In Lady Audley's Secret, Braddon portrays the character of Lady Audley as a truly complex character. She is shown to be intelligent and manipulative when she supposedly kills her husband George while manipulating her new one, Michael, for his wealth. However, despite such cruelty, she is also portrayed as a vulnerable character who constantly fears that her misdeeds born of necessity will be discovered. These two aspects of Lucy Audley add to her complex personality. Her sensitivity does not redeem her from her sins but creates sympathy in the eyes of the reader and allows her to become a more sympathetic female lead. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Lucy Audley did a lot of horrible things in the novel. From the beginning, we begin to learn that she is not really in love with Michael when we see his response to the proposal. She says, “I love you!” Why are there women a hundred times superior in beauty and goodness who could love you tenderly; but you're asking too much of me. You're asking too much of me! (Braddon 15). She clearly shows little love for Michael and thinks he wants something that she is unwilling to give him. She only agrees to marriage when Michael proposes an "affair", which is exactly what it is for Lucy. “No more dependence, no more drudgery, no more humiliation” (Braddon 16). She knows that marrying Michael will relieve her of her struggles due to poverty and free her from "addiction" and other difficulties she has experienced. Having this new wealth and not worrying about money are his motivations. Lucy's lack of wealth seems to be Lucy's only sympathetic quality in this scene. “I have never seen anything other than poverty. My father was a gentleman; intelligent, accomplished, generous, beautiful – but poor… Poverty, poverty, trials, vexations, humiliations, deprivations! You cannot know; you who are one of those for whom life is so sweet and so easy; you can never guess what is endured by those like us…I cannot remain blind to the advantages of such an alliance” (Braddon 15). Lucy talks about her difficulty living in poverty and that it is difficult for her to refuse the offer, even though she does not like him, because of the obvious benefits of gaining such wealth from him. She even states beforehand that there were women "superior" to her, which comments on her own state of poverty. She almost feels unworthy of these riches and the position that Michael wants to give her and it is clear that she almost feels pushed into this situation by her need for money and Michael's unrequited love. This shows that her intentions were not malicious when she accepted his proposal but were desperation due to poverty. However, years later, she appears to manipulate Michael even more by using his unwavering affection and devotion to her advantage. When Robert Audley announces that he must stay at Audley Court, Lucy makes him leave early by persuading Michael. “It is not that Mr. Audley is a very pleasant young man and a very honorable young man; but you know, Sir Michael, I am rather a young aunt to such a nephew…Poor, Alicia is rather jealous of any attention Mr. Audley gives me” (Braddon 114). She insinuates that Robert is attracted to her and pays more attention to her than Alicia, causing Michael to get defensive and ask her to leave. When he later returns and starts accusing Lucy, she returns to Michael and convinces him that Robert is crazy. “A little crazy... But sometimes madness is hereditary... People can usually keep these things secret. There may have beenmadness in your sister-in-law’s family” (Braddon 243-244). Michael believes everything she tells him and Lucy even comments, "I can put black in front of him, and if I say it's white, he'll believe me" (Braddon 240). Lucy knows how easily Michael is convinced when it comes to herself because of his blindness by love. She constantly uses this to her advantage, without remorse, and pushes Robert away through Michael whenever he is about to discover her secrets. Despite this callous influence from Lady Audley, they also do it out of necessity. Robert Audley constantly threatens Lucy that she will be exposed. Lucy is under a lot of pressure when Robert tries to extract the truth from her, and his suspicions make Lady Audley nervous. When he discusses the "circumstantial evidence" with Lucy at the end of chapter 15, Lucy becomes distraught. She exclaims: “How can you question a poor little woman about such horrible things? ”, then shortly after: “Lady Audley has fainted” (Braddon 107). She faints after hearing his suspicions about her, making it clear that she is very anxious about Robert pushing her. "Will he stop now that he's gone this far?" Will he stop out of fear of me?...Will anything stop him – except death? (Braddon 253). Lady Audley knows that Robert is overzealous in his investigation into George's disappearance and will stop at nothing to discover the truth. This is why she tries so hard to persuade Michael, because it is the only way for her to keep him away from her with his constant torment and threats of finding out her secret. Later, she even wonders why he hates her so much, which shows that Robert displays very negative feelings towards her. Not only does Robert treat her so harshly, but Luke does too. Phoebe, his servant, is to marry him but doesn't want to and Lucy tries to bribe him to accept her. The tables then turn against her when she discovers that Luke knows her secret. In response to his bribe, Luke says: “Fifty pounds isn't much to open a public hearing. You will gain a hundred, my lady” (Braddon 98). He knows a secret about Lady Audley, which is later revealed to be the truth about George's death, and instead of being like Robert and reporting her, he decides to take money from her. But it is not made for his current activity. He is almost never sober after dark, and when he is drunk he goes almost crazy and does not seem to know what he is doing” (Braddon 258). Luke is constantly drunk and is a terrible businessman who is constantly threatening to lose his inn. Lady Audley must give him money so he can keep his business afloat, or he will reveal her secret. This constant mistreatment from Luke makes Lucy a more sympathetic character because it gives her this feeling of helplessness that the audience can't help but feel compassion towards. Yet this mistreatment also leads her to commit even more terrible acts. Reacting to Luke's demands for more money, Lucy says, "It would have been a good thing for me if that precious creature, your husband, had been burned in his bed before this night" (Braddon 259). She later goes on to burn down her inn, which leaves Luke mortally injured. His decision to kill Luke is drastic and comes without much sadness after his death. She also decides to set fire to the inn to get rid of Robert. “She stopped and looked at the number on the door… Then a horrible expression appeared on her face, and she turned the key in the lock; she turned it twice, double-locking the door” (Braddon 275). She sees Robert's room and decides to,, 2012.