The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe! Let's see where we've left our heroine.

Evelina saves Mr. Macartney from suicide and encounters Sir Willoughby again. Sir Clement now knows where Evelina lives and something of her family, but Madame Duval’s anger at him may keep him away at least from the house. Evelina manages to give Mr. Macartney money, an action that Mr. Villars approves. Mr. Macartney tells Evelina his story. Evelina is again separated from her party in a public place and finds that strangers are scary.

Is rudeness justified in getting rid of Sir Clement? Will anything less work on this guy?

Did the scene in the gardens at Vauxhall surprise you? We’re seeing a side of London (and Londoners) we haven’t seen in most of the other novels we’ve read here.

Could Mr. Macartney’s story be connected to Evelina’s in any way, or is Burney simply providing us a side story?

What do you think are the backgrounds of the women Evelina met in the Marybone gardens?

Do you have any predictions for Evelina’s future?

I think that the women Evelina met in the gardens are courtesans, to use a posh word.
Evelina seems to be having a lot of bad luck in her outings, that is, meeting inappropriate people in interesting situations.

Since you asked, it seems that Macartney is destined to have some part in future plot developments. I am unclear if he is to join Lord Orville and Sir Clement as possible romantic suitors for Evelina. While it seems Lord Orville is the chosen one right now, there could be a surprise revelations about his and/or Macartney's status. No definite predictions, though, I'll just wait and see.
I had some trouble visualizing all the action in this part (I had to look up both Vauxhall and Marylebone to get an idea of what was going on) but I can't say I was surprised by any events at either garden. Evelina does have a habitual problem with wandering off.
I too presumed that the two women who joined Evelina's group were prostitutes and not classy ones. Also, it is impossible for Evelina to be too mean to Sir Clement. He sure is persistent.

I also wondered if they were prostitutes. I wasn't sure if Frances Burney would "go there," but that's what seems to make the most sense.

I found the men's behavior at the first garden a bit surprising, but I suppose Burney is showing us the darker side of London. Maybe those were the types of "lions" referenced in the current Trollope read.

In Regency plays, lovers are always having assignations in the shrubbery, usually with some one else's spouse. If Evelina was walking there, I'm sure they thought she was fair game.

This section was very interesting to me. As for the two gardens, based on what I have read about them, Evelina's experiences were pretty typical, and predictable for anyone less inexperienced than she is. The Branghton girls, for instance, were deliberately playing with fire--part of the excitement of the place for some. Groups of men would behave in exactly this way, assuming the worst of any women found in the dark walks and acting accordingly.

What continues to be most startling to me in this book is the degree to which class is central to the action. I am more familiar with gothic novels, in which many of the hazards are similar but mostly played out among aristocrats. All the working-class or lower-middle-class characters, and the trenchant way they're described, seem very unusual in literature of the period, and may have had a lot to do with why readers found it so fresh and interesting.

It's especially surprising that Fanny Burney would write in this way because her family roots were pretty much in the Branghtons' class. Her great-grandfather was an impoverished minor landowner in Shropshire of Irish descent (his name was originally MacBurney), but his son ran away with an actress and was cast off. (The great-grandfather later rather undermined his outrage by marrying his cook.) The son went on to work variously as a painter, dancer, copyist, and fiddler. So his son, Fanny's father, had a rather scrambling upbringing. He worked all his life as a music teacher and owed his position in society entirely to the kindness of a few of his aristocratic students and the respect he earned for his learning (he was a noted historian of music).

So Fanny would have been considered barely genteel, and her father was desperate to maintain the appearance of gentility all his life, constantly dictating the behavior of his children to promote the family's reputation. Writing a book that features such vivid depictions of low life in London was terribly risky for her and perhaps a major act of rebellion. Perhaps this anxiety is reflected in Evelina's horror at being discovered by Lord Orville in low company at Marylebone Gardens.

My impression is that class distinctions, whilst very real, were somewhat fluid in the 18th century. A wealthy tradesman could move into the circles of the aristocracy, especially if he had a daughter as an heiress. I think what distinguishes the Branghtons vulgarity is not their status, but their total inconsiderateness and their crassness, especially their complaints about prices, and mixing social occasions with business.

I thought the scene where Mr. Smith is trying to explain the allegorical painting to Sir Clement, and mistakes the (naked) figure of Neptune for a general, was particularly amusing. What's funny is not that Smith''s ignorant of mythology, but that he affects a sophistication he lacks. Ignorance is not a legitimate target for satire, but affection is.

I agree there was social mobility, and wealthy merchants did get titles and/or buy property, but I don't think they were really accepted into the circles of gentility until they (or, more often, their children) obtained an education that enabled them to behave according to the rules of polite society. Education and manners seem more relevant than economic success. Which makes the characters here so interesting--the Branghtons seem to have no wish to rise above their station, in fact they mock Evelina and others for their superior manners and style. Mr. Smith has aspirations but has no idea how to go about achieving them, and his addiction to self-indulgence makes him unlikely to be welcome in better company.

Mr. Macartney seems to behave like a gentleman, and it will be interesting to see whether his illegitimacy counts against him in any meaningful way. His poverty doesn't seem to disqualify him from good company, which he had gained by virtue of his education. Of course, although the reader has been led to believe that Evelina is not illegitimate, the people she meets in London have been given no reason to believe she has any parentage at all, which makes Sir Clement's behavior understandable and Lord Orville's pretty inexplicable.

Mr. Macartney’s story doesn’t feel like a side story to me, partly because of the reasonable way he is portrayed; he is one of the few figures Evelina encounters while with her family in London who doesn’t feel like a caricature. And yet, he doesn’t strike me as a potential suitor, either; possibly because he confides in Evelina about his love for someone else (who turns out to be a sister). Is it possible that Evelina could turn out to be another sister? Why was Mr. Macartney’s lover/sister placed in a convent as a child? From whom does Mr. Macartney get his name? Could the “Englishman of distinction,” father to them both, turn out to be . . . Sir John Belmont?

This probably shows my ignorance of this time period but I was flabbergasted by the behavior of the men in Vauxhall. I always knew that lower class women and those females without protection were treated much differently than upper class females and sheltered heiresses but I was very surprised by the open and aggressive sexual harassment in public. It was certainly an eye opening experience for me as well as Evelina, and possibly for other sheltered novel readers of the time.

Evelina’s continuous habit of becoming separated from protectors to further the plot is definitely getting predictable and contrived (I liken it to watching a bad horror movie where you find yourself groaning and yelling at the TV, “For God’s sake do NOT go into the basement!!”) But even when Burney’s writing is clunky, I’m learning about the habits and manners of the time through Evelina’s mishaps. And I can relate to that flustered feeling of speechlessness when afterwards it becomes entirely clear what you should have said now that you’ve missed your chance.

With regards class distinctions, I’m curious about Evelina’s opinion of Sir Clement vs the lower middle class men such as Mr Smith and the young Brainghton. Evelina shreds the behavior and manners of the lower class men. But while she is clearly very put off by Sir Clements behavior toward her, she seems to give him more leeway because his smooth manners in public make him less obviously abrasive. However, to me, his gentleman status makes his behavior much worse. The lower class men have been taught no better and treat all women equally (badly.) Sir Clement knows how to behave toward women “of quality” and yet gets just as much satisfaction as his inferiors while joining the horrific behavior at Vauxhall. This added layer of hypocrisy of course nicely highlights Lord Orville’s “true gentleman” status but I still think Sir Clement gets more leniency than he deserves while “sowing his wild oats.”

I was curious too about Evelina's behavior toward Mr. Smith versus toward Sir Clement. My theory is that people in those days tended to view people in a lower class than themselves paternalistically, and Evelina views herself as in a higher class than Mr. Smith. So she feels free to repulse him and put him down, rather as she might an obstreperous child. The fact that he and the Branghtons address her as "Miss" (how a servant would address her, not an equal) reinforces their inferior status and licenses her to take command.

By contrast, Sir Clement is more of a social equal or even superior, so she has to show him more deference and this limits her options. There is an element of pleading in her attempts to get him to stop hounding her, while with Mr. Smith, she sets the rules.

We as readers might find Sir Clement's actions more egregious by virtue of the fact that he ought to "know better," but in my reading, the fact that he knows better makes it all the harder for her to push back. He presumably knows better than Evelina what is acceptable, so perhaps he even makes her feel guilty, as if she were somehow at fault for what is coming to her. Experienced sexual predators often do this--they assert what the terms of the interaction "ought" to be, throwing the victim socially off balance and making her (or him) feel unsure and responsible for her own victimhood.

In the eighteenth century the concept of a ‘gentleman’ was undergoing a great change. From the Middle Ages till the end of the seventeenth century it denoted social rank. Landed property and a coat of arms indicated gentility. A gentlemen would no more be seen in public without his hat and gloves and sword than without his breeches. And the sword indicated a readiness to demand or give satisfaction should his honour be impugned. Doing the century a new notion of gentleman was evolving, that he be generous, well-mannered, high minded and public spirited. By Jane Austen’s time they still fought duels but generally tried not to kill anybody.

Lori wrote: "I also wondered if they were prostitutes. I wasn't sure if Frances Burney would "go there," but that's what seems to make the most sense.

I found the men's behavior at the first garden a bit surp..."

I have an annotated version which says they were prostitutes.

Abigail wrote: "So his son, Fanny's father, had a rather scrambling upbringing. He worked all his life as a music teacher and owed his position in society entirely to the kindness of a few of his aristocratic students and the respect he earned for his learning (he was a noted historian of music).."

This makes FB's father sound very much like Mr Villiers, who I believe was tutor to an aristocratic pupil, ?Evelina's grandfather?

Abigail wrote: "Mr. Macartney seems to behave like a gentleman, and it will be interesting to see whether his illegitimacy counts against him in any meaningful way. His poverty doesn't seem to disqualify him from good company, which he had gained by virtue of his education. Of course, although the reader has been led to believe that Evelina is not illegitimate, the people she meets in London have been given no reason to believe she has any parentage at all, which makes Sir Clement's behavior understandable and Lord Orville's pretty inexplicable.."

So clearly some parallel's between Mr MacCartney and Evelina, and girl of questionable parentage with an excellent education and understanding of manners/behaviour.

Jenny wrote: "I’m curious about Evelina’s opinion of Sir Clement vs the lower middle class men such as Mr Smith and the young Brainghton. Evelina shreds the behavior and manners of the lower class men. But while she is clearly very put off by Sir Clements behavior toward her, she seems to give him more leeway because his smooth manners in public make him less obviously abrasive."

I think there have now been several occasions on which Sir Clement has been on the scene to rescue Evelina-I can recall when she got separated from her party at the play, this section from the men in the alley, ?at the first ball from Mr Lovell-and so even if he subsequently treats her badly he has done her a service and shown himself to be manly and noble. So Evelina is a little in his debt, and he has a polish that makes him somewhat formidable.

Abigail and Bill- thank you for a deeper layer of perspective on class distinctions and the evolution of a gentleman. I’m much more familiar with Victorian writing so some of the earlier mores escape me.

Also, with satire it can be difficult sometimes, at least for me, to decide which elements have been exaggerated to highlight a larger truth; to navigate that fuzzy space where poking fun blurs with the serious point and I no longer know whether to laugh or be mortified.

Frances wrote: "and he has a polish that makes him somewhat formidable...."

Sir Clement certainly showed the formidable side of his personality when he became angry and indignant while visiting Madame Duval and being laughed at by Mr Smith and Branghton. What an interesting scene where Sir Clement seems to be finally getting what he deserves but is able to silence their laughter immediately when he confronts them.

Good point, Frances--I'd never considered any parallels between Mr. Villars and Dr. Burney! Will watch for clues going forward.

Yes, it was Evelina's grandfather he tutored, and later took on the Grand Tour. Clergymen of good breeding and education but little money were often hired to do this, I believe.

I agree with Jenny that Evelina is treating Sir Clement far too leniently, compared to the lower class Mr Smith for instance. She is showing a prejudice against the poorer people of London which to me is distasteful. Has Evelina stopped to think what Sir Clement was doing in the dark walks of Vauxhall gardens which were notorious at the time as the haunt of prostitutes and gangs of licentious men of all classes. Evelina might not have known that but the people who took her there certainly did. The first thing that Sir Clement did when he came across Evelina in the Dark Walks was to take her somewhere darker! Even though this attempted seduction was thwarted when Evelina finally found her party again she was embarrassed by them rather than grateful because she was with Sir Clement. Why didn’t she accuse him at that moment of attempting to seduce her? Mr. Villars is constantly warning her about him and, in the strongest letter yet, tells her not to see him or speak to him. Her reply is lukewarm as if she couldn’t do it. Surely common courtesies are no longer relevant after the disgraceful liberties he has taken with her. She could easily hide away or if she does come across him refuse to speak. Mr. Villars is not too concerned about Mr. Smith and basically advises Evelina to keeps him at arms length and put up with it.
Evelina doesn’t regard Mr Macartney with the same repugnance as the rest of her lower class associates, probably because she pities him after his suicide attempt. There are remarkable similarities in his past to Evelina’s so maybe there is more to come from that relationship.
As to Evelina’s future, surely Madame Duval will attempt to take her to France before the month is out so will anyone come to her rescue?

I also found Evelina’s plight repetitive. She seems not to learn from her past experiences. However, I don’t want to get into blaming the victim, the behavior of everyone else is irresponsible or downright cruel. Probably this was also supposed to be funny, because it’s so exaggerated. I am suddenly reminded of both Candida and the modern version, Candy, where an innocent character is subjected to outrageous acts for satirical purposes.

Evelina does get into a lot of sticky situations due to her ignorance of city ways, but you would think that anyone with common sense would avoid dark pathways and stay in the lighted areas.

Yes, let's hope she moves forward and becomes more assertive in the upcoming section.

Good point, what was Sir Clement doing in the dark parts of Vauxhall?

Sir Clement was probably out to enjoy himself.

In a very un-gentlemanly way, no doubt.

Evelina did try to get the Branghton girls to go back when she saw where they were going, but they were determined. And at that point she couldn’t return to the rest of the company by herself: "I remonstrated very warmly against this plan . . . quite by compulsion, I followed them down a long alley, in which there was hardly any light" (Vol. II, Letter XV = Letter XLVII in the original numeration?)

Thanks for explaining, Abigail. Her cousins should have known better.

Lori wrote: "In a very un-gentlemanly way, no doubt."

Very 'gentlemanly' by the standards of a 17th-century gentleman like Lord Rochester. In his London Journal (1763) the young James Boswell liked to imagine himself a libertine from the Restoration period. It's telling that Evelina found Congreve's Love for Love distastefully coarse.

Ugh, Boswell had sexual ideas so icky I wanted to take a bath after reading about them! The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age Decency was certainly conceived in different terms by many men in those days.

Rosemarie wrote: "Evelina does get into a lot of sticky situations due to her ignorance of city ways, but you would think that anyone with common sense would avoid dark pathways and stay in the lighted areas."

It was a choice between going down dark pathways with a couple of unreliable girls or staying in the well lit areas and retracing her steps to find Madame Duval in of one of the pavilions. Of course she chose to get herself into trouble yet again just like she did at the theatre by choosing to leave the party she was with and going alone with Sir Clement. In the dark pathways she saw Sir Clement as her saviour when he was hoping to be exactly the opposite. Had the coach journey back from the theatre not given her even an ounce of suspicion about Sir Clement’s real intentions?
I agree with Robin about her not learning from past experiences. Her ability to find trouble, yet somehow escape from the worst outcomes are nothing short of miraculous.

And Samuel Johnson encouraged Burney’s literary endeavours.

My version says in the endnotes that the painting at Vauxhall is Hayman's allegorical representation of Admiral Hawke's defeat at Quiberon Bay; so it appears Neptune is supposed to represent a military figure of some sort, even if it may not be a general.

Found it! Great museum article shows painting and explains its significance to Vauxhall attendees.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/blog/tr...

Thanks, Elizabeth for sharing your endnotes. My edition doesn’t have any.

Great job, both of you! Certainly puts a new complexion on that scene!

Teamwork! Thank you, Jenny, for the link! What a bizarre painting. :D