Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sensibility, Etiquette, and Appearances
Gender, Reputation, and Marriage
Inheritance, Class, and Nobility
Innocence, Guidance, and Experience
Summary
Analysis
Evelina writes to Mr. Villars to tell him that she has arrived safely in London. On their first evening there, she and Maria convince Mrs. Mirvan to take them to the theater. Mrs. Mirvan reluctantly agrees, but as they have no time to buy fashionable clothes, she makes them sit in a hidden spot so that they will not be recognized. Evelina loves the play but does not find London as pretty as she had hoped.
Fashionable, London society is superficial and preoccupied with appearances. Mrs. Mirvan worries that without fashionable clothes, her acquaintances will judge her, and this suggests that the London nobility are shallow. Evelina’s emotional response to the play showcases her innate sensibility, which was associated with strong empathy for others, emotional responses to the world, and an authentic and refined appreciation for the arts. Evelina’s slightly underwhelming experience of London supports Mr. Villars belief that forbidden things are usually better in one’s imagination than they are in reality.
Themes
Literary Devices
Evelina, Maria, and Mrs. Mirvan attend the theater again the following evening, and Evelina is mesmerized by the actors. She feels deeply moved by the play and is swept up in the expressive performance. The next morning, they venture to St James’s Park for a walk. Here, Evelina is disappointed with the muddy uneven paths but fascinated by the fashionable outfits that other ladies wear. However, Mrs. Mirvan says that there are more fashionable people in Kensington Gardens, which Evelina can hardly believe.
Evelina’s emotional response to the play demonstrates her innate sensibility—a fashionable 18th-century concept that was characterized by empathy, strong emotional reactions to suffering, and an innate and refined appreciation for the arts. Evelina has never experienced fashionable society before, since she was raised in the country, and she’s amazed by the noble people’s carefully cultivated appearances.
Themes
Mrs. Mirvan, Evelina, and Maria are invited to a ball, so they go shopping to buy outfits. Evelina is amazed by the fawning and “affected” shop assistants, who scurry around them and try to persuade them to buy every dress they try on. When Evelina tries on makeup and a wig, she hardly recognizes herself in the mirror; she begins to feel nervous about the ball, as this will be her first time at such an event.
Evelina finds the shop assistants disingenuous because they are only polite to her to get her to buy things. Although 18th-century society was preoccupied with sensibility (which was associated with authenticity and natural beauty and emotion), in actuality, fashionable society prefers the illusion of natural beauty to the reality of it. This is demonstrated by the extreme makeover Evelina gets to help her fit in.
Themes
