Madness: Female Rebellion in the Patriarchal Society

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Lady Audley's Secret, a novel written in 1862 by the British woman writer Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915), was a sensational bestseller once it was published. Over time, Braddon's work faded out of sight of readers and critics until Elaine Showalter, the 20th century American feminist critic, revisited and analyzed the unique female image embodied in Lady Audley's Secret. Many people began to pay attention to the works reflecting the patriarchal culture and how women opposed oppression of patriarchy. In this essay, the hidden rebellious nature of Lady Audley’s madness and the implicit appeal of the author for females to fight the Victorian social norms are revealed.

Feminist literary criticism is one of the important theories of criticism developed in the 20th century. In view of the patriarchal pattern of literary creation and literary criticism in the past, feminism advocates a creative approach to feminism and calls for women as the center to study women Image, and asked to interpret the literary works with a new female perspective (Voskuil 613). Lady Audley's Secret tells the story of a beautiful woman who committed a bigamy, who has plotted to kill her husband in any means in order to achieve a better quality of life, and has tried her best to escape from punishment. The novel subverts the female image of angelic family figures in the Victorian tradition and challenges the social order and social system based on patriarchal domination.

Lady Audley's Secret is a popular novel with thrilling plot. As a result of the feminist interpretation of heroine's image by American critic Elaine Showalter, Braddon and her works became a popular topic of study once more. People began to read the unique 19th century Victorian culture with an understanding perspective and re-interpret the heroine's image in the novel, defining its behavior as a resistance against the traditional concept of patriarchy (Voskuil 616). Although Braddon, the author of the novel, did not explicitly state in her work that she favors and tolerates heroine's attempt to commit crimes for a better life. Understanding does not mean repeating, or copying. Understanding involves creation of new ideas based on existing works. It is not a passive process, and requires something new through conversing with the works.

The subversion of the female images in the novel may be a hint of female rebellion under the patriarchal society control and suppression. In Lady Audley's Secret, the author Braddon subverts the female image of Victorian females who were dedicated to their families with pleasant figures and docile personalities. Under Lady Audley’s beautiful angelic looks hide a scheming heart and unscrupulous mind. The author portrays Lady Audley as a glamorous and beautiful woman in order to satisfy the expectation of Victorian patriarchal culture on the image of women, in which women have the qualities of purity, beauty, loyalty and gentleness. Similarly, 19th-century literary works are filled with images of such family angels, such as Esther in Bleak House and Amy in Little Dorrit, two typical heroines of the Victorian family.

However, Braddon depicts the appearance of the heroine as the beautiful family figure, and at the same time paints a detailed account of her attempts to climb up the social class ladder, commit bigamy and find her way out of her ex-husband's life. Lady Audley is described as a selfish person. In order to gain wealth and status, she does not love anyone, including her own father, husband and son. She only wants to enjoy a better material life. So, she sees her father as a drag on her life. Her husband, who runs away, only brought about poverty and obstacles to her own miserable life. So, she renames herself and commits bigamy. She does not love her son, considering him as a burden for her only. There is no madness in these behaviors, only a sheer sense of cruelty and coldness, as described by the physician:

“Because there is no evidence of madness in anything she has done. She ran away from her home, because her home was not a pleasant one, and she left it in the hope of finding a better. There is no There are 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 38). "

A woman under the appearance of such a beautiful angel, in order to marry the wealthy Sir Audley, at all costs, she deceived, escaped, and murdered. Her clever and ruthless image is incompatible with the gentle submissiveness of traditional female images in the Victorian era.

This incompatibility makes people wonder why. What happened to Lady Audley that contributed to her insanity and cruelty? At the ending of the novel, everyone else obtained a happy ending: “That dark story of the past fades little by little every day, and there may come a time in which the shadow my lady's wickedness has cast upon the young man's life, will utterly vanish away (Braddon 74)." The discourse shows only compassion for men suffering from Lady Audley, described as "my lady's wickedness." The novel's protagonist Robert, also successfully married his ideal wife, and started a happy life. This perfect outcome is only to comply with the prevailing culture in the Victorian society. Just as in the fairy tale model, the prince and the princess lived a happy life, and Lady Audley, an evil traitor of the society, died in a lunatic asylum. Although George is also affected by the shadow of the devil's life, but will eventually return to the track of happiness. The author seems to imply that only obedience to social norms can bring happiness. Those who are eager to change the status and fight with these norms, such as Lady Audley, can only be punished.

At the end of the article, the author sent Lady Audley to the asylum in the name of a mad person. She eventually died in the asylum with people’s indifference. This plot seems to conform to the patriarchal culture to warn those women that deviate from the submissive image, that their act will eventually be severely punished by society. However, the author is also appealing for careful scrutiny of 19th-century cultural phenomena and reevaluation of the stories behind the women who are labeled as mad. One’s behavior is inseparable to his or her social environment. In other words, it was the society that push Lady Audley to madness and cruelty. In order to live a better life and escape from poverty, women such as Lady Audley were striving to escape the shackles of a patriarchal culture and deviate from the social norms of the era. They were eventually labeled insane only for the purpose of punishing women while maintaining male supremacy. In essence, the novel overturns the values of Victorian tradition and believes that women should not submit to their fate. The obedience and acceptance advocated by the Victorian tradition can only end in tragedy.

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