Brumes, brouillards et incertitudes dans John Marchmont’s Legacy (1863) de Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Among the several sensation novels that M.E. Braddon (1835-1915) wrote in the early 1860s, there is one that is particularly striking for its repetitive use of mist and fog. This is John Marchmont’s Legacy, serialized from December 1862 to January 1864. Surprisingly enough, this is not London that i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2010-06-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/2826 |
| Summary: | Among the several sensation novels that M.E. Braddon (1835-1915) wrote in the early 1860s, there is one that is particularly striking for its repetitive use of mist and fog. This is John Marchmont’s Legacy, serialized from December 1862 to January 1864. Surprisingly enough, this is not London that is clouded in a wreath of mist, but the English countryside in Lincolnshire, continuously wrapped in fog. Indeed, those two atmospheric elements appear simultaneously with strange events and mysterious characters, thus embodying Victorian notions of secrecy, uncertainty and doubt. Besides, fog is also a textual device used by the author to symbolize the blurring literary process at the heart of sensational fiction that aimed at shattering the traditional barriers between types of narratives (gothic tales, melodrama...). Eventually, one has to look at Braddon’s use of mist and fog as an attempt at visualizing a part of the Victorian mid-century world with its share of hidden social uncertainties, particularly regarding women’s restricted lives and lack of opportunities. |
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| ISSN: | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |