Evelina, or The History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World
By Fanny Burney
Published by Bantam Books, 1992
438 pages
Price: $5.50
(There are free editions of this novel for e-readers)
16-year-old Evelina Anville doesn't have a clue as to how late 18th century London works, but she's about to. Raised by the Reverend Villars after her mother died during childbirth and her noble father abandoned her, Evelina has been brought up in the countryside as a fine young woman and is as "innocent as an angel and artless as purity itself". Villars has seen to her education and to social connections with the local nobility. Anville is not Evelina's real last name. In fact, she is the daughter of Lord Belmont, a wealthy lord who eloped with her mother 16 years prior. Being a bit of a rake, he had primarily married Evelina's mom for her fortune. But when Evelina's grandmother found out about the elopement, she promptly disinherited Evelina's mother. Belmont, seeing his greed foiled, tore up the marriage certificate and subsequently denied ever being married to her! Letters have been written to Belmont about Evelina but he has never responded. Villars has raised Evelina as his own daughter and given her a good education and also serves as her best friend.
Lady Howard, the martriarch of the Mirvan family that lives near the Villars home invites Evelina to come with her and her family to London for a stay of around 2-3 months. Villars is torn between knowing that Evelina needs to see the world and meet other people besides himself and the need to protect her. He is worried that once she samples all the fine things of the city, she will never be satisfied the simple life she leads with him. He also knows the kind of con artists, rakes, and money chasers that reside in London, and worries about her falling into corruption like her mother. Nevertheless, he accedes to the request, mostly because he knows Evelina wants to go.
In London, she enters an entire new world of balls, promenades, parks, operas, and other amusements that almost overwhelm her. She is also approached by buffoons, rakes, and other less scrupulous characters looking to seduce her. She does meet a guy she's interested in, the much older Lord Orville. Even though she's attracted to him she hears that he doesn't have much opinion of her, probably seeing as how she gets tongue tied everytime he addresses her directly. Evelina is afraid he must think her quite the foolish little girl. One of his acquaintances, Sir Clement Willoughby, on the other hand, seems QUITE interested in Evelina, even to the point of putting her in compromising situations.
Things get more complicated as Evelina's grandmother, Ms. Duval, arrives in a surprise visit from France to take Evelina back to the Continent, even if Evelina doesn't want to go. It doesn't help matters that Mrs. Mirvan's husband, Captain Mirvan, being a miltary man, absolutely HATES French people! The Captain spends most of his time figuring out how to piss Ms. Duval off, whether with his words, or through practical jokes. He finds Sir Clement an able accomplice in his fun and games.
When I think about this book, I am just amazed that a 16-year-old girl had to go thru these experiences back then. This book was first published in 1778, so I'm sure the average life expectancy was in the 40s so people married a lot younger. While the Mirvan family helps her and serves as a kind of buffer between Evelina and London, it doesn't seem like they put all their heart into protecting her from cads like Willoughby or even of Ms. Duval, who has a violent temper when crossed. But really, I guess Duval does have the law behind her since she is the legal guardian even though she has never even met Evelina. Villars and the Mirvans probably know that the only way Evelina can gain the knowledge on how to deal with this milieu is to experience it and learn the hard way.
Evelina is living on the edge almost the entire novel, because, in reality, she has no prospects or money of her own. She has been living a lie by taking the name Anville. Everyone in London just assumes she has money since she's hanging out with the Mirvans, but really she is freeloading off them. No man of means would even look at her if they knew that truth. Ms. Duval promises to make her the heir to her sizable estate, but only on condition that Evelina says "yes" to all her commands, starting with moving to France. So Evelina is always worried about being exposed to the nobility as a fraud. She also has to make her way quite catiously in order to have some freewill without upsetting her grandmother too much.
One of the coolest aspects of the novel was the grand tour we get of London in 1778. Evelina and her group visit most of the major attractions of the time, most of which no longer exist. You really get the ambiance of the city in this work.
Seeing these characters interact, you also get a feel for how rich people thought back in those times. There's a scene in the book where two nobles want to race their carriages against each other and bet money on the winner. After being persuaded by another character that it would be too dangerous, they decide to recruit 2 old women off the street to run a footrace against each other to settle the bet. Yeah, this is how rich people think. Actually, this is STILL how rich people think. That one scene made me decide how to vote in this year's presidential election. It was really bizarre. When these two women raced, none of the characters, even Evelina, or the supposedly moral Lord Orville, raised much of an objection. The common people of London are pretty much a non-factor in this novel. I do find strains of Dickens in Burney though. Mostly in its comedy. Even though Evelina might seem familiar as a Jane Austen type tale, Burney is so much funnier than Austen.
An overall entertaining work and a special treat for those interested in London's history.
My Grade: B+
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