Lady Audley’s Secret: The Duality within Lady Audley’s Character Khristian Bryce Jackson College

In Lady Audley’s Secret, Braddon portrays the character of Lady Audley as a truly complex one. She is shown to be intelligent and manipulative when she supposedly kills her husband George while also manipulating her new one, Michael, for his wealth. However, despite such cruelty, she is also depicted as a vulnerable character who is constantly in fear of discovery for her misdeeds that were born from necessity. These two aspects of Lucy Audley add to her intricate personality. Her sensitivity doesn’t redeem her from her sins but creates sympathy within the eyes of the reader and allows her to become a more likeable female role.

Lucy Audley has done many horrible things within the novel. From the beginning, we begin to learn that she is not truly in love with Michael when we see her response to the proposal. She says, “Love you! Why there are women a hundred times my superior in beauty and in goodness who might love you dearly; but you ask too much of me. You ask too much of me!” (Braddon 15). She clearly shows little love for Michael and thinks that he wants something she does not want to provide. She only agrees to the marriage when Michael puts in in terms of a “bargain” which is exactly what it is to Lucy. “No more...