EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)

This research aims at investigating the psychological dimension of the protagonist Lady Audley on the grounds of the dialectic of alleged madness and assumed narcissistic personality disorder related to psychoanalytic literary methodology and criticism. In the light of the first Freudian studies of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Paolo Lantieri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: New Bulgarian University 2025-06-01
Series:English Studies at NBU
Subjects:
Online Access:https://esnbu.org/data/files/2025/esnbu.25.1.7.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849433880111611904
author Paolo Lantieri
author_facet Paolo Lantieri
author_sort Paolo Lantieri
collection DOAJ
description This research aims at investigating the psychological dimension of the protagonist Lady Audley on the grounds of the dialectic of alleged madness and assumed narcissistic personality disorder related to psychoanalytic literary methodology and criticism. In the light of the first Freudian studies of the first decade of the twentieth century and the subsequent outcomes, we attempt the hypothesis of female identity construction onto typically narcissistic features, in the perspective of Freud's unconscious anticipated by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in her prose generating not only a sensation novel but also an innovative psychological plot depicting the double nature of Victorian society from the perspective of a woman labeled as insane.
format Article
id doaj-art-fb83ec7b3bb14c7297e2caf0d1c8426e
institution Kabale University
issn 2367-5705
2367-8704
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher New Bulgarian University
record_format Article
series English Studies at NBU
spelling doaj-art-fb83ec7b3bb14c7297e2caf0d1c8426e2025-08-20T03:26:52ZengNew Bulgarian UniversityEnglish Studies at NBU2367-57052367-87042025-06-0111112314010.33919/esnbu.25.1.7EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)Paolo Lantieri0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4785-3237UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, SpainThis research aims at investigating the psychological dimension of the protagonist Lady Audley on the grounds of the dialectic of alleged madness and assumed narcissistic personality disorder related to psychoanalytic literary methodology and criticism. In the light of the first Freudian studies of the first decade of the twentieth century and the subsequent outcomes, we attempt the hypothesis of female identity construction onto typically narcissistic features, in the perspective of Freud's unconscious anticipated by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in her prose generating not only a sensation novel but also an innovative psychological plot depicting the double nature of Victorian society from the perspective of a woman labeled as insane.https://esnbu.org/data/files/2025/esnbu.25.1.7.pdfbigamybraddonfake identitylady audley's secretmadnessnarcissistic personality
spellingShingle Paolo Lantieri
EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)
English Studies at NBU
bigamy
braddon
fake identity
lady audley's secret
madness
narcissistic personality
title EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)
title_full EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)
title_fullStr EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)
title_full_unstemmed EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)
title_short EMOTIONAL VOID AND IDENTITY FRAGMENTATION: MADNESS AND NARCISSISM IN "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET" BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON (1862)
title_sort emotional void and identity fragmentation madness and narcissism in lady audley s secret by mary elizabeth braddon 1862
topic bigamy
braddon
fake identity
lady audley's secret
madness
narcissistic personality
url https://esnbu.org/data/files/2025/esnbu.25.1.7.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT paololantieri emotionalvoidandidentityfragmentationmadnessandnarcissisminladyaudleyssecretbymaryelizabethbraddon1862