A cute piece of quaint old lace
Evelina, Frances Burney’s first novel, was a best-seller in the 18th century and an important precursor to the romance genre. Evelina was a demure girl with a noble but complicated background brought up in the country by a kindly Reverend Villars. The story, told through a series of letters, evolves around her introduction into London society.
Burney’s fame being quite buried in modern times, I didn’t know what to expect at first. But I was pleasantly surprised by her refreshing style and good humor. Of course, our heroine is a dazzlingly beautiful ingénue with the cutest ignorance of social convention, and by the appearance of the nth ardent admirer, this reader started to feel impatient. Fortunately, the epistolary form helped curb further annoyance; as most letters were written by Evelina herself to Mr. Villars, her maiden modesty saved readers from excessive praise of the heroine. It is true that all characters were two-dimensional, but Evelina was such a sweet girl, and Lord Orville was such a nice gentleman, that the reader can only smile upon them with an understanding indulgence. And Lord Orville’s early comment of Evelina being “a poor weak girl” sets a shining example for his famous successor in Pride and Prejudice.
The story was well-paced and flowed with ease, proving the strength of Burney’s literary muscles. Despite writing light, she was able to embed witty social satire into the story. You get humorous caricatures of various human archetypes universal to any society, all mixed together with good chemistry: the ugly fop, the vulgar captain, the cunning rake, the embarrassing relatives… Burney knew the world. I was surprised by how daring she was in incorporating some “shocking” elements and how she managed to accomplish it without feeling out of place. Evelina certainly went through much crazier adventures than Elizabeth Bennet or other romantic heroines: a near-rape, a frightful robbery, a lone encounter with rascals and “indecent women”… all went to show how helpless a young lady was back then. Evelina displayed endearing mental independence for her age, but Burney was wise enough not to go overboard – the girl did make social blunders, show subconscious signs of infatuation, and suffer coming-of-age confusion. The ending wrapped up loose strings neatly and our heroine lived happily ever after, but you knew all along everything will be okay, right?
All in all, Evelina is an effortless delight that deserves wider popularity. I wonder why there has been no screen adaption of this charming novel.
Evelina, Frances Burney’s first novel, was a best-seller in the 18th century and an important precursor to the romance genre. Evelina was a demure girl with a noble but complicated background brought up in the country by a kindly Reverend Villars. The story, told through a series of letters, evolves around her introduction into London society.
Burney’s fame being quite buried in modern times, I didn’t know what to expect at first. But I was pleasantly surprised by her refreshing style and good humor. Of course, our heroine is a dazzlingly beautiful ingénue with the cutest ignorance of social convention, and by the appearance of the nth ardent admirer, this reader started to feel impatient. Fortunately, the epistolary form helped curb further annoyance; as most letters were written by Evelina herself to Mr. Villars, her maiden modesty saved readers from excessive praise of the heroine. It is true that all characters were two-dimensional, but Evelina was such a sweet girl, and Lord Orville was such a nice gentleman, that the reader can only smile upon them with an understanding indulgence. And Lord Orville’s early comment of Evelina being “a poor weak girl” sets a shining example for his famous successor in Pride and Prejudice.
The story was well-paced and flowed with ease, proving the strength of Burney’s literary muscles. Despite writing light, she was able to embed witty social satire into the story. You get humorous caricatures of various human archetypes universal to any society, all mixed together with good chemistry: the ugly fop, the vulgar captain, the cunning rake, the embarrassing relatives… Burney knew the world. I was surprised by how daring she was in incorporating some “shocking” elements and how she managed to accomplish it without feeling out of place. Evelina certainly went through much crazier adventures than Elizabeth Bennet or other romantic heroines: a near-rape, a frightful robbery, a lone encounter with rascals and “indecent women”… all went to show how helpless a young lady was back then. Evelina displayed endearing mental independence for her age, but Burney was wise enough not to go overboard – the girl did make social blunders, show subconscious signs of infatuation, and suffer coming-of-age confusion. The ending wrapped up loose strings neatly and our heroine lived happily ever after, but you knew all along everything will be okay, right?
All in all, Evelina is an effortless delight that deserves wider popularity. I wonder why there has been no screen adaption of this charming novel.
