Lady Audley 's Secret By Mary Elizabeth Braddon

A vampire is defined as “a prenatural being of a malignant nature, supposed to seek nourishment, or do harm, by sucking the blood of sleeping persons;” (1). Whereas a parasite is defined as “a person who lives at the expense of another, or society in general;” (2). A sleeping persons can be interpreted as an innocent person, this is due to countless stories and lore depicting vampires stealing the blood of conscious innocent persons. Therefore, by doing harm to the innocent, a vampire is living at the expense of the humans whose blood it steals, making vampires a form of parasite. In The Good Lady Ducayne, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Ducayne is genetically a human, but her mind has become fixated on life. By exploiting technology, her moral and ethical standards change, allowing for her personal relationships to become meaningless in her search for an elongated life. She goes so far as to steal the blood of young girls; this act of stealing innocent girls blood at their own expense, makes her a special parasite, human vampire.

The short story, "My Last Duchess," by critically acclaimed, Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, is an intriguing and thought-provoking work of prose. Though it ties considerably to the famous work by the same name, written by Robert Browning, it also brings its own ideas, and symbols to the table. The most prominent symbolic link within this story is the representation between the characterization of Miss Bessie--the high school english teacher--and the narrator 's ideas, thoughts, and fears about life. The term life -- for the purposes of this essay -- is defined as the existence of an individual person and their course through the world. In “My Last Duchess,” the narrator 's life is symbolically represented through Miss Bessie by the character traits of a positive reputation, overcoming obstacles, and the solitary nature of people.

¨There was a law against luke. Not him personally everyone like him, kids who were born after their parents already had two babies (pg 6)¨. Would you like a law against you? Among the hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix clearly shows that dictatorship is horrible. In this novel Luke is not allowed to leave the house or be seen. Luke leaves the house in cover and meets a girl the same as him she can't go anywhere so she tries to convince luke to rebel to be like regular people with her but he is to nervous. Luke shows the character traits of brave, jealousy and adventurous as he hides in the shadows.

Throughout the essay “Our secret” by Susan Griffin, Griffin talks about a few characters’ fears, secrets and she gives us insights into these “secrets”. Griffin comes to realize her own secrets and fears by examining others. She relates to a few of the characters such as Himmler, Leo, Helene and everyone else even though she is different than all of them. The only thing that all of these characters have in common is that they all represent human emotion. Susan Griffin reveals that everyone has a hidden side to them and anything being showed on the outside could be fake or a false representation of themselves. “I think of it now as a kind of mask, not an animated mask that expresses the essence of an inner truth, but a mask that falls like dead weight over the human face.” (Griffin 237) This quote explains what she means about secrets being the barrier to others’ feelings and having this mask hides what you really feel on the inside.

Douglas describes Sophia Auld’s change “under the influence of slavery” her “cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery… soon became red with rage” her “voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that [her] angelic face gave place to that of a demon” (Douglas 78). Despite her good nature, his mistress succumbed to the power that came with being a slave owner. One’s nature may play a part in his disposition, but who one actually becomes depends on his or her temptations and environment. Bradbury conveys this through the mindless culture of his world that “nips most of them,” “the queer ones” who are “exceptionally bright” and think for themselves, “in the bud.” Simply exposure to the school environment suppresses the intelligence and curiosity in children and them empty, pleasure driven drones. They are corrupted by their society, not necessarily by their own disposition. Thus both authors show In summation, Douglas and Bradbury similarly express the importance of one’s environment and situation to their his or her

The Victorian era set for a “women's status in a newly industrializing society” throughout Braddons novel we can see this change by which Lady Audley took initiative into herself into getting what she wanted, though she used it by the help of men. We see a different outlook of women throughout the novel. Though this aspect of women being sensitive is still shown in the novel through. She uses whatever she has and turns into the best she can be. This motto is used though various successful men, in which the typical low-income man builds himself from nothing as Mr Tallboys shows when his wealth is taken from him and he builds himself up from absolutely nothing to this man with immense wealth. Lucy as Robert knows her does the same in which she comes from a troubled childhood and transforms herself into a woman into this “high class” society who is filled with wealth and jewels. Basically shows the same problem but we see the in justness of women that she went through far more obstacles than Mr. Talboy’s for her gender enabled her for doing her as mr talboys did and be as simple as getting a job she had to make ends meet through her body. These two instances show the feminist aspect in which both a man and woman face the struggle of no wealth and building themselves

This is all expressed through Freud’s idea that “the whole conduct of our life is constantly influenced by subconscious ideas” (UI 223) which represents the superego in Lady Audley attempting to comply to social standards. These “ideas are…active” (UN Ideas 222) in women because they are constantly trying to overcome this sense of inferiority they possess towards men. The feelings adjust women’s superegos because they are constantly trying to find a balance between their desires and their duties to serve their husbands. Lady Audley is clever in how she displays herself as the perfect woman, but another aspect of her that she unconsciously utilizes in her favor is her beauty. Lady Audley is endlessly told that she is beautiful and is referred to as “the prettiest little creature you ever saw in your life” (Braddon 53) by many, therefore “she was so used to admiration from everyone” (Braddon 13).

Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre embraces many feminist views in opposition to the Victorian feminine ideal. Charlotte Bronte herself was among the first feminist writers of her time, and wrote this book in order to send the message of feminism to a Victorian-Age Society in which women were looked upon as inferior and repressed by the society in which they lived. This novel embodies the ideology of equality between a man and woman in marriage, as well as in society at large. As a feminist writer, Charlotte Bronte created this novel to support and spread the idea of an independent woman who works for herself, thinks for herself, and acts of her own accord.

This passage out of Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon does an excellent job of narrating the role of gender in the domestic realm-a major theme throughout the entire novel. A good deal of the Victorian gender stereotypes is emphasized. Lady Audley for example, has an outward appearance that reaches the peaks of traditional femininity that seems to make men fall at her feet. However, several of the actions she commits throughout the novel- such as attempted murder and arson- are traits that are expected out of men and have no place in the character of a classic Victorian woman. Lady Audley is secretive, cunning, and quick; this much we have already learned from Robert Audley. Her next attempt to cover up her actions (by sending

During the Victorian Era in 1837 the period that was ruled by Queen Victoria I, women endured many social disadvantages by living in a world entirely dominated by men. Around that time most women had to be innocent, virtuous, dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion. It was also a time associated with prudishness and repression. Their sole window on the world would, of course, be her husband. During this important era, the idea of the “Angel in the House” was developed by Coventry Patmore and used to describe the ideal women who men longed. Throughout this period, women were treated inferior to men and were destined to be the husbands “Angel in the House”.

“Jane Eyre” is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their “womanly duties,” Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality & sexuality, passion & sensibility, and conformity & insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also used to relate many of the characters to the titular Jane. In “The Mystery at Thornfield,” Valerie Beattie makes claims that the character Bertha Mason’s insanity is a representation of rebellion toward the limitations of Victorian women. Not only is

An example of this notion is shown in Hope Leslie when Governor Winthrop, the landlord, reacts to Hope, the tenant, coming home late and refuses to reveal her reason why: “...Winthrop was not accustomed to have his inquisitorial rights resisted by those in his own household, and he was more struck than pleased by Hope’s moral courage” (184). Evidently, Winthrop’s reaction proves that women with “moral courage” are unladylike because moral courage is a manly trait. On the other hand, Esther Downing, another character in Hope Leslie, embodies the cult of true womanhood. Esther’s mere look at her love interest Everell is described as “a look of...pleased dependence, which is natural... and which men like to inspire, because --perhaps -- it seems to them an instinctive tribute to their natural superiority” (219). So, “Esther’s look … of dependence” confirms that the expectation that all women are supposed to have the same behavior, gestures and personality is meant to not only please men but to also hide their true form. Therefore, the cult of true womanhood presents an internal battle in female writers and Sedgwick presents this womanly struggle through the contrast between Hope and Esther. Society wants women to be quaint housewives but publishing a book defies the cult of true womanhood. Thus, defying the qualities rooted in the cult of true womanhood causes high risk of

But a considerate and high-principled woman, may, without loss of dignity, and certainly without loss of respect, make them feel that she regards it as her duty to be their friend as well as their mistress, and that she looks upon herself as under a sacred obligation to advise them in difficulties, to guard their welfare, and to promote their comfort, simply because the all-wise Disposer of human affairs has seen meet to place them within the sphere of her influence (Ellis, p 210-211).

Jane Eyre is a novel written by Charlotte Brontë. It is distinctly a female Bildungsroman, as it follows the progress and growth of Jane’s character on her quest for selfhood and independence in a society that tries its best to impress upon her the roles and expectations of women in the Victorian era (which is neatly packaged in the figure of the ‘Angel-in-the-house’.) This is something with which this essay seeks to engage by looking at female figures which feature prominently in Jane’s life, how those who embrace the figure of ‘Angel-in-the-house’ are treated and viewed, versus those who do not. Furthermore, important male figures will also be looked at in order to understand Jane’s own feelings to the ‘Angel-in-the-house’ figure and how she approaches it, as well as how the Byronic hero might relate – if it even does.

Anne Bradstreet is among the most famous historical American female poets. Her seventeenth century works of writing came at a time when the society was male dominated and the role of women in the society was much more demeaned. Bradstreet is considered a feminist who advanced her feministic ideas through her writings.