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Dramatic Irony
Foil
Explanation and Analysis—Mirvan and Duval:
As the two older women who guide Evelina through her time in London, Mrs. Mirvan and Madame Duval act as foils to each other. While Mrs. Mirvan is a kind and tolerant woman who treats Evelina with respect and care—even as Evelina unintentionally makes some cultural faux pas—Madame Duval is greedy and self-centered, choosing to become close to Evelina in the hopes that she will get a cut of Evelina’s inheritance from Sir John Belmont.
Another key difference between the two women is that Mrs. Mirvan is from an aristocratic family yet does not act snobbish or superior to others, while Madame Duval is middle-class and consistently looks down on lower-class people whom she sees as beneath her. In putting these two women in somewhat mother-like roles in Evelina’s life, Burney encourages readers to compare the two women. Her message is not that upper-class people (like Mrs. Mirvan) are inherently kinder or more sophisticated than middle-class people (like Madame Duval), but that sincerity and snobbishness are tied to individuals rather than to an entire class of people.
With the character of Madame Duval, Burney is issuing a warning that middle-class self-made people should not strive to ascend to the status of aristocratic nobility (becoming greedy and self-important in the process) and instead should aspire to be “noble” by way of morals and virtue. Mrs. Mirvan’s nobility, for example, comes from her kindness toward Evelina as well as her elevated social rank.
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Foil
Explanation and Analysis—Orville and Clement:
As Evelina’s two primary suitors in the novel, Lord Orville and Sir Clement act as foils to each other. Evelina originally sees both of them at a ball in London, where she denies Sir Clement’s request to dance with her—telling him that she already has a partner—which leads him to harass her until she admits that she lied. While Sir Clement’s rudeness weighs on Evelina at the ball, Lord Orville comforts her and, Evelina notes, “This politeness relieved me.” Meanwhile, she refers to Sir Clement—whose name she does not yet know—as “my tormentor." This initial scene establishes Lord Orville as higher than Sir Clement in both status (as he is a nobleman) and morals.
Over the course of the novel, the differences between the two men only becomes starker. While both men appear to be gentlemen—Sir Clement takes pains to win over Evelina’s extended family by acting polite and dignified—it becomes clear that Lord Orville is the only truly upstanding man. Sir Clement tries to seduce Evelina whenever they are alone together, while Lord Orville treats her with nothing but respect. That Evelina ultimately ends up marrying Lord Orville is Burney’s way of showing how both Evelina and Lord Orville—as kind-hearted, sensible people—deserve to live happily ever after.
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