Like Pamela, Evelina is an epistolary novel. Unlike Pamela, this novel is consistently epistolary, and some letters are written by characters other than the titular protagonist. In Evelina, we read a number of letters about Evelina before we get to hear her distinctive voice directly. What information do the letters between Rev. Villars and Lady Howard convey about Evelina? How would you read her first letter to Rev. Villars differently if it wasn't preceded by this correspondence?
Deadline: Tuesday (11/1), start of class.
The letters convey Evelina's inexperience with life's choices and experiences. Rev. Villars seems to very protective of her and won't let her travel anywhere alone, let alone by herself. They seem to have every reason to protect her and have her best interest at heart, but I can't help but think that these very extremities that are taken to protect her will result in her rebellion. I believe that young girls in these novels that are protected their whole lives from family secrets and life's secrets are dying to find out what they have been missing all those years. I am a little unclear about why exactly she is protected so heavily. I mean, I know her mother was denied by her ex-husband John Belmont (?) but why was her mother being protected as well? I'm just a bit confused as to what is so secret or shameful about the way Evelina was born or what she was born into.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the letter, I felt like I was sitting privy in a conversation taking place behind someone's back. It definitely has a gossiping tone to it. The letters discuss Mme. Duval and her desire to make contact with the daughter of her "ill-advised" daughter, who only made her existence known as she was dying (I think?). It portrays Evelina in a very pitying sort of tone. How she missed out on doing things, how she won't know the sort of family she was born into, how she won't know her mother etc.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the letters give sort of a prologue to the book. Without it, it would be a lot more difficult to figure out Evelina's peculiar heritage and would also probably change the focus of the book and it's popularity.
Jalisa, I believe that the reason why Evelina’s mother (Lady Belmont) was protected by Mr. Villars is because Mr. Evelyn (Lady Belmont’s father), had left Lady Belmont as Mr. Villars’ charge. We are led to believe that Madame Duval is the reason for Mr. Evelyn’s untimely death, just two years after their marriage. From Evelina’s future encounters with her grandmother, it is of no wonder that Mr. Evelyn should grow mad and die because of her. Mr. Villars was named Lady Belmont’s guardian until her eighteenth year. The rude and base, although extremely beautiful, Madame Duval had not shown any interest in her daughter (Lady Belmont) until she was of age to be married. Upon being sent to France, Madame Duval and her evil French husband tried to force a marriage upon Lady Belmont with one of Duval’s cousins. “Enraged at her noncompliance, she treated her with the grossest unkindness, and threatened her with poverty and ruin” (Burney 16). I believe that we can assume here, that her own mother threatened her daughter that she would ruin (have her raped?) her if she did not agree to marry Duval’s nephew. Being young and not wanting to be forced into a marriage by her mother, she eloped with John Belmont. However, since this elopement was not blessed by the Duvals, Lady Belmont was not bequeathed with any money. Unhappy with his new wife’s lack of fortune, he burned all the papers proving their union. Basically, remember Lydia and Mr. Wickham from “Pride and Prejudice”? Remember how scared the Bennet sisters were of being associated with ruin? That’s the same reason why Evelina’s birth is so shameful. Without proof of marriage, Lady Belmont had given birth to a bastard child. For what the world knows, she was simply a foolish young girl who gave away her chastity to a man. Had she lived through childbirth, her life would have been marred by her ruin.
ReplyDeleteMr. Villars stresses Evelina’s innocence and artlessness, for indeed she is! Lady Howard boasts of Evelina’s refined ideas, thereby insinuating that Evelina is not only a perfect face, but also a learned mind. Her first letter shows that she is well read. Her letters and speech are far more delicate than her grandmother’s and the Captain’s. I enjoyed her character far more in the beginning of the play, when she quite sassily declared that she would not dance with the first man to condescend to her. However, like any young sixteen year old girl, she immediately agrees to dance with the charming and handsome Lord Orville (popcorn?). What makes me eventually feel a bit perturbed over our young protagonist has to do with this innocence that may be due to her young age. Perhaps I am judging her too harshly, but considering how many times she has been attacked by Mr. Lovel, Sir Clement, and her grandmother, I truly wished that she would eventually be able to sass talk them in front of Lord Orville so that I would feel as though his favor of her would be more warranted. I believe that she does possess a good mind, because she argues that she is not impressed by fine speeches and compliments, that she must be won a different way. However, in Book I, I feel as though her rather doll-like interactions with Lord Orville makes me want to gag. She simply stutters and blushes, looking down at her fan. When she is attacked by Mr. Lovel repeatedly in front of Lord Orville, she waits for others around her to rescue her even though we know that she can think of ways to combat his pernicious remarks, although she does not find the strength to talk back. Of course, this may be due to her age, but I couldn’t help but feel exhausted for her and by her.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of Book I which truly bothered me, although it has much to do with 18C in general has to do with the age difference. Isn’t Evelina just 16? 17? And Lord Orville is 26? Sir Clement 30? I would hate to be a 26 year old woman in the 18C in competition with 15, 16, 17 year old girls. What do they see in Evelina besides a beautiful face? The girl can’t even defend herself as I’m sure she would have learned to do if she had been given four more years to mature, yet I believe that it is this docility, this innocence that the men find so intriguing. She is a helpless creature, and although she can somewhat sass talk Sir Clement and Mr. Lovel while alone with them, she somehow loses this ability when she is with Lord Orville who serves as her knight-in-shining-armor. She makes blunders any young teenage girl would make, and yet her mistakes and inability to articulate her thoughts cohesively in front of Lord Orville somehow attracts his attention? Was there not a single learned woman in London, perhaps more mature and eloquent that could attract his gaze, or rather his RESPECT? From what I’ve read so far, I truly do not think that the attraction Lord Orville has for Evelina is anything more than an attraction to her beauty which attests to a blatant objectification of Evelina.
If the letters between Reverend Villars and M. Howard weren't given from the beginning, I feel like the epistolary novel would be very similar to Pamela's story. The exchange of letters between the concerned "adults" somehow works to somehow "prove" that Evelina really is innocent and new to the world being susceptible to many dangers because of an impressionable mind. Women are always treated like children.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the letters between Villard and Lady Howard convey their mutual protectiveness of Evelina, and as has already been touched on by some of the other responses, it serves the purpose of revealing Evelina's inexperience with the working ways of the world.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to say precisely how drastically my perspective on the rest of the book would be changed without the letters. The prologue comparison I think is a fair one, but I'm not sure that I agree with the narrative taking on a similar identity to Pamela, only because despite SOME similarities the two girls share, I see a good deal of differences between the characters as well. Certainly enough to the point where I could differentiate between the two novels without the aid of these proloque-esque letters between Lady Howard and Villard.
That isn't to say though that I didn't find them helpful or informative. They do reveal a good deal and help illustrate the essence of Evelina's character. I just wouldn't necessarily label them as crucial.
In my opinion the letters between Mr. Villars and Lady Howard show the concern they have for Evelina as well as her naivety to the real world. Mr. Villars seems to be very protective of Evelina and understandably so, since as Kirsten pointed out above she is considered an aristocratic bastard child which in the 18c was a huge no-no. I mean she is born into circumstances that she has no control over and will be judged rather harshly by those who take matters of birth seriously, and in the circles of the 18c aristocrat that is everyone. Also since Evelina's character is being described by someone who knows Evelina rather than Evelina herself she is free from the judgment from the reader. One of the biggest flaws that I found with Pamela's character was how she went on and on about herself, even though the author may not have intended for Pamela to come off as self-centered and conceited the opinion of Pamela is left up to the reader and some might consider her to be so. Whereas having Lady Howard and Mr. Villars go on and on about Evelina's character presumably without Evelina's knowledge gives the reader a chance to learn of Evelina without immediately judging her.
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