ipl-logo

The Role Of Sexuality In Lady Audley's Secret '

2116 Words9 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Roles of women in the 1930s essay

9. What function does sexuality play in relation to gender identity? Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca deals with themes of class conflict, sexuality where both sexes are controlled by their gender roles as well as adultery and murder. Written following the Second World War, the novel portrays the emergence of female rebelliousness as well as their desires to take on masculine roles added to the increase of homosexuality that was being dismissed by the society. Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret, which is on the other hand a sensation novel (novels that focused on the world of criminality) similarly, explores themes of criminality, bigamy, adultery, sexuality and a series of transgressions that shocked the audience to illustrate the economic, social …show more content…

Robert’s misogynistic attitude is related to “castration anxiety” that is brought by men’s fear of women emasculating men in the process leading them to lose power. This is the reason Victorian men desired to endlessly maintain the patriarchal order in order to avert female autonomy. Robert’s progression from childlike homoeroticism to mature heterosexual symbolizes his subjugation of female sexuality as well as an end to his feministic qualities. His uncertainty about his sexuality provides Lady Audley the opportunity to feed others the idea that he is “monomaniac” (Braddon, 2005) motivated by his attraction to George whom he loved dearly and as a consequence fears that his “feelings toward other people are strangely embittered” (Braddon, 2005). His desire for a male companion is evident through his dismissal of his loving cousin and women as all. Lady Audley’s awareness of this, as a result, drives him to downgrade her to a submissive position in order to control the sexualized woman while compelling him to conquer his sexual indecision. Nevertheless, although he gains his heterosexual status, his homosexuality is still present through his marriage to George’s sister whom he describes as “very handsome [with] brown eyes, like George's” (Braddon, 2005). Hence choosing Clara who is “a repository for Robert's desire” he becomes a “full-fledged member of the patriarchy” (Cvetkovich, 1992, p56-64) without losing his sexual

Show More
Related
716 Words | 3 Pages

In the text “Lady Audley’s secret (1862)”, written by M. E. Braddon, there are many literary devices that came together and gave it a special effect for readers. From the begging to the end of the piece, the author uses unique techniques such as imagery, symbolism, and characterization to create an unforgettable scene that leaves the reader speechless. In multiple ways the passage can be related to the text “Medea” written by Euripides. Out of all the techniques imagery is perhaps the most effective techniques used within the text.

Read More
909 Words | 4 Pages

This is the 1980s society of Sydney which Marele Day’s postmodern crime fiction novel ‘The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender’ sets itself in and demonstrates values of the time through character actions and perceptions in the text. Day uses and subverts conventional hard-boiled detective characters through its female detective ‘Claudia Valentine’ revealing the value of feminism in the 1980s. Additionally, the novel emphasises the integration of technology as a double-edged sword and the

Read More
488 Words | 2 Pages

In her impassioned speech to Mr Rochester, Jane confronts his inherently misogynistic attitudes and emphasises her resolute belief that she and Rochester are equal, but morally she is superior. Despite Jane’s intense desire to be emotionally gratified, she refuses to compromise her own dignity to achieve this. Within this passage, Brontë exemplifies her own feminist values which criticise the current lifestyle of the Victorian marriage. In one of the rare instances where Jane openly conveys her view on gender roles and Victorian social hierarchies, she concurrently challenges Mr Rochester’s misogynistic beliefs.

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

Listening to the stories Madame Antoine told, Robert kept picking at Edna’s dress. The picking of Edna’s gown shows Robert’s quiet and deceitful way of flirting. Although Robert’s flirting was untrustworthy, he was still a honest

Read More
375 Words | 2 Pages

The 1938 suspense novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is about a narrator who remains without a name and her adventures in the high class society after she marries a wealthy man named Maxim de Winter. The novel is often read as a Gothic Romance because of its many themes and elements. The issue of class is a theme throughout the entire novel. The narrator does not fit into the high class lifestyle of the de Winters and the events that happen in the novel reflect that. The de Winters hosted a Fancy Costume Ball and that's one night when everyone can enjoy the lavish living of the high class society.

Read More
767 Words | 4 Pages

His time is spent mostly with Edna. Edna is also the first woman Robert has real feelings for and is not just playing around with. He sweeps Edna off her feet with his flirting. That is one reason he leaves for Mexico. He know it is wrong for him to have such strong feelings for Edna and for her to have the same feelings.

Read More
616 Words | 3 Pages

Gender roles and sexuality are as prevalent in this book as they are in society. The literary element used in this connection that I have chosen is theme. The theme that I used to make a connection is gender roles/sexuality. It exists in speak in numerous ways. Heather is a great example of this as she pursues a job as a bathing suit model and the photo guy asks her to be sexier.

Read More
1918 Words | 8 Pages

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…” (du Maurier 1) is the opening line of one of the best gothic romance novels, Rebecca. From beginning to end, Daphne du Maurier exhibits the gothic genre perfectly through the thrilling and suspenseful tone and atmosphere, while still telling the love story of Maxim de Winter and his second wife as the narrator of the book. The young and insecure second Mrs. de Winter is constantly compared to the late Mrs. Rebecca de Winter, who was stunning and beautiful just as her name sounds. The narrator searches for secrets of the past life at Manderley, Maxim’s large estate, when Rebecca lived there, and she will find the truth behind things she never saw possible. Rebecca is considered one of the best

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

(354) This quotation is said by the narrator, after Charles and Sarah have sex in her hotel. This quotation shows Sarah’s hunger for freedom from the Victorian society, and is seen as a manipulative individual more so a victim. It also shows Charles’s insecurity of holding less power than women in society.

Read More
666 Words | 3 Pages

She is known to be one of the acclaimed queer authors of her time; what was most astonishing is that she was writing at a time when the idea was not accepted; hence her celibate marriage to someone of the opposite sex. Virginia Woolf was a writer with a lesbian mind, and her characters, especially in her book “Mrs.Dalloway” reflect this approach. She was rebellious and, much like the poet T.S. Eliot, much of her frustration at being unable to live with the partner whom she desired physically, was expressed through the cold comfort of pen and

Read More
1380 Words | 6 Pages

Trites believes that those in Jo’s world influence her profoundly and ultimately lead to her decision to conform to heteronormative expectations. Of particular interest to me is Trites’s account of Jo’s acts of “violence” against herself throughout the text. I will incorporate into my argument that attempts to exorcise or suppress one’s queerness, like the kind Trites describes, are indeed acts of violence. Alcott seems aware, as in her depiction of Marmee, that conforming to oppressive (and unrealistic) social expectations leave one living with unresolved anger and other negative

Read More
1221 Words | 5 Pages

By using casual diction, simple sentences, and well-known allusions, Woolf is able to shift the audience’s attention from the gender of the

Read More
1455 Words | 6 Pages

“His Coy Mistress” by Annie Finch and “His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell” by A.D. Hope are both well-known response poems to the infamous poem, “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell. “To His Coy Mistress” displays Marvell’s desire for some unnamed “mistress” to give him her virginity through topics such as seduction and time. These response poems are Hope’s and Finch’s replies as women or more particularly “a mistress” to Marvell’s request.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

Read More
1730 Words | 7 Pages

H. Auden, in an essay The Guilty Vicarage, describes how the detective novels depict not just one guilty criminal, but, by putting the of suspicion on each and every member of the closed society, marks each and every member as such. The detective, by identifying the criminal and purging them from the society absolves the guilt of the entire society. According to Auden, the detective absolves not just the suspects of their guilt, but provides the same absolution/salvation to the readers of detective fiction also. Auden thus, points out some of the more unwitting functions of detective fiction, that is, to work as a literary embodiment of a mechanism which assumes everybody to be guilty and thereby the need of subjecting all to confession. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, once the confessions from all major characters is extracted, the most significant of all confessions still remains -- that of the murderer.

Read More

More about The Role Of Sexuality In Lady Audley's Secret '

Open Document