especially because of the TV shows. In many early TV episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot, Hastings was a main character. However, in Agatha Christie's original books, Hastings does not appear in every story. For example, he is not in Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express, which are two of Poirot's most famous cases.

Christie likely created Hastings to be like Dr. Watson, who was the friend of Sherlock Holmes. Both Hastings and Watson tell their stories from their own perspective. They both sometimes miss important clues, and they help the reader understand the detective's thoughts. Hastings is Poirot's only close friend, and they even shared a flat when Poirot first started his detective agency.

In the books, Hastings helps Poirot in different ways. At first, Poirot liked Hastings's creative ideas about cases, even if they were sometimes wrong. Poirot would often joke about Hastings's wild guesses. Later, as Christie's writing style changed, Hastings's role became less about guessing. When Poirot needed a helper in later books, he sometimes used other characters like Miss Lemon or Ariadne Oliver.

Even though Hastings is very popular, he only appears in eight of the thirty-three Poirot novels. This shows that his role in Christie's stories was somewhat limited.

Hastings's Life and Career

We don't know much about Hastings's early life before 1916. We can guess he was born around 1886. This means he was about 30 years old when The Mysterious Affair at Styles begins. Before World War I, he worked at Lloyd's. He also went to Eton College, a famous school.

Hastings first met Poirot in Belgium some years before their meeting in England on July 16, 1916. They met at Styles Court in Essex. They remained good friends until Poirot's death. Hastings saw Poirot about a year before Poirot passed away.

Hastings is not a great detective himself, but he helps Poirot in many ways. He was an officer in the British Army during World War I, so he is brave. Poirot often uses Hastings for physical tasks, like catching a criminal. Poirot sometimes teases Hastings for being a bit slow to understand things, but he clearly enjoys Hastings's company.

Hastings often helps Poirot solve mysteries with a simple comment. In The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Hastings mentions that Poirot straightened some items. This makes Poirot realize someone had moved them, leading to a key clue. In The A.B.C. Murders, Hastings suggests that a mistake in a letter's address was on purpose. This helps Poirot understand the murderer's plan.

Hastings is like a traditional English gentleman. He is honest and always cares about "fair play." He admits he is a bit old-fashioned. While Poirot might secretly read letters or listen in, Hastings is shocked by such actions. He usually refuses to do them, even to help Poirot. Although Hastings isn't as smart as Poirot, Poirot often praises Hastings's good memory for facts and details.

Hastings is usually the narrator, so his looks are not often described. However, it is mentioned that he has a moustache, which Poirot once criticized in Peril at End House. Poirot told him, "If you must have a moustache, let it be a real moustache, a thing of beauty such as mine." Hastings is not a harsh person. Poirot notes in his final letter to Hastings that he knows Hastings is not a murderer.

His Relationships with Women

Hastings has a special liking for women with auburn hair. In The Mysterious Affair at Styles, he was charmed by Cynthia Murdoch, who had auburn hair, and even proposed to her. This became a running joke in the series. Poirot would often tease Hastings, asking, "Does she have auburn hair?" whenever Hastings thought a young, pretty female suspect was innocent. This weakness for auburn-haired women sometimes caused trouble for Hastings and Poirot.

Despite his preference for auburn hair, Hastings falls in love with a dark-haired music-hall performer named Dulcie Duveen. They meet in Murder on the Links, Poirot's second full-length novel. Poirot helps them get together. After they marry, Hastings buys a ranch in Argentina and settles down there.

Later Stories

Hastings appears in Poirot's later novels when he visits England from Argentina. Poirot says in The ABC Murders that he enjoys Hastings's visits. He feels he always has his most interesting cases when Hastings is with him. In The Big Four, Dulcie's life is in danger from a group of criminals. Hastings has to risk Poirot's life to keep her safe.

We don't learn much more about Hastings's personal life until Curtain: Poirot's Last Case. This story takes place after World War II. Hastings's wife, Dulcie, has passed away. He returns to Styles Court to help Poirot with one last case. The book ends with Poirot dying. He leaves Hastings a letter explaining his role in the events. Poirot's strong friendship with Hastings is shown when the murderer tries to trick Hastings into committing a crime. Poirot decides to stop the murderer, even if it means killing him, because he knows Hastings would never do such a thing normally.

His Final Appearance

Curtain tells us more about Hastings's family. He and Dulcie have two sons and two daughters. One son joins the Royal Navy. The other son and his wife manage the ranch after Dulcie's death. Hastings's daughter Grace is married to a British officer in India. His youngest daughter, Judith, is a character in Curtain. Judith is Hastings's favorite child, but he finds her hard to understand. She marries Dr. John Franklin, a medical researcher, and moves to Africa. In a note at the end of Curtain, Poirot suggests Hastings might marry again. He thinks Hastings should consider Elizabeth Litchfield, whose sister was tricked into killing her father. Poirot believes Elizabeth needs to know she is not bad because of her sister's actions. He also notes that Hastings is still attractive to women.

Hastings's exact age is not given after the first book. He is 30 in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Curtain was published in 1975, but it was written during World War II. The story seems to be set around the early 1950s. This is because food rationing was still happening in Britain until 1954. Also, capital punishment by hanging was still legal in the UK. This means Hastings would be in his 60s during the events of Curtain. He even says himself, "I'm pushing it a bit."

Who Played Hastings

Many actors have played Hastings in films and on television:

• Richard Cooper in Black Coffee (1931) and Lord Edgware Dies (1934).
• Robert Morley in The Alphabet Murders (1965).
• Jonathan Cecil in three TV films: Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Dead Man's Folly (1986), and Murder in Three Acts (1986).
• Dmitry Krylov in the Soviet film Mystery Endhauz (1989).
• Hugh Fraser played Hastings alongside David Suchet's Poirot in 43 episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot.
• He is also a main character in the anime Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple.

On BBC Radio 4, Captain Hastings was played by Jeremy Clyde in Murder on the Links (1990). Simon Williams played him in Lord Edgware Dies (1992), The ABC Murders (2000), Peril at End House (2000), The Mysterious Affair at Styles (2005), and Dumb Witness (2006).

The Hastings Novels

Hastings tells most of the short stories about Poirot. However, he only appears in eight of the full-length novels. Seven of these were written before 1940:

• The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1916, published 1920)
• The Murder on the Links (1923)
• The Big Four (1927)
• Peril at End House (1932)
• Lord Edgware Dies (1933) – also known as Thirteen at Dinner in the U.S.
• The A.B.C. Murders (1936)
• Dumb Witness (1937)
• Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975)

Hastings tells all the stories in Poirot Investigates (1924), which is a collection of short stories. He is also in Christie's play Black Coffee (1930) and its book version.

See also

In Spanish: Arthur Hastings para niños