Robert Audley plays a major role in Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret. Robert is the nephew of Sir Michael Audley, and the young Lady Audley is his new step-aunt. The novel follows Robert in his quest to uncover the secret surrounding Audley Court and his friend, George Talboys. Within the first half of the novel, the reader watches Robert transform himself from being happy-go-lucky with no cares at all in the world to a man devoted to his mission and thereby becoming a true picture of true Victorian manliness.
When Braddon first introduces Robert to the reader, he is completely relaxed. He has passed the bar and is a lawyer, but he never actually practices law. The big expenditure of his time is concentrated on helping George grieve and recover from the death of his wife, Helen.
After taking George on a trip to Essex where Robert had planned to introduce him to his uncle, Robert becomes a different man. Before Robert gets a chance to make the introductions, George disappears. When he is unable to find h…
A Cask of Amontillado Essay: Theme of Masonry
The Theme of Masonry in A Cask of Amontillado
The fundamental question in Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Cask of Amontillado” is the nature of Montresor’s motive for the revenge he “vowed” to obtain when Fortunato “ventured upon insult” (209). Montresor believes a wrong is “unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong”(209). While Montresor endeavors to make his vengeance known to Fortunato, the author’s references to Masonry in his use of characterization, setting and irony indicate Montresor’s motive.
Fortunato throws back a bottle of wine in a “gesticulation [Montresor] did not understand,” a sign of the Masons, a secret society of which he affirms he is a member (212). This secrecy is emulated in Montresor’s slaughter of his foe.
Montresor’s deadly act, he himself, and ultimately Fortunato are shrouded in secrecy. Montresor’s destruction of his foe is carried out at dusk. He leads Fortunato through the darkness “down a long and winding staircase” “into the inmost recesses of the catacombs” “at the most remote end of t…