Lady Audley's Secret

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Analysis of Lady Audley’s Secret
Mary Elizabeth Braddon broke out of the sensation novel genre by writing “lady Audley’s Secret.” While it still has many of the same traits as sensation fiction, it touched on many issues that sensation writers wouldn’t go near. The basic story is one of deception: The protagonist, Lucy Graham, grows tired of being poor and changes her identity to become Lady Audley. The novel has all the twists and turns expected within the genre: faking a death, attempted murder, polygamous relationships--but I will analyze the social and political themes the book delves into. Themes such as classism, sexuality, and the relationship between the two. I will also touch upon the underlying theme in the novel of individualism. …show more content…

In the book, these conditions are what drive Lucy Graham to leave her old life behind her and start anew as Lady Audley. The quote by the doctor stating that Lady Audley is not mad explains this extremely well. “Because there is no evidence of madness in anything that she has done. She ran away from her home, because it was not a pleasant one, and she left it in the hopes of finding a better. There is no madness in that. She committed the crime of bigamy, because by that crime she obtained fortune and position. There is no madness there. When she found herself in a desperate position, she did not grow desperate. She employed intelligent means, and she carried out a conspiracy which required coolness and deliberation in its execution. There is no madness in that.” (Braddon, 383) In the context of the scene, the doctor is explaining why she Lady Audley is not mentally ill and she should get a punishment equal to her crimes. The quote also gives the readers an insight into why she did what she did. …show more content…

Many see Lady Audley as a heroine and a model feminist character in literature, despite her actions. This is basically the same marxist principle as in the last paragraph: the disadvantaged, in this case women, need to revolt against the higher classes and abolish the class system before true equality can be reached. That is exactly what Lucy Graham does. Attempted murder, committing arson, and faking her own death are just a few of the ways she rebels against the system. Being a woman, her position in the working class was already lower than her male counterparts. She had no possessions of her own: in victorian times, a woman was the property of her husband and all of her possessions belonged to him. He could divorce his wife at any time and take all of her possessions. Bigamy was also legal for men, but not for women at the time. Theses were the social constraints that led to Lucy’s decision to rebel against a system she viewed as

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