Gender, Reputation, and Marriage Theme Analysis

Women’s reputations are portrayed as extremely important and fragile in Evelina. Society prized female virginity in the 18th century, when Evelina is set, and any doubt about a woman’s purity could damage her reputation. However, 18th-century British society was also misogynistic, and even if an innocent woman was accused of sexual promiscuity, she was unlikely to be believed if she tried to defend herself. Outside of the fragility of their reputations, women were generally viewed as commodities, and men often sought to marry women for their family’s wealth—which made women even more vulnerable to abuse. As a woman herself, Burney suggests that because 18th-century women have few rights, they have little choice but to look for a husband to protect and provide for them, as this is the only way for women to prosper in society.

Men have the power to ruin women’s reputations because 18th-century society views men as inherently trustworthy and women as inherently suspect. The most explicit example of this is the plight of Evelina’s mother, Caroline Belmont. As a young woman, Caroline is seduced by a libertine, Sir John Belmont, and the pair get married. Sir John then denies that the marriage ever took place and abandons Caroline, who is pregnant with Evelina. Although Caroline tries to defend herself, people believe Sir John over her, and her reputation is destroyed. Sir John, however, retains his prominent place in society. That this situation is so destructive for Caroline and not for Sir John highlights the misogyny underpinning 18th-century British society and how women were viewed as inherently less truthful than men. Even after Caroline’s death, her reputation cannot be salvaged unless proof of her marriage surfaces. This demonstrates that women’s reputations could be easily, and lastingly, destroyed. Caroline’s reputation also affects Evelina, as Evelina worries that people will discover her illegitimate status and change their opinions of her. This supports the idea that, for a woman, a ruined reputation is a burden that can be passed down to the next generation. Evelina experiences firsthand the difficulties of maintaining one’s reputation while she is in London. When she attends an opera and loses her companions, she runs into Sir Clement Willoughby, a nobleman Evelina previously met at a ball. Sir Clement wants to escort her home, but Evelina is concerned that if she is seen alone with him, her reputation will be compromised. Despite this, Sir Clement forces her into his carriage and makes advances toward her. Evelina rightly assumes that people will judge her based on this conduct (even though she is not to blame), given the way that her society unfairly blames women for men’s behavior toward them.

Burney suggests that, in 18th-century society, a young woman’s primary goal is marriage and a bad reputation could impact a woman’s ability to attract a husband. The aim of all the young women in the novel is to find a husband, which is why Evelina’s story ends with her marriage to Lord Orville. Upper-class women, like Evelina, could not earn money, so it was necessary to find a husband to financially support them. Society also primarily judged women on their suitability for marriage, which was based on their looks and social status. This is demonstrated when an anonymous poem surfaces, ranking Evelina as the most eligible young lady in town. Although the poem intends to be flattering, it demonstrates that women must compete with each other to secure men’s affections, as they have no other way to provide for themselves. Although Evelina ultimately marries Lord Orville for love, her marriage also marks the conclusion of her own adventures and points back to Burney’s bleak suggestion that marriage is required to be a woman’s ultimate goal if she wants financial protection and to keep her reputation intact. Evelina’s marriage signals her removal from the exciting town to the countryside, where she will live quietly as Lord Orville’s wife. This ending demonstrates that women had no autonomous place in society and that a woman’s only reason for venturing into society was to find a husband to take them out of it again.

Furthermore, women in Evelina’s society lack personal rights and are viewed as commodities, which puts them at risk of abuse and increases the necessity of finding a husband to protect them. It is not just damage to her reputation that Evelina fears—she also worries about her physical safety. Historically, women generally didn’t have rights over their own bodies and were viewed as their husbands’ property. This meant that men could take advantage of unmarried women without facing consequences. Evelina experiences this when a group of men physically accost her in the Ranelagh Gardens. Although this incident is upsetting for Evelina, the men involved face no consequences. The idea of women as commodities is also highlighted during Evelina’s stay at Bristol, when two visiting noblemen, Lord Merton and Mr. Lovel, pay two old women to race each other for entertainment. The women are seriously hurt during this incident, but Mr. Lovel and Lord Merton view the women as things they have paid for and can use as they please—a callous attitude that shows how commodifying women is dehumanizing and can lead to physical abuse. Furthermore, Captain Mirvan, who is married to Evelina’s chaperone, Mrs. Mirvan, sees violence against women as a joke and physically assaults Madame Duval (a widow) during a prank. This suggests that unmarried women’s safety was not taken seriously, as women did not have power to defend themselves and had to rely on their husbands for protection. This supports Burney’s suggestion idea that marriage was unfortunately essential to women in this period for the financial and physical protection that it afforded. However, women’s lack of rights also perpetuated the idea that women were their husband’s property—rather than people who should be respected in their own right—and, therefore, contributed to women’s mistreatment and commodification in society.