Document Type
Other
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
Lady Audley’s Secret has been defined as a sensation novel, a melodramatic genre from the 1860s. It depicts the life and many personas of Helen Talboys. Helen lived a poor life with her father until she married her husband, George Talboys, a man with access to his father’s fortune. Upon hearing of this union, George’s father revokes access to those funds, leaving them with very little money. After George leaves with a promise to make his own fortune in the gold mines, Helen fakes her death and becomes Lucy Graham. While working as a governess, Lucy marries above her class, becoming Lady Audley. The life that she has built for herself, however, begins to fall apart when her first husband returns and searches for his presumably dead wife. Upon discovering her true identity, George Talboys meets the wrath of the new Lady Audley as she attempts to murder him. The novel ends with Lady Audley feigning madness and being towed away to a mental institute.
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Rights
Copyright © 2026 Alison Marshall
Recommended Citation
Marshall, Alison, "A Societal Critique: Reading Lady Audley’s Secret Through Its Periodical Context" (2026). Schultz-Werth Award Papers. 74.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/schultz-werth/74