Medications in Lady Audley's Secret: Medicine as Historical Symbol and Literary Device

As an archetypal sensation novel, Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon explores the boundaries of both crime and insanity. As the main character, Robert Audley, investigates the mysterious disappearance of his close friend, he begins to suspect that his uncle’s new wife, Lucy Audley, may be guilty of murder. As Lady Audley’s Secret delves into the complicated crime, both Lucy’s and Robert’s mental state is questioned. In a surprising twist at the end, Lucy confesses not just to murder but also to her own madness, even though the novel itself remains skeptical of Lucy’s claims. While Lady Audley’s Secret has been explored in scholarly criticism for its connection to madness and medicine, no scholar has investigated the conspicuous placement of medication in the novel. By analyzing their appearance in the text, I argue that the medications in Lady Audley’s Secret are historical and material objects that the novel uses a both a narrative device and a symbol of Victorian uncertainty about medical authority and madness.