“A fierce and crimson sunset. The mullioned windows and the twinkling lattices are all ablaze with the red glory… and the rusty iron wheel and broken woodwork seem as if they were flecked with blood.” (28)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In Lady Audley’s Secret<\/strong>, \u00a0Mary Elizabeth Braddon establishes the setting of the third chapter by saturating Audley Court with the color red. During this August sunset, it is shown how various set pieces are altered by the crimson light. In this analysis, I will focus upon how Braddon uses the color red to foreshadow future events within the novel and how the color reflects upon Talboys’ emotions from Chapter 2.<\/p>\n In the real world, the color red is used symbolically to represent happiness, celebration, excitement, warning, anger, aggression, passion, and emotion. However, how is Braddon using this color to represent past and future events within the novel? In the beginning of the previous chapter, before Talboys becomes distressed about his wife, he demonstrates excitement and is eager to surprise his love\u00a0with his return through stating “Poor little girl! After three years and a half… she will<\/em> be surprised”(18). These emotions that Talboys experiences are mirrored by the “fierce and crimson sunset” in the next chapter. Not only does Braddon use the color red to reflect upon previous events within the novel, but she also uses them to foreshadow future events. Braddon uses rust to reflect potential murderous intentions as she likens the color to blood. This act of foreshadowing is only amplified by the idea that red is a color of aggression and warning, and in a way, is conveying to the reader that there is danger coming.<\/p>\n Through the author using a red sunset, they draw upon the symbolism of the color. In particular, Braddon may have used red to reflect upon Talboys’\u00a0emotions, and alluded to potential danger\u00a0later in the novel. In my eyes, using such deep and vivid reds to describe a sunset was a great choice by the author because the color encompasses a wide range of meanings. When the color red is used alongside emotion, it adopts the meanings of happiness, passion, and even celebration.\u00a0When used along the concept of blood, the color’s theme of violence and aggression is amplified, and it provides a source of foreshadowing that may enhance the reader’s focus\u00a0with the novel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “A fierce and crimson sunset. The mullioned windows and the twinkling lattices are all ablaze with the red glory… and the rusty iron wheel and broken woodwork seem as if they were flecked with blood.” (28) In Lady Audley’s Secret, \u00a0Mary Elizabeth Braddon establishes the setting of the third chapter by saturating Audley Court … Continue reading Red with…?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2174,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123782],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}