Lady Audley's Secret

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.

I’ll also reflect on my experience with creating the Pinterest board.
The most evident critique on society in the book is the class system and the living conditions for the working class.

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.

Despite whether or not her actions were justifiable or not, they show Lucy Graham’s desperation to escape the working class. Braddon critiques the living conditions of the working class in this way and the greater classist system of the Victorian period in general. She brings attention to the hard truth that social mobility could never truly be obtained by the working class through legal means, and has to be taken through other ways. The book reflects a semi-marxist philosophy in that the class system needs to be abolished, or at least changed. The readers can see this from the book’s unique ending. Instead of a moral punishment for the crimes committed by Lady Audley, (which was viewed as obligatory in literature, and still is to some extent) she was just relocated to another country. This angered many reviewers.
Gender and sexuality also play a large role in the novel.

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

corrupt.
In “The Girl of the Period,” Eliza Lynn Linton critiques feminism and Braddon’s form of social justice. Not straying away from the morals of her society, she writes “The girl of the has done away with such moral muffishness as consideration for others, or regard for counsel and rebuke. It was all very well in old-fashioned times, when fathers and mothers had some authority and were treated with respect, to be tutored and made to obey, but she is far too fast and flourishing to be stopped in mid-career by these slow old morals; and as she dresses to please herself, she does not care if she displeases everyone else.” (Linton) The argument Linton makes is one for traditional values, she demeans the new generation of women with their progressive thoughts. While her critiques and complaints are unreasonable and minor such as complaints about women dressing for themselves or being to busy with their careers to adhere to domestic responsibilities, some are warranted such as the disregard for traditionalist morals. Personally, I am not a traditionalist myself, but that’s not to say all traditional moral values are worthless.
My experience creating the Pinterest board for the class assignment was surprisingly interesting. Having never used Pinterest before, I didn’t find it difficult to learn. I’ve always viewed the site with similar regard to Reddit and Tumblr in the sense that I could just search google a picture or a meme instead of creating an account for a website. But it was enjoyable, it gave me a chance to reflect on the major themes within the novel and relate them to pop culture. The assignment also let me contemplate how themes like individualism vs. society, and progressivism vs. traditionalism is relevant in many different pieces of pop culture. It made me think about how pop culture like memes and music can allow for ideas to be shared in a more concise way (opposed to books) and how this new trend is aligned with the ever-increasing desire for instant gratification with each passing generation.
In conclusion, Braddon set a precedent for, not only feminist heroines, but the genre of sensation fiction as a whole. It’s difficult to find a soap opera or dramatic piece of fiction nowadays that doesn’t add it’s own critique on society. It touches on themes of sexuality and classism, letting Braddon’s political and social views seep out in between the lines, and that is essentially what sets “Lady Audley’s Secret” apart from other novels in it’s genre.