Mrs. Selwyn is Mr. Villars’s friend who takes Evelina to visit Bristol with her. Mrs. Selwyn is a widow, and she has an unusually witty and bold personality. Because of these traits, Mrs. Selwyn is considered “masculine” and inappropriate. However, she is genuinely intelligent and sees through and makes fun of stupid yet fashionable people, like Mr. Lovel and Lord Merton. Mrs. Selwyn is kind to Evelina, but Evelina finds Mrs. Selwyn’s manner a little overwhelming—Evelina herself is gentle and more stereotypically feminine than Mrs. Selwyn.
Mrs. Selwyn Quotes in Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World
The Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Selwyn or refer to Mrs. Selwyn. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Volume 3, Letter 3
Quotes
"She is an absolute Court Calendar bigot; for, chancing herself to be born of a noble and ancient family, she thinks proper to be of opinion, that birth and virtue are one and the same thing.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Mrs. Selwyn Quotes in Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World
The Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Selwyn or refer to Mrs. Selwyn. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Volume 3, Letter 3
Quotes
"She is an absolute Court Calendar bigot; for, chancing herself to be born of a noble and ancient family, she thinks proper to be of opinion, that birth and virtue are one and the same thing.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
