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Volume 2, Letter 13
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 day, Madame Duval again sends Evelina to visit the Branghtons and make plans for the evening. Monsieur Du Bois accompanies Evelina and is very polite and attentive. When she arrives, she finds Mr. Branghton in the shop and Mr. Macartney reading in a corner. Mr. Macartney looks startled when he sees Evelina, and Mr. Branghton tells her that Polly is upstairs. Evelina goes up to Polly’s room but finds her flirting with Mr. Brown; embarrassed, Evelina returns to the shop.
Monsieur Du Bois has genuinely good manners and seems to go out of his way to make Evelina comfortable. The Branghtons, in contrast, are not educated in etiquette, and Polly does not care that she makes Evelina uncomfortable with her behavior. While Evelina has spent time with upper-class people, to whom etiquette was extremely important, the Branghtons are middle-class and are more careless with their manners.
Themes
Back in the shop, Evelina and Monsieur Du Bois wait for Miss Branghton and Tom to return from an outing. When they arrive, Evelina and Monsieur Du Bois rise to greet them. Miss Branghton and Tom walk past them and immediately sit down in the chairs they have just risen from. Mr. Branghton says that Evelina should take Mr. Macartney’s chair, but she refuses and irritably asks them about their plans for the evening. While Miss Branghton and Tom argue about where to go that night, Mr. Smith enters the shop.
The Branghtons are rude and inconsiderate of other people’s feelings. Mr. Branghton, for instance, callously disregards Macartney because Macartney is poor—he does not care how this makes Macartney feel. Evelina, in contrast, is genuinely sensible (empathetic and emotionally intelligent): she thinks about Macartney’s feelings and does not want to ostracize him from the group.
Themes
Mr. Branghton says that Mr. Smith should decide where they go that evening, but Mr. Smith coyly remarks that he always prefers to let ladies choose. Evelina notices that, although Mr. Smith says this, he never agrees to anything that he has not suggested himself. His politeness, she thinks, is just a sham; she is amazed that the Branghtons think he is so refined.
Although Mr. Smith is middle-class (and social mobility was largely impossible in this period), he tries to behave as though he is noble and refined. Evelina, who has actually spent time with upper-class people, easily sees through Mr. Smith’s façade. But the Branghtons, who are middle-class, are ignorant about upper-class etiquette and are therefore fooled by Mr. Smith’s performance.
Themes
Eventually, the group decide to vote on where to go that evening. Evelina insists that Mr. Macartney should vote too and join them, since he is in the room. When the Branghtons hear this, they all burst out laughing. Evelina, infuriated, coldly bids them good day and leaves with Monsieur Du Bois, who is also shocked by their rudeness. When Evelina gets home, Madame Duval angrily insists that Evelina must join the party that evening, so she is forced to go out.
Eighteenth-century Britons were divided by class, and wealth and status were believed to signify virtue and social worth. The Branghtons, therefore, shallowly judge Macartney because he is poor and totally disregard his feelings. Evelina, in contrast, demonstrates genuine sensibility, as she does not judge people based on wealth and is kind to everyone for the sake of being kind.
Themes
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