Book Anatomy · Lady Audley's Secret
Lady Audley's Secret: Genre craft
15 lenses on genre craft for Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 G15
G1. Genre and subgenre, and how well the book fits. AI
The book is a crime and mystery novel, specifically a Victorian sensation novel. It fits the genre well, featuring a hidden crime, a determined investigator, and the gradual revelation of a murderer's identity through evidence and deduction.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 19, Ch 34
George Talboys never sailed for Australia," he said, after long and painful reflection. "If he is alive, he is still in England; and if he is dead, his body is hidden in some corner of England. (Ch 13, para 49)
I believe rather that we may walk unconsciously in an atmosphere of crime, and breathe none the less freely. I believe that we may look into the smiling face of a murderer, and admire its tranquil beauty. (Ch 18, para 46)
G2. The genre's must have scenes: present or missing? AI
The genre's must-have scenes are present. The crime is revealed gradually through investigation (chapters 10 to 27). The confrontation between investigator and criminal occurs in chapter 29. The confession and justice are delivered in chapters 34 to 37.
Chapters: Ch 10, Ch 29, Ch 34
A false move, my lady, and one I never looked for from you. (Ch 18, para 9)
The speaker was Robert Audley. He whose bedroom door she had double-locked seventeen hours before at the Castle Inn. (Ch 33, para 67)
G3. The genre's conventions: which are used? AI
The book uses key mystery conventions: a missing person, circumstantial evidence, a determined amateur investigator, a beautiful but dangerous antagonist, and a final confession. It also employs the sensation novel's focus on secrets hidden within respectable society.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 10, Ch 19, Ch 29, Ch 34
I believe rather that we may walk unconsciously in an atmosphere of crime, and breathe none the less freely. I believe that we may look into the smiling face of a murderer, and admire its tranquil beauty. (Ch 18, para 46)
a wicked woman, who did not care what misery she might inflict upon the honest heart of the man she betrayed (Ch 29, para 63)
G4. Mystery: clue list, red herrings, fair play test. AI
10 clues. See the full lens on the book page.
G5. Thriller: clocks, chases and set pieces. AI
The book lacks traditional thriller elements like ticking clocks or chases. However, chapters 32 to 33 contain a set piece: Lady Audley's arson attempt at the Castle Inn. Robert's investigation has urgency but no explicit deadline.
Chapters: Ch 32, Ch 33
The thought was this: "He will do it, unless some strange calamity befalls him, and silences him for ever. (Ch 32, para 11)
Sir Michael's wife walked toward the house in which her husband slept with the red blaze lighting up the skies behind her, and with nothing but the blackness of the night before. (Ch 32, para 144)
G6. Romance: the meeting, the barriers, the grand gesture. AI
A secondary romance develops between Robert and Clara Talboys. They meet in chapter 22 when Clara appeals to Robert to continue investigating her brother's death. Barriers include Robert's initial reluctance and his duty to his uncle. The grand gesture is Robert's proposal in chapter 40.
Chapters: Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 40
By the right which makes me your bounden slave forever and ever, whether you will or no. By right of the love I bear you, Clara (Ch 40, para 33)
G7. Horror and gothic: how dread builds, when the monster is seen. AI
The book employs gothic elements subtly. Locked doors and secret passages appear in chapters 7 to 8. Lady Audley's portrait in chapter 8 has a sinister quality. Dread builds through Robert's investigation. The 'monster' (Lady Audley) is revealed gradually, fully exposed in chapter 34.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 29, Ch 34
Even in her haste she paused deliberately at the door of this room, double-locked it, and dropped the key into her pocket. (Ch 7, para 86)
No one but a pre-Raphaelite would have so exaggerated every attribute of that delicate face as to give a lurid brightness to the blonde complexion, and a strange, sinister light to the deep blue eyes. (Ch 8, para 86)
G8. Science fiction: the new idea and its rules. AI
Not a feature of this book. The novel contains no science fiction elements, new technologies, or speculative worlds.
G9. Fantasy: moments of wonder, and the cost of magic. AI
Not a feature of this book. The novel contains no fantasy elements, magic, or wonder.
G10. Adventure: stages of the journey and physical trials. AI
Not a feature of this book. The novel is not structured as an adventure with physical trials or a journey narrative.
G11. Literary: inner life and the moment of insight. AI
The book contains literary elements through Robert's inner transformation. He evolves from a lazy barrister to a determined seeker of truth. His moment of insight comes in chapter 19 when he discovers Lady Audley's true identity. His moral crisis deepens through chapters 34 to 38.
Chapters: Ch 19, Ch 34, Ch 38
Why do I go on with this," he said, "when I know that it is leading me, step by step, day by day, hour by hour, nearer to that conclusion which, of all others, I should avoid? (Ch 19, para 85)
Robert took no comforting thought from the unnatural stillness. He knew enough to know that Sir Michael Audley went away with the barbed arrow, which his nephew's hand had sent home to its aim, rankling in his tortured heart (Ch 35, para 2)
G12. Children's: age of the lead, level of peril, humour. AI
Not a feature of this book. The novel is written for adult readers and contains no child protagonists, though children appear as minor characters.
G13. Plays: entrances, exits and stage time per character. Count
Not a play. See the cast and speech lenses for who is on the page.
G14. Where the book bends or breaks its genre's rules. AI
The book bends the mystery genre by withholding the full truth of George's fate until chapter 39. Robert's investigation appears to conclude in chapter 34 with Lady Audley's confession, but George's survival is hidden, extending the mystery beyond the expected resolution.
Chapters: Ch 34, Ch 39
Not with the image of that grief-stricken face imprinted on his mind. Not with the accents of that earnest appeal ringing on his ear. (Ch 25, para 121)
the young man uttered a great cry of delight and surprise, and opened his arms to his lost friend, George Talboys (Ch 40, para 44)
G15. Tropes present, with where they appear. AI
Key tropes: the beautiful woman with a dark secret (Lady Audley, chapters 1 to 34), the amateur detective (Robert, chapters 4 to 40), the hidden crime (George's murder, chapters 10 to 37), the false accusation of madness (chapter 30), and the deathbed confession (chapter 39).
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 10, Ch 30, Ch 39
a wicked woman, who did not care what misery she might inflict upon the honest heart of the man she betrayed (Ch 29, para 63)
Robert Audley is a monomaniac. The disappearance of his friend, George Talboys, grieved and bewildered him. (Ch 30, para 76)
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