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Revision as of 00:43, 4 February 2006 by SeaworthyViolin (talk | contribs) (added section Analysis and Themes)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Lady Audley's Secret is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, written in 1862.
Plot
Lady Lucy Audley is a beautiful, doll-like blonde, who in the absence of her first husband George Talboys had been forced by poverty to desert her child and take on a new identity before marrying Lord Audley. When her first husband returns she apparently kills him by accident in a row. Lord Audley's nephew Robert, a barrister, happens to be a good friend of the old husband and decides to find out what happened to him. He does not know about his aunt's past, however, and thus does not connect her to the disappearance of his friend... at first.
Though the novel's content (crime, mostly bigamy and attempted murder) was considered fairly immoral at the time of publication, it was extremely successful. It has been in print ever since in the United Kingdom.
Analysis and Themes
Lady Audley's Secret plays on Victorian anxieties about the domestic sphere. The home was supposed to be a refuge from the dangers outside. However, in this narrative, the seemingly perfect domestic lady turns out to be a violent criminal who has not only tried to commit murder, but has also committed bigamy and abandoned her child. Lady Audley's crimes disrupt the domestic sphere and remove the safety of the home. This was unsettling to a Victorian readership because it made it clear that the ideas of "the perfect lady/mother" and "domestic bliss" were more idealistic than realistic. In addition, anxieties about the increasing urbanization of Britain are noticeable: Lady Audley is able to change her identity in a city, where she is effectively anonymous. The small town of Audley is no longer a refuge where everyone knows his/her neighbors. The residents of Audley must accept Lucy Graham's account of herself, since they have no other way of identifying her.
Films
- Lady Audley's Secret 1912 (USA, black and white, silent)
- Lady Audley's Secret (aka Secrets of Society) 1915 (USA, black and white, silent, directed by Marshall Farnum)
- Lady Audley's Secret 1920 (UK, black and white, silent, directed by Jack Denton)
- Lady Audley's Secret 2000 (UK, TV, directed by Betsan Morris Evans)
Broadway musical
Produced in 1972.
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