Evelina in Reading the Classics

Nov 20, 2017 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Once upon a time in a rural home, many miles from any city lived a girl of seventeen of exquisite beauty with a country parson the humble Reverend Arthur Villars, a kindly old man of the cloth, her foster parent; Evelina of obscure birth, the rest of her name in doubt, maybe Anville...no, it's as good as any, besides one is required... she loved and knew no other guardian... from an epistolary novel of 1778. This lady needless to say unsophisticated in the ways of the world is about to set heart Once upon a time in a rural home, many miles from any city lived a girl of seventeen of exquisite beauty with a country parson the humble Reverend Arthur Villars, a kindly old man of the cloth, her foster parent; Evelina of obscure birth, the rest of her name in doubt, maybe Anville...no, it's as good as any, besides one is required... she loved and knew no other guardian... from an epistolary novel of 1778. This lady needless to say unsophisticated in the ways of the world is about to set hearts beating faster when she makes a visit, her first to the great metropolis of uncountable attractions,( none better than she) London. A crisis before that though , her sleazy grandmother, Madame Duval a woman who abandoned the orphan girl, is arriving from France, to take over from the parson, the old lady smells money, the reluctant Rev. Villars dreads the change. Scared , uncomfortable more child than an adult brought there by a family friend Mrs. Mirvan, and her daughter Maria almost a sister to the uneasy Evelina. Another element to put in the pot and stir the plot, Mrs. Mirvan's husband , a rough, salty sea captain is returning after seven long years, the uncouth man, no gentleman, likes causing trouble...and does.. Grandmother and the captain spark trouble, more like a forest fire, when they meet in the city .The nightmare begins... every man whom she sees, wants to seduce her, especially the bored rich, powerful Lords and Sirs , an a very elegant, but quite irritating fop too, Mr. Lovel, well dressed , much better than the ladies...
Blushes are common on the pretty face of the girl, tongue -tied, feeling faint, she runs away but gets further into the trap ...The wealthy privileged men think they're entitled to all of the lower classes. Young gangs of boys are tormentors of Evelina when she is out in the streets with her friends, viewing the sights... Sir Clement Willoughby doesn't know the meaning of no, always trying to make Evelina do things not in her nature...besides hating this arrogant aristocrat who follows her from the city to the country , even to the seaside town of Bristol. The girl in only six or seven months finds herself becoming very well educated...knowledgeable of high society and trying to defend herself, against the pretensions of members who in reality are not the best of the nation. However there is another Lord, young , good-looking, manners that never offend, a charming, debonair man Lord Orville, but can he be trusted or is he just another phony? This surprisingly well written, biting satire, nevertheless an entertaining book by Fanny Burney, as she dives deep into the upper crust and shows its shortcomings, warts and all, and the people of 18th -century England , they reveal a complex society of good and bad...like everywhere and every age. ...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My new favorite classic! Evelina is a very funny book, full of variety of characters. The most comic of the character is definitely Captain Mirvan and the vulgar Madame Duval. Of course, Evelina and Lord Orville are both very noble of characters. The fate of Evelina's mother, Lady Caroline Belmont is sad, but I am glad to know that Sir John Belmont has long repented his past follies. It is good to know Caroline and John had truly loved one another too.

I will definitely more of Frances Burney's ...more

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