The Rise of the Novice

Barbara Quanbeck
The function and role of manners as Fanny Burney convincingly displays social
discourse in Evelina. As country bumpkin, the beautiful Evelina is introduced to the
ways and means of city life and Burney develops the evolution of Evelinas character
from error!prone novice to well!mannered eligibility via the epistolary form of novel.
Burneys choice of the epistolary form lends itself well to providing the semblance of
truth and accuracy in the revealing of social customs, manners, conventions, and habits of
a definite social class as well as enabling the presentation of multiple takes on the same
situation. The latter allow Burney room to play with both sarcasm and satire in her
descriptions of social intercourse, herein detailed as manners. "anners are seen to e#ert
powerful control over the characters and within these letters of discourse dwells the
means to gauge the overall dimensions of that role of mastering these rules of conduct as
such are seen to sketch out the transformation of Evelinas e#perience and character.
The writer of the first letter, $%ady$ &oward, propels us into the upper middle class
of the social strata and sub'ects "adame (uval to a lower rung on the ladder who we are
at once informed is $totally at a loss in what manner to behave$ and is $still as vulgar and
illiterate$ )*+ as she had always been. A formal, stilted, eti,uette in the writing of the
letters themselves is also noted immediately. The -everend "r. .illars is addressed as
$my good /ir$ and %ady &oward closes with $your most obedient friend and servant,$ )as
does he her+ a style dictating the period. 0e are alerted by "r. .illars to his assertion
that "adame (uvall is $by no means a proper companion or guardian for a young
woman1 she is at once uneducated and unprincipled2 ungentle in temper, and unamiable
in her manners.$ )3+ 4mproper behavior is described in no uncertain terms and presented as
making one unfit for association with $his$ Evelina, though it must be duly noted that
Evelinas background is not firmly established, which in fact comprises a goodly portion
of the plot, that is her becoming eighteenth!century eligible. Thus we are early informed
that the tutelage of an up!and!coming young lady must be parceled out to suitable
guardianship and instruction. 5e#t, good manners seemingly prescribe that a period of
time must elapse before again approaching the sub'ect of Evelinas education. 0e are
told that this second letter of %ady &owards is written some months after the first. )67+
This time %ady &oward writes with a mind toward achieving a visit from Evelina for
several months. /he carefully structures her re,uest within the confines of Evelinas need
to see something of the world for no other reason than to avoid disappointment and hope
by being $too rigidly se,uestered$ )68+ )within a rural atmosphere+ from a proper
introduction to life, and correct education, in the city of %ondon.
This approach, %ady &oward theori9es, will weaken "r. .illars reluctance to allow
Evelina to visit. And she knew the right button to push for the answering letter from "r.
.illars submits to her sound reasoning and entrusts Evelinas care to %ady &oward. "r.
.illars cautions %ady &oward that Evelina $is ,uite a little rustic, and knows nothing of
the world$ and with the following addition are assured that %ady &owards well!designed
last letter had indeed hit the spot, $4 shall not be surprised if you should discover in her a
thousand deficiencies.$ )6:+ /o now the initial unfolding of plot has culminated in
Evelinas coming arrival at &oward ;rove and %ady &oward has assured "r. .illars that
$your child shall meet with the same attention as our own.$ )6<+
=roper deportment re,uires, we see, that Evelina maintain a constant barrage of
communications with "r. .illars, tracing the events of the days she spends at the ;rove
and mapping out her various e#periences. /he constructs her letters to "r. .illars with
care and propriety, always couching re,uests or decisions with language bent on
providing, at least the illusion of providing, "r. .illars with the final influence or say.
$>ught 4?s$ and $assureds$ and $4 am half ashameds$ ring throughout the letters serving
to maintain the elevation of "r. .illars position and keeping Evelina within the realm of
behavior suitable for a blooming si#teen!year!old. $4 shall write of you every evening all
that passes in the day. . . .$ )@8+ "r. .illars responds by telling Evelina that he aims $not at
an authority which deprives you of liberty,$ )@7+ purporting that what he deigns to do is
allow her to go places so as to prevent her $imagination$ from deceiving her. And so on
to the ball.
After relating to "r. .illars a number of the days events including shopping and a
trip to the milliners, Evelina admits to him that she is $half afraid of this ball tonight$ )@:+
having never danced at school, a mere opener for that which is only the beginning of her
learning e#perience at the ball. )An interesting asideA Burneys satirical side shows a bit
when Evelina mentions that the men at the milliners were $so finical, so affectedBC they
seemed to understand every part of a womans dress better than we do ourselves.$+ )@:+ At
any rate, now her education begins in earnest and manners get in her way with little
hesitation. First we note Evelinas intense ama9ement when she finds not a few couples
at the so!called $private$ ball but believes she $saw half the world.$ )@*+ Again Burney
makes a satirical comment through Evelina about the men looking $as if they thought we
were ,uite at their disposal, and only waiting for the honor of their commands.$ )@*+ These
tidbits of what can only be intended sarcasm in regard to the state of the culture at the
time and 4 found them liberally interspersed throughout the letters. The inability to wear
a hat )"iss "irvan+ due to having had ones hair dressed too high is but another on page
@* as well. At this moment in Evelinas continuing letter to "r. .illars, she meets with
her first ma'or behavior blunder. Evelina refused to dance with the first $gentleman$ that
asked her and then within a short span of time, accepted the second offer. 0e are told
directly that this individual is a nobleman, a revelation to which Evelina reacts with
$shock$ since she believes herself to be entirely ignorant of the world and a $rustic$
besides. The girl was further disconcerted to hear that the dance was a difficult one and
was mortified to have to go out on the dance floor. /he related to "r. .illars how poorly
she had performed and then told how much further disconcerted she was to find that $the
rank of %ord >rville )for that was the gentlemans name, a ma'or player in the novel+ was
his least recommendation, his understanding and his manners being far more
distinguished.$ )76+ &ere we are made aware that the most important asset to a member of
this society is that his or her manners were of the sublime. Evelinas performance and
mortification so far were minor compared to what happened ne#t. The first man to ask
her to dance, a foppish individual who dipped into his snoose every third word )more of
Burneys wit+, accosted she and %ord >rville and after a few words, accused her,
oblivious to any behavioral indemnity, of none other than ill manners, in front of %ord
>rville no less. >rvilles manners were seen to save the day and despite Evelina being
duly beside herself, she believed herself to have survived her first upheaval akin to
propriety.
%ittle did she know of a dialogue of social discourse which was overheard by "aria,
daughter of "rs. "irvan who is %ady &owards friend. Evelina reveals to "r. .illars that
%ord >rville has been once again accosted by the fop, a "r. %ovel we find out later, who
had first asked Evelina to dance. And this irritating individual has news for %ord >rville
concerning EvelinaAshe is supposed a lady of ill!breeding. Burneys satiric colors rise
again as she gives the fop the cynical lines, $pon my honor, well, so 4 could have sworn
by her manners,$ which could only be construed as sarcastic since he himself was lacking
so greatly in that department himself. And furthermore, "aria overheard Evelina
described as poor, weak, ignorant, andDor mischievous by none other than %ord >rville,
her champion. Evelina immediately decides that she is ready to leave town for good.
&ow can she ever hold up her head in his presence again?
"oving along in the novel, the insatiable Eaptain "irvan )husband of "iss "irvan+
arrives and we are introduced to the rude, rakish gent whom Evelina is, once again,
indelibly $shocked$ by. /he finds him to appear $surly, vulgar, and disagreeable$ and
capable of $rude 'ests.$ )7<+ &e is, in fact, ,uite pleased to refer to "adame (uval as that
$old French hag$ )F:+ which at least places himself within a circle harboring the same
sentiment in this area anyway. The Eaptains most misguided behavioral botch came
when he arranged to have "adame (uval dumped out of her carriage and divested of her
$curls.$ And so we are introduced to one of the low!lifes of Burneys epistolary novel,
but as well one who provides much of the color and life within the pages. 0e are led to
believe with little ,uestion that the behavior of the Eaptain leaves a great deal to be
desired. Evelina also makes the ac,uaintance of a certain /ir Element 0illoughby,
another basic low!life, whose main function in the story beyond providing the proverbial
ill manners e#ists to play opposite %ord >rville. "r. .illars aptly describes 0illoughby
as $an artful designing man$ whose passion for Evelina $has neither sincerity, nor honor$
and $the manner and the opportunities he has chosen to declare it, are bordering upon
insult.$ )6@8+ >bviously such unworthy behavior does not fall into the realm of polite
society. Thus it is not only the woman who must be a paragon of virtue, but the
eighteenth!century man must also indicate good breeding, good manners, and naturally,
good sense.
=ractically every aspect of the function of manners in Burneys novel is observable
within the first number of pages. Burneys ready wit and fine attunement to dialogue
within the letters describes eighteenth!century culture colorfully and accurately.
"atchmaking )i.e. the deployment of alliance+ appears to be of highest import at this
time, and manners determine each step along the way. From clumsy novice to
finely!tuned mistress, Evelina has survived many a mortifying moment and maintained
with ,uite a flair what oft appeared futile at the time, sensibility. The marriage of %ord
>rville and Evelina successfully bridged the deployments of alliance and se#uality,
without ever having to mention their names.