Different articles concerning Lady Audley’s Secret from different decades have emphasized different
aspects of the book; one article concentrated more on bridging the gap between
theater and literature by using the play adaptation instead of the actual book
itself. The first article from 1974 is the theater and literature article, “Beyond
Lady Audley’s Secret: Drama in the English Department,” by Stephen Martineau.
In this article Martineau talks about the concern surrounding the stage verses
written word debate and how the two sides can be combined to create an optimal
effect. He says, “Under the strain of this situation, I have been attempting,
as a member of an English department, to develop means whereby the theoretical
and practical aspects of drama/theater can be brought closer together,”
(Martineau 2). Martineau then goes on to explain the process of how students
will be able to understand theater more. He uses the play Beyond Lady Audley’s Secret as the example play for the article. He
describes the play as a, “dramatic rendering,” and that, “it is made up of a succession
of episodic images, extracts, and speeches that gain force from their sharp
juxtaposition with one another.” He explains that the play, “deliberately
disrupts narrative continuity and communicates information through mood and
gesture rather than through verbal explication,” (Martineau 11).
The next article that I found is from 1995. The article is “Robert
Audley’s Secret: Male Homosocial Desire in ‘Lady Audley’s Secret’” by Richard
Nemesvari. In this article Nemesvari talks about the homosocial and the
possibly homosexual undertones in the novel. Nemesvari explains that although
sensation fiction would have taboo topics with in the novels, they would not
have the “’forbiden’ sexual topic which could not be addressed directly even
within the risqué confines of these novels,” which was homosexuality (Nemesvari
2). What is interesting in this article is that Nemesvari points out that the
women in the novel become a catalyst for pointing out Robert Audley’s hidden
homosocial (maybe even homosexual) desire towards his best friend George
Talboys. Lady Audley becomes the force that makes Robert start to question his
relationship with George Talboys because she is the reason for George’s disappearance
and the reason that Robert starts taking action. Clara Talboys, George’s
sister, becomes the stabilizing force that allows Robert to stop questioning
what he feels toward George by directing his feelings towards her, George’s
female look alike. Nemesvari states, “The key point for my purpose, however, is
Robert’s perception, and the text’s constant declaration, that Clara is exactly
like her brother,” (Nemesvari 11).
The most recent article is from 2014. It is “Subversive
Sexual and the Decline of British Society: The Demonization of the Victorian
New Woman in Lady Audley’s Secret, She,
and Dracula” by Sara Louise Fatemi Cristin. Cristin talks about how she “uses
degeneration theory to examine the demonization of the sexuality in New Woman
characters in two interconnected representations of social decline, national
and biological,” (Cristin 6). This is a more feminine reading of the text and a
comparison with other novels. She explains that instead of making the women
completely evil, the readers are left with mixed feelings about them and the
situation.
The importance of the novel Lady Audley’s Secret itself had become more important as time went
on. Before it was just a catalyst to explain a theory that had nothing to do
with the novel itself then became an important representation for Victorian way
of thinking. It became a book that gave hints to possible homosexual desire in
the 1990s and then became a book that showed the complexity of the New Woman in
the Victorian era. It seems that more controversial topics were being touched
upon has time moved on and ways of thinking progressed.
No comments:
Post a Comment