The Mass Production of Illicit Femininity: Narratives of Celebrity Formation in "Lady Audley’s Secret" and "Armadale" Public

Abstract

This honors thesis examines the sensational heroines of the quintessential Victorian sensation novels, Lady Audley’s Secret and Armadale, in order to expose the latent narratives of modern celebrity culture which commodified deviant manifestations of middle-class femininity. Through the historical contextualization of the sensation genre within a period of rapid industrialization, the sensational heroine emerges as the product of a Victorian mass audience. By engaging with contemporary critics who overwhelmingly viewed the sensation novel as the harbinger of a declining society, this thesis examines the duality of the sensational heroine/villainess as the embodiment of the modernizing effects of technology which exposed the private, domestic sphere to be consumed by the masses.             

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….....1

The Print Double…………………………………………………………………………………...12

The Classification of the Modern Celebrity……………………………………………........12

Stereotyping……………………………………………………………………………...............14

Reading Double…………………………………………………………………………..............17

The Facsimile of the Villainess…………………………………………………………..........22

Spectacles of Consumption……………………………………………………………………...35

Advertisements…………………………………………………………………………..............36           

Masquerade……………………………………………………………………………................45

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….....56

References………………………………………………………………………………………......59

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Literature, English Women's Studies History, European
Mot-clé	History of Celebrity Female Readership Victorian Gender Politics Mass Circulation Print Victorian England Sensation Fiction
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Catherine Nickerson, Emory University
Committee Members	Laura Otis, Emory University Brian Vick, Emory University

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