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Volume 2, Letter 2
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 at breakfast, Captain Mirvan and Sir Clement begin to torment Madame Duval once more. Evelina speaks to Mrs. Mirvan again, but Mrs. Mirvan says there is nothing she can do. Evelina then suggests that she herself speak to Sir Clement, but Mrs. Mirvan says that this may be dangerous, as Sir Clement wants Evelina to be obliged to him.
Captain Mirvan and Sir Clement misogynistically pick on Madame Duval because they know they can get away with it—in 18th-century Britain, women were considered their husband’s property and had few rights of their own. Mrs. Mirvan, therefore, cannot necessarily influence her husband’s behavior—and unmarried women like Madame Duval have no husbands to defend them against men. Sir Clement wants to seduce Evelina and, if he does her a favor and makes her obliged to him, he may use this power against her to get his own way.
Themes
Mrs. Mirvan and Evelina track down Captain Mirvan and Sir Clement in the garden and plead with them to leave Madame Duval alone. Captain Mirvan is surly about this—but Sir Clement agrees that they have teased Madame Duval enough, and the Captain reluctantly agrees. Evelina spends the afternoon with Madame Duval, who is deeply concerned about her lost wig because she has not brought another one.
Although Captain Mirvan is married to Mrs. Mirvan, he does not respect her opinion and only agrees to leave Madame Duval alone when Sir Clement, whom he respects as an equal, asks him to. Meanwhile, Madame Duval’s reliance on wigs reflects the fact that she is vain and superficial, as she uses wigs to hide her age.
Themes
Literary Devices
When Evelina leaves Madame Duval, Sir Clement meets her on the stairs and asks to speak to her alone. Sir Clement tells Evelina that he only went along with Captain Mirvan’s prank on Madame Duval because he feared that if he did not appease the Captain, he would not let Sir Clement stay at Howard Grove with Evelina. Sir Clement further says that if Evelina will tell him she loves him, he will leave Madame Duval alone for her sake. Evelina says that she will not say this when she does not mean it; when Sir Clement tries to press her, she rushes from the room.
Sir Clement clearly lacks sensibility (an 18th-century term associated with empathy) and is an immoral person. He willingly goes along with Captain Mirvan’s plans to torment Madame Duval so he can get close to Evelina. Although sensibility was fashionable in this period, few characters in the novel truly demonstrate it. Instead, Sir Clement tries to emotionally blackmail Evelina: he says that he will be kind to Madame Duval if he can get something from Evelina in return. True sensibility, however, involves being kind for the sake of being kind—not for personal gain. Evelina, in contrast, is truly sensible and will not lie to Sir Clement or go against her own sense of right and wrong.
Themes
Later that day, Mrs. Mirvan tells Evelina that Sir Clement received an urgent letter from London and had to leave immediately. Evelina is pleased that he is gone but feels that his company did liven up the household and cheer up Captain Mirvan, who is in a bad mood after this. Evelina that says there is little else for her to do now but wait for a letter from her father, Sir John Belmont, to see whether she will receive her inheritance or not.
In the 18th century, upper-class women like Evelina could not earn their own money and relied on either their family inheritance or their husband’s wealth for financial support. Sir John’s decision will drastically impact Evelina’s future, as men often viewed women as commodities in this period and would choose a wife based on their family wealth and prestigious noble connections.
Themes
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