Abstract:

The sensation genre in the 1860s stirred fierce discussions regarding scandalous, sensational and unconventional representations of women in fiction. This is because the 1860s sensation novels appealed more to a female readership, and thus potential influences of adulterous, bigamous and/or criminal women characters on women readers alarmed literary circles of the said period. On the other hand, feminist literary critics in twentieth century tended to read such unusual and controversial fictional representations in women’s writing as a sign of resistance and feminist revival in Victorian literature. There were opposing views too, though. They rather focused on anti-feminist and at times disciplinary treatment of women characters, who transgressed rooted sexual, social and cultural norms. The approach in this study is closer to the latter view in that the article aims to reveal the ambivalent nature of such narratives by paying attention to the contradiction between feminist and subversive content and its anti-feminist treatment. To do this, the article offers a detailed analysis of one of the best examples of the sensation genre, which is Lady Audley’s Secret (1862) by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

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