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Volume 2, Letter 20
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
A few nights later, Evelina, Madame Duval, Monsieur Du Bois, Mr. Smith, Mr. Brown, and the Branghtons visit Marybone Gardens to see a musical performance. Evelina enjoys the music but is startled by the firework display that comes afterwards. In her fright, she runs away and accidentally loses her companions. Evelina is frightened, and several men approach and try to walk with her. Alarmed, Evelina sees two women and runs up to them. She asks if she can walk with them until she finds her friends, and the women laugh scornfully and link arms with her.
In 18th-century Britain, men were afforded more rights and social privileges then women, so they could often treat women badly without consequences. At the same time, women’s reputations were fragile—if people saw women flirting with men in public, their good name could be irreparably damaged. Evelina is young and unmarried, so she does not have a husband to protect her or secure her reputation.
Themes
Literary Devices
Evelina quickly realizes that the two ladies she’s walking with are prostitutes and are making fun of her. She cannot escape them, however, and is forced to walk between them. At last, Evelina spots Mr. Brown and bursts away from the two ladies to take his arm. Madame Duval, Miss Branghton, and Polly appear, and although Evelina tries to leave the two women behind, they follow her and try to join their group. One of the women even takes Evelina’s arm again. As they march through the crowd, Evelina is mortified to see Lord Orville, who bows to her but looks very shocked by her companion.
Evelina has lived a sheltered life in the countryside and is unfamiliar with city life and its seedier elements, like prostitution. In her naïveté, she does not recognize that the women are prostitutes until it is too late. Being seen with prostitutes could negatively affect Evelina’s reputation, as any appearance or accusation of immorality was taken very seriously. This explains why Evelina fears Lord Orville will think badly of her when he sees her with the prostitutes.
Themes
Mortified because Lord Orville has seen her with a prostitute, Evelina rushes away from the woman and takes Madame Duval’s arm. Lord Orville, who notices this and looks concerned, walks over again and asks Evelina how Mrs. Mirvan is. Evelina is grateful to break away from the others. Meanwhile, Madame Duval thinks that the prostitutes are noblewomen and tries to talk with them, while Miss Branghton and Polly laugh hysterically at Mr. Brown, who is being harassed by the two women. Noticing this, Lord Orville asks Evelina where she is staying in London and then leaves.
Evelina worries that Lord Orville will now think badly of her because he has seen her with two prostitutes, as prostitutes were seen corrupt during this period because premarital sex was considered sinful. Although Madame Duval wants to fit in with the nobility (she is lower-class but married a nobleman), she is ignorant about etiquette and cannot tell that the women are prostitutes—even though this would be obvious to any true noble. Lord Orville is extremely sensible (an 18th-century associated with empathy or consideration of others) and tries to extract Evelina from this embarrassing situation.
Themes
Evelina is mortified that Lord Orville saw her with the prostitutes in such an embarrassing and improper situation. Still, she is grateful that he behaved like a gentleman and did not try to take advantage of her situation, and try to seduce her, the way that Sir Clement did when he found her lost in Vauxhall Gardens. She realizes that she did not give Lord Orville her full address when he asked where she was staying, but she does not expect to hear from him anyway. Evelina concludes her letter by saying how grateful she is to have Mr. Villars, as he is always kind and supports her no matter what.
If people think that Evelina is a prostitute, this could seriously damage her reputation. While Sir Clement claims to care about Evelina, really, he only cares about getting his own way. Instead of trying to help her when she was lost, he tried to take advantage of her situation. Lord Orville, in contrast, is genuinely concerned about Evelina and tries to remove her from the situation for her own sake, rather than to trying and get something from her.
Themes
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