Sages comme des images ? Les héroïnes sensationnalistes et le monde de la mode

If the sensational heroines shocked the critical establishment because of their passionate character or of their murderous drives, they were also criticized for the way they fashioned their bodies, using artificial aids to appear seamless beauties. This paper aims to study the way the sensation nove...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Laurence Talairach-Vielmas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2006-12-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cve/12526
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Summary:If the sensational heroines shocked the critical establishment because of their passionate character or of their murderous drives, they were also criticized for the way they fashioned their bodies, using artificial aids to appear seamless beauties. This paper aims to study the way the sensation novels play upon images—from paintings to fashion plates—which display the extent to which modern femininity is artificial. In Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1861-1862), the detective must learn to read pictures, from a Pre-Raphaelite portrait to books of beauties, so as to unveil the identity of the eponymous heroine, discovering in the process the way consumer society breeds female duplicity.
ISSN:0220-5610
2271-6149