Evelina: “Terrified to death, I struggled with such vehemence to disengage myself from him”

I thought the last blog post would be, well, the last blog post about Evelina, but it turns out that I have some more to say. 

1/ One thing that surprised me about Evelina was the violence throughout the book. Evelina’s London adventures are marred by constant sexual harassment and assault. London is a terrifying place for a beautiful young woman, especially if she wanders to the wrong place. 

“By the time we came near the end, a large party of gentlemen, apparently very riotous, and who were hallooing, leaning on one another, and laughing immoderately, seemed to rush suddenly from behind some trees, and meeting us face to face, put their arms at their sides, and formed a kind of circle, which first stopped our proceeding, and then our retreating, for we were presently entirely enclosed. […]

Terrified to death, I struggled with such vehemence to disengage myself from him, that I succeeded, in spite of his efforts to detain me; and immediately, and with a swiftness which fear only could have given me, I flew rather than ran up the walk, hoping to secure my safety by returning to the lights and company we had so foolishly left: but before I could possibly accomplish my purpose, I was met by another party of men, one of whom placed himself so directly in my way, calling out, “Whither so fast, my love?”-that I could only have proceeded by running into his arms.

In a moment both my hands, by different persons, were caught hold of, and one of them, in a most familiar manner, desired, when I ran next, to accompany me in a race; while the rest of the party stood still and laughed.” (Vol.2, Letter 15) 

But it’s not only sexual harassment. There’s a scene of a woman getting attacked and thrown into a ditch. There’s a scene of a monkey biting a man. There’s a scene of two poor old women being forced to race for the amusement of some idle aristocrats. 

The world of Evelina is closer to those of Pamela and Joseph Andrews, than to the genteel world of Jane Austen. 

2/ I have said that Frances Burney depicts a larger world than Jane Austen does. Whereas Austen only writes about her own class (the landed gentry), Evelina gives us a view of different classes in the three volumes. In Volume 1, Evelina explores London with the Mirvans, representing the middle class, and goes sight-seeing, goes to the opera, etc. In Volume 2, she has a series of misadventures in other parts of London with the Branghtons, the working class. In Volume 3, she’s in Bristol with the upper class, represented by Lord Merton, Lady Louisa, Sir Clement Willoughby, and so on. 

There’s also a Frenchman (Monsieur Du Bois), and a Scotsman (Mr Macartney). 

Firstly, the novel shows that an outsider’s or newcomer’s experience of London very much depends on where they go and whom they go with (if you visit London, well, you should go explore with me). The London of the Mirvans is very different from the London of the Branghtons. 

Secondly, the novel depicts the entertainments or amusements of different types of people, and through these pastimes, says something about the characters. For instance, Evelina, a girl of sensibility and refined tastes, enjoys the opera (“I am quite astonished to find how little music is attended to in silence”); so do Mrs Mirvan and Maria; the Branghtons are philistines, preferring lowbrow entertainment (“… why, there’s nothing but singing!—I wonder when they’ll speak”); Mr Lovel goes to the theatre and does watch the play but pretends not to know what was going on, as though there’s something shameful about watching a play (“I confess I seldom listen to the players: one has so much to do, in looking about and finding out one’s acquaintance, that, really, one has no time to mind the stage”).

One thing I find interesting is that the Branghtons—the trade people—are ill-bred and vulgar but, if you think about it, are not as cruel as some others. Captain Mirvan finds amusement in his cruel pranks, violent and sadistic. The upper class such as Lord Merton and Mr Caverley make two poor old women race for a bet. The violence in Evelina is much more disturbing than in Joseph Andrews.