The Legal Fiction and Epistolary Form: Frances Burney’s Evelina

This paper thus, much like the novel attempts to explore the life of Evelina, from her induction into the fashionable bourgeois society at London, her initiation into this pretentiously polite society to the inheritance of her rightful name, title and wealth. The angles of this exploration are as vivid as they are numerous for Evelina presents a “variety of social scenes” in Burney’s malicious style (Glock 129). But for want of space, I have confined my research to the phenomena of names associated with the characters in the novel. Each one of them is either desirous of a name, or already being possessors of titles and wealth in need to share it with someone else. This pursuit makes for some interesting observations at the middle of which is Evelina, whose expedition to gain her rightful status in society enlightens her to the faults of her supposed ‘friends’ and gains her the admiration and acceptance of quite a few others. Thus, in this paper I attempt to explore this name game as one of the possible subtexts in the novel. The paper has been divided into three sections; the first reads as an introduction to the pretensions that have been addressed by Burney though various characters while the second critically discusses instances where names have been used as identifiers etc. The last section serves to conclude the paper.

Eighteenth-Century Fiction, 1991

It seems a sign of our times that an issue of Eighteenth-Century Fiction devoted to Frances Burney should have arisen spontaneously-that is, not as a result of editorial long-term planning, but as an effect of essays submitted. Obviously, there is real and growing interest in Burney's work. It is not now considered absurd to give detailed attention to such a lighthearted and flimsy novel as Evelina-for so it used to be considered. At one time-and very recent time, too-it would have been ridiculous to offer a collection of Evelina essays: most would have been returned to their senders, on the grounds that "we already have one." ' " 6rsl pat (+I 1784) of bpi renew, reprinted m (E w e s compP s: Edibons Gallimard, 1979). pp. 447-69: Laclos wmte: "Miss Bumey, dont le "om-rite I tant de ti-une honorable dBnt6, n'avait que dix-hit ans qosod ses vertus d&eI@ppbe~ sao g h e , a lui k r n prodwe EwlIho, son pmmer e m dam ce genre" @ 450). Laclos b&evedthatBumey wma the novel to amuse and distraEl her father while he was s u l k i n g on a sickbed; her novel-writing is d m unplicltly vlnmcated because ~t mse outaf filial-, and indeedfild s l f e n d and m~nginsturrs were W source of her talem: "De ce momnt elk pamn les s o m qd Im d i m t la tendresse filiale, celu~ de w cun talent qui piu savir I L'amusemrn de son pke." What a distance l&re a between this fiction and Bumey'sacantntd her-t wdfiag and publicahon4 btex m her career she was able to produce her o w vemon of the ummg of E w h , m the Ded~Cahon to The Wanderer and in the story told in the M0u)trs ofDonor Bumey. 2 John W W Croker a p&dasIy vic~ous on the & p t of Fraoces Bumey's age in his hostile review of the Memoirs: see Qrmredy R e v w 49 (A p t 1833). 97-125. He wem so far as to go to b g ' s Lynn to look up fhe year of her bYtb Roger tonsdale's aaount is syqmthmc to M s new; see tonsdale, Dr. G a r b Bwney (Oxford: Oxford Ummsity Ress, I%% pp.

IJCIRAS, 2024

This research paper embarks on a comprehensive exploration of Fanny Burney's two influential novels, Evelina (1778) and Cecilia (1782), examining their thematic congruities and divergences and placing them within the socio-cultural context of late 18thcentury England. These novels serve as multifaceted mirrors reflecting the intricacies of a society in the throes of change. This paper scrutinizes the interwoven themes that permeate both works, focusing on the tension between individual virtue and societal expectations. Evelina and Cecilia, the heroines at the heart of these narratives, embody the moral and societal dilemmas faced by women in their respective positions within society. Their character developments reveal nuanced portrayals of the challenges and opportunities present for women during this era. Burney's use of satire emerges as a key lens through which she critiques the upper classes' affectations, hypocrisies, and moral ambiguities. By dissecting the satirical elements in each novel, we gain insights into Burney's incisive social commentary. To appreciate the depth of Burney's observations, we must consider the historical and social milieu of late 18th-century England, marked by Enlightenment ideals, political upheaval, and the persistence of traditional norms. Burney's novels emerge from this backdrop, offering readers a nuanced perspective on societal transformation.

Études anglaises, 2014

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2015

2020

DTCF, 2021

The continuity between the romance and the novel genres has been undermined since the latter's emergence in the eighteenth century despite the conceptual confusion regarding these genres at the time. Many critics de-contextualize the novel as if it came into being merely as a reaction to and through a complete break with the former literary genres, and hence fail to see its many connections to the romance in terms of structure and content. Though we have today made more or less clear-cut distinctions between romance and novel, the exible and interchangeable use of these terms for the better part of the eighteenth century demonstrates that they overlap more than differ in their qualities. Therefore, by bringing into the spotlight the romance elements and qualities prevalent in the eighteenth-century novel, this paper aims at unearthing and exploring how certain romance elements and generic instability of the novel genre open up a space and serve a liberating function for Arabella and Evelina in the strictly patriarchal eighteenth-century society in Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote (1752) and Frances Burney's Evelina (1778).

Burney Journal, 2021

At the height of its popularity, Burney’s Evelina was frequently republished in English both in Britain by the copyright holder Lowndes and outside of its borders and the sphere of influence of British copyright law, notably in Ireland. This essay reveals that the only bibliography of Burney’s works by Joseph Grau (1981) did not correctly document the true extent of the novel’s production by these two most important sources supplying the book to Anglophone readers. It uncovers the number and variety of Evelina’s editions and reprints produced by the publishing house of Thomas and William Lowndes (15) and their Irish counterparts (7) for different segments of the English-speaking book market in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Evelina’s corrected early publication history demonstrates a fuller and more complex picture of its reach to and popularity among the reading public in Britain and abroad, underestimated until now

2000

MS of the journal article I published in 2000. See above, bibliographical details.