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Volume 1, Letter 16
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 morning, Evelina goes to visit Madame Duval. When she arrives, she is startled to find Monsieur Du Bois in Madame Duval’s bedchamber. Embarrassed, Evelina tries to leave the room, but Madame Duval laughs at Evelina’s innocence and tells her to stay. Madame Duval then launches into a diatribe against Captain Mirvan and the English in general, who, Madame Duval says, are extremely ill-mannered. Evelina listens and thinks it is ironic that Madame Duval complains about bad manners while swearing liberally.
England and France have different etiquette conventions: what is acceptable in one country may not be acceptable in the other. Monsieur Du Bois’s presence in Madame Duval’s bedchamber makes it clear that he is her lover. Although Madame Duval tries to make Evelina feel naïve for thinking this is improper, really, this shows that Madame Duval is a potentially bad role model for Evelina. After all, even casual sex is acceptable in France, Evelina’s reputation in Britain could be ruined (much like Caroline’s was) if she were to follow Madame Duval’s example.
Themes
Literary Devices
Madame Duval insists that Evelina should stay with her all day, and she promises to introduce Evelina to some of her relatives who live nearby. Evelina is dismayed to hear Madame Duval criticize Mr. Villars, whom Evelina feels Madame Duval should be grateful to because he raised Evelina in Madame Duval’s absence. Soon, Evelina and Madame Duval’s relatives—a family named the Branghtons—arrive, and Madame Duval introduces Evelina to them.
Madame Duval is a negligent parent and a bad moral example for Evelina. She abandoned her own daughter, Caroline, when Caroline became pregnant with Evelina. Fortunately, Evelina was raised by Mr. Villars, who provided her with good moral guidance and helped her to appreciate Mr. Villars’s consistent loving presence in Madame Duval’s absence.
Themes
Mr. Branghton is a middle-aged man who runs a silver shop in the city and disdains anyone who comes from outside of town. Evelina thinks that he seems like an intelligent but rather narrow-minded man. His son, Tom Branghton, is 20, and Evelina thinks he is childish and stupid. The eldest daughter, Miss Branghton, claims to despise the city even though she has never been anywhere else. Her younger sister, Polly, seems like a silly but well-meaning girl. Madame Duval introduces Evelina to the Branghtons as their cousin and tells them that Evelina’s existence was kept secret from Madame Duval.
Mr. Branghton is middle-class and earns money through a trade, rather than inheriting a family fortune. Mr. Branghton seems narrow-minded because he is not cultured or educated beyond his trade—unlike nobles, who were educated in culture and etiquette from a young age. This was one of many reasons that 18th-century Britons believed middle-class people could never truly transcend their class and join the nobility, even though middle-class traders were often as rich as nobles by the 1700s.
Themes
The Branghtons begin to ask Evelina questions about herself, but they soon grow distracted and start to argue. The Branghton sisters then begin to compare their dresses with Evelina’s, and they ask her rude questions about her clothes. They ask her how she enjoys the city and Mr. Branghton says that Evelina must try to find a husband so that she can live in London. The young Branghtons question Evelina about what she has seen during her stay. Evelina is irritated because she senses that the Branghton children want to distract her while Madame Duval tells Mr. Branghton about her parentage.
Miss Branghton and Polly are middle-class rather than upper-class, meaning they aren’t educated in etiquette and are quite rude. Middle- and upper-class women could not earn their own money in 18th-century Briton and therefore needed to find husbands to financially support them. Unmarried young women were also not allowed out in society without a chaperon, so Evelina cannot live alone in London. Although social mobility was virtually impossible at this time, Mr. Branghton is a social climber and hopes to use his connection to Evelina and her potential nobility (her father, Sir John, is a nobleman)to improve his own social rank.
Themes
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Polly suddenly says that it is very strange that Evelina never met her father, and Evelina starts to cry and rushes from the room. The Branghton sisters follow and try to comfort her and bring her back into the parlor. Madame Duval is surprised by Evelina’s reaction. Evelina, meanwhile, cannot understand why Madame Duval put her in such an embarrassing situation.
Polly and Madame Duval do not display any natural sensibility (an 18th-century concept associated with empathy and consideration for others) with their insensitive behavior toward Evelina. Evelina’s emotional reaction, in contrast, demonstrates her innate sensibility, which is a rare and coveted trait in the 18th century.
Themes
Mr. Branghton then asks Evelina if she has ever been to the opera, and Evelina says that she has. Mr. Branghton says that he never has and that he doesn’t care if he never goes, but Miss Branghton complains that he is unrefined and wishes she had the chance to go. She suggests taking Evelina, but Evelina hurriedly reminds them that she must check with Mrs. Mirvan and uses this as an excuse to leave. She hopes she will not see more of the Branghtons while she is in London.
Sensibility was fashionable among the upper classes in the 18th century and was associated with refined emotional responses to the arts and to other people’s suffering. Sensibility was also believed to be a sign of nobility and virtue. Mr. Branghton is middle-class, and although he aspires to be part of the nobility, he is ignorant about upper-class fashions. Miss Branghton, in contrast, wants to appear sensible just to look fashionable—even though this is the opposite of real sensibility, which is about authentic emotional responses rather than artificial ones.
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