Women in Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Essay Example

due Women in Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon Lady Audley Secret is a sensational novel published in 1862written by Mary Elizabeth who was from Victorian England. The elements of this novel reflect themes of real life. It was about a woman (Lady Audley) who had a huge secret and was married to a wealthy man who was twice her age and she did not seem to mind because it was a small price to pay or the new position in her life. She lived in utter luxury. Before all this, Lady Audley was Lucy an accomplished artist in music and art and she was a very beautiful lady. Once Sir Michael Audley set his eyes on her, he loved her even though she was nearly the same age as his daughter Alicia. Lady Audley would do whatever it takes to keep that position including murder. The novel explains and portrays different characters of women through Lady Audley. In this paper I will try portraying women as depicted in this novel and try explaining why women are represented in that manner and how it relates to the status of women during the Victorian era. During the Victorian era there were critics who criticized sensational novels saying they portrayed “dangerous” women who have uncontrolled sexuality and its effects. This novel gave voice to women who lived their lives dictated by the roles of being a wife, a daughter and even a mother. It helped the women express the emotions that they suppress. In the 19th century in England there was division of labor which led to the suppression of the voice of females. There was a definition of the ‘proper feminine’ who was the angel in the house, innocent, passionless, committed to duty, lack of legal identity, dependent and also asexual. The ‘improper female’ was represented as wild or a demon, a whore, threateningly sexual, desiring, independent, self-identity, knowing and predator among other characteristics. These characteristics were not only used in division of labor but also in controlling female sexuality. For lady Audley she takes up the two roles; the proper and improper female and intelligently uses the sexist ideology to her advantage. The portrait of Lady Audley is her disguise. It shows her as a wicked and hard lady and also as an innocent angel as well as a beautiful fiend. When Alicia looks at the portrait she says, “a painter is… able to see, through the normal expression of the face that is equally a part of it. She also goes on to say that they have never seen Lady Audley look as she does in the picture, but she thinks that she could look so (Braddon 71-72). After Alicia’s comment, Robert reacts in manner that suggest he is fearful that Lady Audley’s hidden parts might be exposed which later leads to the general fear of women in general for Robert. Robert keeps repeating this phrase so many times; “Don’t be German, Alicia, if you love me. The picture is – the picture; and my lady is – my lady, that’s my way of taking things, and I’m not metaphysical; don’t unsettle me”( Braddon 72). The fear that women have a chance of rising to the same high level of masculine intelligence is portrayed in the scene where Lady Audley is gracefully making tea. “Better the pretty influence of the tea-cups and saucers gracefully in a woman’s hand, than all the inappropriate power snatched at the point of the pen from the unwilling sterner sex. Imagine all the women of England elevated to the high level of masculine intellectuality; superior to crinoline; above pearl power and Mrs. Rachel Levison; above taking the pains to be pretty; above making themselves agreeable; above tea-tables, and the cruelly scandalous and rather satirical gossip which even strong men delight in; and what a dreary utilitarian, ugly life the sterner sex must lead” (Braddon 71). The pretty influence of the tea cups and saucers applied in a woman’s hand is viewed more the most agreeable than man’s competence at writing. If the women gave more attention to other matters other than dressing up and looking attractive and gossiping men who are the firmer uncompromising gender, would live a boring down-to-earth, ugly life since women are supposed to make their life interesting and enjoyable and are supposed to look upon them and depend on them. Mary also portrays women as people with great intelligence just like men. Lady Audley is seen as the ‘Angel in the House’ yet she is committing adultery and has changed her identity from Lucy to Lady Audley. When she finds out that Robert knows her secret about her murdering her ex-husband, she goes to her husband Sir Michael and logistically explains to him about Robert. She uses her knowledge about mental illness and manipulates her husband’s thinking to put across her point and to her advantage. She skillfully convinces her husband that Robert is mad because he persistently thinks and misses his friend George. She portrays her knowledge on mental illness by the way she tries to persuade her husband, “Robert Audley is mad’, she said, decisively. ‘What is one of the strongest diagnostics of madness- what is the first appalling sign of mental aberration? The mind becomes stationary; the brain stagnates; the even current of the mind is interrupted; the thinking power of the brain resolves itself into a monotone…and perpetual reflection upon one subject resolves itself into monomania. Robert Audley is a monomaniac....” (Braddon 202). This shows women are very intelligent and they use their ‘innocent or angelic’ nature to hide who they real are. But they use it to manipulate and persuade a certain party to fulfill their purpose or plan. Mary portrays women as people who have an ugly side, ‘utilitarian’ ‘ugly’ side as she puts it. The ugly side is especially revealed when women are pushed to the edge and they have no other way out. They would do just about anything to avoid their achievements and success to fail. In short they would clear any threat to their success and future plans and protect their territory at all cost. Lady Audley’s ugly side is seen when her crime is exposed and she is sent to an asylum where she is diagnosed by doctor Alwyn as having “latent insanity” (Braddon 179). Women are capable of fighting for survival if given the chance. They can be sweet and angelic and can be utilitarian ugly. The writer tries to show how ugly the other side of Lady Audley is, she says “if she had been Judas she would have held to her thirty pieces of silver to the last moment of her shameful life” (Braddon 174) Mary also shows that Lady Audley are many in this world not just her. She portrays this by showing us that Lady Audley shared similar characteristics and similarities with her maid Phoebe. They both grow up in miserable circumstances, they are beautiful and intelligent they are victims of miserable selfish men: “The likeness which the lady’s maid bore to Lucy was, perhaps, point sympathy between the two women.” (Braddon 104), and they are both tired about dependency and are eager to advance themselves. Roberts’s fear of women is linked to “castration anxiety” which is compared to fear brought about by Medusa’s head. It is caused by the discovery that mothers lack their penis and two solutions are provided; either “homosexuality” or “fetishism”. There is a homo-social bond between Robert and George. But it is later broken by Clara who is George’s sister. Robert likes Clara and he finds himself loving her because of her similarity to her brother: “she was so like the friend whom he had loved and lost, that it was impossible for him to think of her as a stranger” (Braddon 59). Clara is an influence to Robert. She makes Robert feel obligated to solve the case of his friend’s disappearance this means that women have the ability to influence people. Clara helped Robert overcome his fear of women. In conclusion women are too complex to be divided into proper and improper feminine. Lady Audley shows that women have both proper and improper and it is hard to pinpoint them until they are fully exposed especially the improper feminine side. And so they are just a fantasy. Work Cited Braddon, M. E. Lady Audley’s Secret. New York: Dover Publications, 1974. Print. Read More