lt ofLady Audleys transgressive desires and needs, and the violation of accepted codes of femininity in thesociety to which she belongs. Lady Audleys true secret is that she tries to accomplish, insofar as societyallows her, the task of transgressing social spheres and becoming a true lady. She tries to keep her pastconcealed in order to fit into the domestic ideal, and yet ironically, this past is dug up by a man who willnot allow her to be a part of the domestic ideal she was trying to maintain.When her transgressive past is revealed, Dr. Mosgrave recommends for her to be taken to anestablishment in Belgium. He tells Robert, If you were to dig a grave for her in the nearest churchyardand bury her alive in it, you could not more safely shut her from the world (Braddon 373). The maisonde sant perfectly fits the description of this grave in a churchyard. It is located in Villebrumeuse, anecclesiastical town that had once been a monastery. The description is replete with religious imageryand the maison de sant oddly resembles the description of Audley Court in the beginning of the novel.Braddon is suggesting that the maison de sant for Madame Taylor is going to function as the countryhouse for Clara, since both marriage and an insane asylum are forms of confinement. Madame Taylorsincarceration and her subsequent death... are the means by which the Transgressive heroine (and theimproper feminine) is expelled from the narrative (Pykett 92). Helen Maldon has a concealed past,concealed drives and emotions, and ultimately ends up with a concealed future; these are the effects ofthe confinement and suppression forced on women who dare to transgress their domestic roles. IV ConclusionThe multiple roles adopted by Clara and Lady Audley in Braddons novel imply that femininityis itself duplicitous, and that it involves deception and dissembling (Pykett 91). Through the use of herfemale characters, Braddon explores the contradiction between t...
