A house of one’s own: greek culture in the fatal three and one thing needful

In many of her works Mary Elizabeth Braddon alludes to ancient Greece for various aims. By focusing on One Thing Needful (1886) and The Fatal Three (1888), two novels that include references to Greek culture, this essay investigates Braddon’s negotiation with the classics. Whereas in The Fatal Three Braddon gives a mythical framework to a story that takes inspiration from topical issues such as the Deceased Wife’s Sister Marriage Act and reconfigures Sappho’s story, in One Thing Needful she reflects on female genius and on the proper education for women (related to the importance of studying classical literature) by way of indirect allusions to her own struggle for success at the beginning of her literary career. Both texts demonstrate Braddon commenting on the challenges women faced to gain equality.