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Volume 1, Letter 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sensibility, Etiquette, and Appearances
Gender, Reputation, and Marriage
Inheritance, Class, and Nobility
Innocence, Guidance, and Experience
Summary
Analysis
The next evening, Madame Duval and her French companion, a young man named Monsieur Du Bois, join Evelina and the Mirvans after dinner. Captain Mirvan greets the visitors rudely, and Mrs. Mirvan suggests a trip to Ranelagh Gardens. Evelina and Maria rush off to get dressed for the outing, and while they are gone, Sir Clement Willoughby arrives. Sir Clement greets the Mirvans cheerfully and seems to expect a hearty welcome from them. They are confused by his arrival, however, and Evelina is embarrassed and does not want to see him again.
In 18th-century Britain, it was generally assumed that being noble meant that a person was also virtuous and sensible (an quality associated with empathy and consideration for others). However, despite being a nobleman, Sir Clement is arrogant and inconsiderate—he barges in on the Mirvans and does not consider Evelina’s feelings after he embarrassed her at the ball a few nights ago. This suggests that, although 18th-century society revers the nobility and claims to appreciate true sensibility, those of lower status are often taken in by people’s noble rank and their appearance of sensibility, rather than any actual demonstration of it.
Themes
When Evelina finally plucks up the courage to go downstairs and greet Sir Clement, she finds him arguing with Captain Mirvan and Madame Duval over whether the English or the French have superior manners. Sir Clement, being English, sides with Captain Mirvan—which cheers the bad-tempered Captain up significantly. Captain Mirvan invites Sir Clement to accompany them all to Ranelagh Gardens, and Sir Clement agrees.
Eighteenth-century Britons believed that the nobility (like Sir Clement) were virtuous and superior, and that they had impeccable manners. However, Sir Clement gets along well with Captain Mirvan, who has poor manners, and rudely mocks Madame Duval. This suggests that, in Sir Clement’s case, nobility is not a sign of virtue or good manners. This supports Burney’s argument that 18th-century society is often taken in by nobles who appear polite and virtuous but who are not really like this.
Themes
The Gardens are crowded when they arrive, but Sir Clement pushes through and finds a seat for the group where they can have tea. Mrs. Mirvan recognizes Lord Orville among the crowds and asks him to join them, to Evelina’s intense mortification. She is even more embarrassed when Captain Mirvan and Madame Duval begin to argue again. Evelina dreads to think what Lord Orville must make of them and cannot understand why he stays.
Eighteenth-century British society was preoccupied with manners, or etiquette. Captain Mirvan and Madame Duval, however, both have terrible manners, as arguing in public was considered highly unrefined and improper. Evelina worries that Lord Orville, who is very polite, will judge her because of her association with them.
Themes
Captain Mirvan, Sir Clement, and Madame Duval continue to argue, and the Captain grows more and more irate. Flustered, Mrs. Mirvan invites Evelina and Maria to walk around with her, and Lord Orville hastily joins them. Evelina wants to apologize to Lord Orville for her behavior at the ball a few nights ago, when she lied to Sir Clement about having a dance partner and Sir Clement embarrassed her, and made her cry in front of Lord Orville because of it. She believes that Lord Orville must think she is stupid. Evelina vows not to involve herself in anything scandalous or embarrassing again, and she hopes she has learned from her mistake.
At the ball, Evelina was confused by the complex rules surrounding dance partners. Now, she’s concerned that her misunderstanding of etiquette will damage her reputation. Women’s reputations were extremely fragile in the 18th-century Britain, and any insinuations that an unmarried woman had behaved improperly could have a lasting impact on her ability to find a husband. Evelina hopes to gain experience through her trip to London so that she will not embarrass herself in polite society. Her mishap at the ball shows that, although she tries hard not to make mistakes, the process of gaining experience often necessitates trial and error.
Themes
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Captain Mirvan, Sir Clement, and Madame Duval join Evelina and the others. They continue to bicker, however, and a dismayed Mrs. Mirvan says that she wants to go home. Lord Orville leaves them, and they call their carriages. Monsieur Du Bois helps Madame Duval into her coach. When she gets in the coach, however, she screams that it is wet inside—the rain has soaked the upholstery. Captain Mirvan immediately takes the last seat in his own carriage and says that Madame Duval must find her own way home.
Captain Mirvan, Sir Clement, and Madame Duval all have extremely bad manners. They are all from slightly different stations in life: Madame Duval is lower-class but married into nobility, Sir Clement is a nobleman by birth, and Captain Mirvan is a naval officer. This supports Burney’s point that social status is not a marker for how polite or virtuous a person is, and that people from all walks of life can be inconsiderate, petty, and rude.
Themes
Literary Devices
Evelina offers Madame Duval her seat in the Mirvan’s carriage—Evelina can travel with Sir Clement—but Mrs. Mirvan says that this would be improper. Captain Mirvan says they should just leave, but Mrs. Mirvan insists they stay until Madame Duval finds a way home. Sir Clement offers to lend Madame Duval his coach, but she is angry with him because he teased her and will not accept. Finally, when no other coaches arrive, Captain Mirvan agrees to ride with Sir Clement and to let Madame Duval ride with the ladies. Madame Duval insists that Monsieur Du Bois must come too, and he squeezes into the carriage.
Evelina is naturally sensible (genuinely empathic and kind) but does not understand the complicated etiquette rules that underpinned 18th-century British society. Although etiquette was also associated with virtue, this passage suggests that sensibility and etiquette are often independent of each other. Evelina’s natural, sensible reaction is to help Madame Duval by traveling with Sir Clement—but she is prevented from doing this by etiquette conventions which make it improper for her to travel alone with a man. In this way, following one’s natural inclination to be kind was often hampered by etiquette. This implies that although 18th-century Britons often pretended to revere sensibility, it seems that they really cared more about etiquette and appearance.
Themes
Evelina and the other ladies have not gotten far when the coach suddenly breaks down. The women shriek with fright, and Evelina finds herself being lifted from the carriage and carried out of the rain by Sir Clement. He helps her into a warm apartment with a fire and sends his servants to help the others. Evelina is irritated because he will not go himself, but Sir Clement draws up a chair beside her and begins to make a lengthy apology for his behavior at the ball when he embarrassed Evelina and made her cry.
Although Sir Clement wants to appear very gallant and sensible (empathetic and emotionally intelligent) when he rescues Evelina, he’s actually self-interested and inconsiderate. He only saves Evelina because he wants to impress her—he does not genuinely care about the others.
Themes
Evelina is embarrassed by Sir Clement’s speech and is relieved when the Mirvans enter and interrupt him. Evelina asks them where Madame Duval is, growing concerned that none of them know. Sir Clement, seeing Evelina’s distress, offers to go and look for her—but just at that moment, Madame Duval bursts in, followed by Monsieur Du Bois. They are both bedraggled and covered in mud, and Madame Duval furiously reproaches the group for leaving her behind.
Sir Clement does not really care what happens to Madame Duval and is not a genuinely sensible person. Instead, Sir Clement wants to appear sensible to impress Evelina, as this quality was considered fashionable and gallant during this period.
Themes
Madame Duval complains that Monsieur Du Bois tried to carry her out of the rain but slipped and fell in a puddle. Captain Mirvan laughs hysterically when he hears this, further infuriating Madame Duval. Eventually, she grows so angry that she spits in Captain Mirvan’s face. This enrages the Captain, and he furiously shakes Madame Duval, who bursts into tears. Evelina then suggests that she find a servant to help dry Madame Duval’s clothes. Madame Duval tearfully agrees, and Evelina helps her while they wait for a new coach. Evelina plans to visit Madame Duval the next morning to check that she has not caught a cold after her ordeal.
Captain Mirvan is cruel and insensitive toward Madame Duval and treats her violently. Women were vulnerable to male violence in 18th-century Britain because they had few rights, and men could treat women however they wanted with little or no consequences. Evelina demonstrates her innate sensibility (empathy and kindness), as she is genuinely concerned about Madame Duval’s well-being in spite of Madame Duval’s abrasive behavior.
Themes
