Lady Audley’s Secret and the Portrayal of a Criminal Mind

Abstract

Lady Audley’s Secret is a novel first published in 1862 by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, a Victorian writer. It is the story of a young lady who, in her attempt to climb the social ladder, commits several crimes. Her behaviour was considered abnormal and improper in a society in which women had to be obedient and docile. The originality of this work is the representation of a woman whose behaviour was not considered as insane rather intentional and calculated but, despite this, she was confined to an asylum. Psychiatry was an emerging medical specialty during the Victorian period and the diagnosis of psychiatric conditions was not sophisticated and precise as today. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that Lady Audley was likely affected by antisocial personality disorder according to the medical assessment criteria of the present time.