Disclosure as 'Cover-up': The Discourse of Madness in Lady Audley's Secret

Abstract

For a work that addresses itself in many ways to the question of madness, Lady Audley's Secret broaches the topic only as it nears its conclusion. In terms of the mechanics of this sensation novel, madness is the most melodramatic of a series of scandalous disclosures. Other revelations may have been anticipated, but this one, conventional as it is, startles even the canniest reader, since Lady Audley appears throughout the novel to be perfectly sane. This last secret is also the means by which the novel effects closure. After she has been certified, Lady Audley can be handily dispatched to a homelike asylum. On the face of it, madness is the secret now told, but it functions in significant ways more as 'cover-up' than disclosure.

A Psychoanalytical Reading of Female Madness in Selected Victorian Literature

“…Dr. Mosgrave's decision is obvious; Lady Audley is also sane though she is aberrant. "According to Jill madness is the most melodramatic of a series of scandalous disclosures" (Matus, 1993) To convince Dr. Mosgrave to declare Lady Audley as insane, Robert continuously draws on Dr. Mosgrave's sense of commitment to the community. When Robert demands Dr. Mosgrave to reconsider his analysis of Lady Audley Robert assures him: "I do not ask you to do any harm to society, but I ask you to save our stainless name from degradation and shame" (Braddon, 1998, p. 249).…”

“…According to Showalter, women ached from a predisposition to madness due to their violent bodies and their brutal hormones (Showalter, 1987, p. 322). Matus exerts that within the dangers of menarche, menses, reproduction and menopause; there was very limited time in a woman's life where she was not believed to be at difficult risk of mental distress due to her hormonal situation (Matus, 1993). Particular, pregnancy and childbirth were deemed to bestow grand fulminations to the woman's mind.…”

Lady Audley’s Secret and the Portrayal of a Criminal Mind

“…(288) Impressive is also her strength to tolerate the emotional distress related to such a long interrogation made by a barrister who, in turn, was shocked by her wickedness: "What if this woman's hellish power of dissimulation should be stronger than the truth, and crush him?" (290) The conflictual relationship between Robert and LA is not only a matter of disclosing a secret rather the antagonism of two main characters who represent, respectively, the detective and the criminal, the moral and the immor- al as well as the male and the female (Matus, 1993). Therefore, Robert stands for the respectable, righteous, noble, good-mannered model to imitate since he belongs to the upper class whereas LA is the shameful, corrupt, dishonest and inferior example of a person who comes from the lower class and thus likely to be dangerous and insane.…”

Lady Audley’s Sphinxian Mystery?

“…Jill Matus' approach runs along the same lines; according to her, "Braddon suggests to the reader that Lucy is not deranged but desperate; not mad (insane) but mad (angry)." (Matus 1993:344) Lynn Voskuil emphasises the confrontational episode between Dr. Mosgrave and Lady Audley, in which the former is asked by Robert Audley to confirm a diagnosis of madness. Thus, she prefers to focus on the difficulty of establishing a clear diagnosis, and remarks that the mixture of behavioural truthfulness and crafted theatrical performance displayed by Lady Audley confuses Dr. Mosgrave's diagnostic abilities.…”