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 Maria from Bristol—she has changed her mind and gone to stay with Mrs. Selwyn after all. Evelina has been ill, and she came to Bristol to recover. Mrs. Selwyn is kind to her, but she is a “masculine” woman with abrasive manners—although Evelina is not really offended by this. Mr. Villars is wary of Mrs. Selwyn because she likes to tease everybody—but he has sent his servant, Mrs. Clinton, with Evelina, and she is being well looked after.
People in 18th-century Britain generally believed that women should be delicate and feminine. A more assertive and independent woman, like Mrs. Selwyn, is therefore an object of suspicion because she does not conform to prescribed gender roles. Mr. Villars, therefore, worries that Mrs. Selwyn may be a bad example to Evelina, teaching her to behave in ways that are not considered proper for women according to 18th-century etiquette.
Themes
