Emily Caroline Brent is a major protagonist in Agatha Christie's mystery novel And Then There Were None and its adaptations, serving as one of ten anti-heroes and an antagonist that appeared in the story. An elderly woman of unyielding principles, she alongside nine other guests are invited to Soldier Island where they are accused of committing a murder in a way that the law cannot punish them for. She perishes along with all the other guests and is the fifth person to die.
In the 1945 film, Emily Brent was portrayed by the late Judith Anderson. In the 2015 miniseries, her character was played by actress Miranda Richardson, who also portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder II, Mab in Merlin, the Queen of Hearts in the 1999 TV film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, Jude in The Crying Game, Lady Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow, Mrs. Tweedy in Chicken Run, Sybil Birling in An Inspector Calls and Rita Skeeter in the Harry Potter franchise.
Personality[]
Emily Brent is a devout Christian, noted to read her Bible daily. Unfortunately, she misuses the teachings of Christ to explain away her own character flaws and is repeatedly looking down upon other people as sinners. Despite this, she does not tolerate Lombards racist views. Viewing herself as righteous and reputable to others, Emily is shown to have a very conservative outlook on life, preferring to stick to old fashioned values in the ever-changing world. Although Emily is hinted to feel remorse for her actions, she never expresses or outwardly displays it.
Biography[]
Past[]
Emily Brent was born somewhere in England either in the late 1850s, or early to mid-1860s. She grew up in a Christian family and took the teachings of the Bible with extreme zealotry, using them as the guiding principle for her life. Unfortunately, this outlook caused Emily to lose all compassion for her fellow human beings. She saw sin all around her and became uncompromising in her outlook on life.
By the start of the novel, Emily Brent is sixty-five years old and retired. She never married and has no children.
5th November 1931[]
Although Emily considers herself to be pure in the eyes of God, her past holds a dark secret ...
Five years before the events of And Then There Were None, Emily had a young maid named Beatrice Taylor. Emily had originally employed the teenage girl because she believed her to be nice and well mannered. It is also stated that, like herself, Beatrice came from a devout Christian family and her parents are implied to have been friends of Emily's.
Emily's opinion of Beatrice was shattered on 5th November 1931, however, when she discovered, (through means unspecified), that Beatrice was pregnant out of wedlock. Emily was outraged, as these actions violated the tenants of the Bible. Standing by her principles, the thoroughly disgusted Emily fired Beatrice and personally evicted her from the house. From a comment she later made to Vera Claythorne on Soldier Island, it is heavily implied that Emily subsequently told Beatrice's parents about their daughter's condition.
To her approval and satisfaction, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were just as appalled as Emily was. Furious, the couple evicted Beatrice from their family home and disowned her. By the evening of 5th November 1931, the distraught and thoroughly miserable Beatrice was alone, unemployed, pregnant, homeless and penniless.
The following morning, a grizzly discovery was made. To the shock of the locals, police constables pulled the body of a young woman from the local river. This body was quickly identified as belonging to Beatrice Taylor. It was soon determined that Beatrice had killed herself. With the events of the previous day well known, it was concluded that Beatrice, overcome by depression and remorse, deliberately threw herself into the water, killing both herself and her unborn child.
Many people were shocked and horrified by what had happened, and a local scandal ensued. Naturally, news of what had happened filtered back to Emily. However, the old spinster never expressed any remorse or pity. Refusing to accept any responsibility or culpability, Emily simply stated that, as far as she was concerned, Beatrice brought this upon herself and her suicide was nothing more than an even worse sin. Despite these convictions, the book does indicate that deep down, Emily knew that she is responsible for what happened. Unfortunately, this sense of conscience and remorse remained buried beneath her unyielding sense of righteousness.
A few years later, Emily received a letter in the post. The letter was smugged, and she could only make out Mrs. U.N.O.. The letter invited Emily to join Mrs Owen at Soldier Island, claiming that she had met her in the past and shared similar views. Welcoming the change of scenery and a free holiday, Emily left for the island, unaware that she was walking into a trap.
And Then There Were None[]
| “ | Six little soldier boys playing with a hive, a bumblebee stung one and then there were five. | „ |
| ~ Extract from The Tale of the Ten Little Soldier Boys, foreshadowing Emily's fate. |
Shortly before killing himself, Lawrence Wargrave (U. N. Owen) wrote a confession letter explaining the purpose of his crime, and how he carried out each of the murders. The terminally ill Judge, who was, in fact, a secret psychopath, decided to fulfill his lifelong ambition to commit a murder, before killing himself. Wargrave was, however, bound by a strong sense of moral justice and as such decided that he would only commit his crime on those who deserved it, i.e. people that had killed other people in a way that the law could not punish them for.
Remembering the poem of the ten little soldier boys from his youth, Wargrave went looking for nine victims. He heard about the case of Emily Brent and Beatrice Taylor, from an upper-class woman (most likely a friend of his) whilst on holiday in Majorca. As with all of his potential victims, Wargrave studied the case carefully, deliberating over who was innocent, who was guilty and (more importantly) who deserved to die alongside him on Soldier Island.
Emily arrived by train alongside most of the other guests. She does not know anyone but appears to strike up a friendship of sorts with MacArthur. In an ironic (and perhaps fitting situation) before heading down to dinner, she reads a passage from the Bible about sinners receiving their punishment. After dinner, Emily comments on how lucky the Owens are to have the Rogers as their servants. However, she initially refers to the pair as the Olivers, and when told that their hosts are called the Owens, says she has never met anybody by that name. Thus, the first hints that something more sinister is afoot are sown.
Moments later the accusations play out on a hidden gramophone for everybody to hear. Amongst them is the accusation that Brent supposedly murdered Beatrice Taylor. She is one of only two people (the other being Wargrave) not to react frantically to the situation or try to explain away her supposed misdeed. She shows no concern for Mrs. Rogers who fainted and barely reacts when Anthony Marston suddenly dies.
The following morning, when Dr. Armstrong revealed that Mrs. Rogers passed away the previous night, Emily, once again, shows no concern or compassion. Instead, she dismisses it as an act of God and Mrs. Rogers own guilty conscience. Later whilst on a walk with Vera, the two women have a discussion about their current situation. Brent is convinced the Rogers are both guilty of their alleged crimes but dismisses all of the other accusations. When asked about her own supposed misdeed, Emily freely narrated what had happened, leaving the younger woman horrified by Brent's callousness.
Vera avoided Emily after this but decided not to tell the others what she has learnt just yet. The elderly woman is the first to notice the storm brewing, as well as the absence of General MacArthur, who is found murdered shortly afterwards. In the wake of the indisputable murder, the survivors gathered together where Wargrave put forward a damning theory: there is no eighth person stalking them, the murderer, U.N. Owen is one of them! Brent immediately agrees with this hypothesis, although the others remained somewhat skeptical.
That night Emily has a nightmare, in which she accuses Beatrice Taylor of being the murderer. She wakes up shortly afterwards and realises that she is starting to go mad. This shows that despite her unwavering faith, and self-righteous view, the situation is starting to get to her.
The next morning, Emily, convinced that nobody would hurt an innocent woman, goes for an early morning walk. She returns to the mansion just as Thomas Rogers absence is noticed. The butler is found murdered not long afterwards, with an axe embedded in his head. Following his death, Vera and Emily volunteer to make breakfast.
With tension in the air, the group ate together in silence. At first, everything was normal. Then, as the group were finishing up their meal, Emily suddenly started to feel giddy and sat back down. Writing it off as delayed shock or a bad nights rest, she (rudely) refused Dr. Armstrong's offer of treatment and, telling the others she would be fine in a minute, was left alone. Instead of becoming more alert, however, Emily began to feel more and more drowsy.
A moment later, she heard a strange buzzing noise. Looking around, Emily noticed a bumblebee resting on the window. Then, she heard movement behind her. Emily had just enough time to think that it is Beatrice Taylor, come to take her revenge, before she feels a sharp prick in her neck, as if she has been stung ...
A few minutes later, upstairs in the drawing-room, Inspector Blore informed the others that he suspected Emily Brent to be the murderer due to her "religious mania". Following a brief discussion, in which Blore notes Emily's callousness and Vera reveals what Emily told her, the others, swayed by these declarations decide to keep a close on Emily from now on.
However, this proves unnecessary. Following their meeting, they go to find Emily, who did not turn up and find her dead in the dining room. Dr. Armstrong carries out a quick examination. He finds the injection mark on her neck and a hypodermic syringe outside. He concludes that Emily Brent was murdered via cyanide poisoning. As a small measure of comfort, he notes that she would have died quickly.
Vera, however, notices the bee in the room. Realising that this latest murder once again refers to a passage from The Tale of the Ten Little Soldier Boys, the guests sense of unease and tension is heightened. Unfortunately for the group, however, this did them no favours and, within twenty-four hours, they too would share Emily Brent's fate.
In the epilogue, a confession letter, penned by the murderer was recovered. Through his writing, Wargrave revealed that he killed his victims in a specific order, based upon what he perceived to be their level of guilt. He therefore, judged Emily Brent to be one of the more guilty killers as made sure that she, and the others of superior guilt, suffered before ending their lives. This was most likely done due to the senseless death of Beatrice, and Emily's apparent lack of remorse.
As to how he killed Emily, Wargrave stated that, as Armstrong suspected, he killed her with potassium cyanide, which (at the time) could easily be purchased to deal with household pests. Before that, however, he isolated and subdued her with the same sleeping drug he used to kill Mrs. Rogers. This strong medicine was provided by his own doctors as a way to combat the pain from his cancer. Wargrave had secretly hoarded it until he had a lethal dosage.
On the day in question, whilst the group were enjoying what would be Emily's last meal, Wargrave, slipped the remainder of sleeping medication into Emily's morning coffee. This amount was not lethal enough to take her life, but strong enough to incapacitate her temporarily. Knowing that the others would suspect her by this point, Wargrave left with the others, and then, when the group broke off to wash and prepare before their meeting, quietly doubled back. With Emily still sitting in her chair, struggling to stay conscious, he crept up behind her and injected Emily in the neck with the potassium filled syringe, before releasing the bee to fit with the rhyme.
Thus, Wargrave avenged Beatrice Taylor's unjustified death and gave the religious old spinster the justice she had so frequently read about.
Live action adaptations[]
| Brent was portrayed by the late Australian actress Judith Anderson in Rene Clair's 1945 adaptation of the book, and her character is largely consistent with the novel. The only change was that in the film version Brent is accused of being responsible for the death of her young nephew, not a maid. Brent tells Vera that the boy was the orphan of her sister and that she had him placed in a reformatory due to his unruly behavior. Emily confesses that she never saw him again after sending him away, as he hanged himself shortly afterward. Brent displayed absolutely no remorse or sadness about the child's death. |
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| Brent's character was substantially changed in this adaptation. Instead of an elderly spinster, she was turned into a European film actress named Ilona Bergen who was in her late twenties-early thirties. Bergen grew up in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, and was desperate to escape. In order to accomplish this she agreed to marry a military officer, but found the role of an officer's wife to be boring and dull. Eventually she found work in the film industry and left her husband, telling him that she had only married him to leave her life in Germany behind. Her distraught husband then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Bergen expressed great remorse for his death, and was killed by a lethal injection soon thereafter. Earlier in the film, it was revealed that General Mandrake knew the truth surrounding her husband's death, as he had been the man's commanding officer at the time of his suicide. Bergen was portrayed by the late actress Daliah Lavi. |
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| The character was essentially the same as in the 1965 film, though here her name was changed to Ilona Morgan and was portrayed by Stephane Audran. In this version Morgan is killed after being bitten by a poisonous snake left in her room by Mr. Owen. |
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| Like the two previous films, the character in this version is a film actress and is named Marion Marshall. Marshall was portrayed by American actress Brenda Vaccaro. In this version it is not a husband that Marshall is accused of murdering, but a fellow actress. Her nerves frayed by the deaths of previous guests and consumed with guilt, Marshall confides to Vera Claythorne the truth surrounding the woman's death. She had been involved in a lesbian relationship with an older actress named Beatrice Taylor whose career was fading. When Marion tried to break off the relationship Taylor threatened to ruin her career by going to the studios and telling them the truth about their affair. A terrible argument followed, and a drunk Taylor stumbled into her pool and fell unconscious. Instead of pulling her out Marion left her there to drown. Marion lies down to rest not long after confessing this, and after she falls asleep she is murdered by Mr. Owen with a lethal injection. |
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Miranda Richardson's portrayal of Emily in the BBC's 2015 mini-series is generally consistent with her novel counterpart. There are only a few differences between the two sources: -
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 Villains(Non-Poirot & Non-Marple) | |
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Tommy and Tuppence Beresford And Then There Were None Other Mystery Stories Adaptational, Homage & Non-Canonical | |