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
To avoid Lord Orville the next day, Evelina pretends to be ill and stays in her room. When she finally comes out, Lord Orville kindly asks how she is and offers to take her for a ride in his carriage. Evelina refuses and says she will go for a walk with Mrs. Selwyn instead. Lord Orville asks if Evelina will go to the ball that night, but Evelina says no. Mrs. Selwyn thinks that Evelina is deliberately doing this to tease Lord Orville, whom Evelina coldly ignores on her way out. Lord Orville, obviously hurt by this, says that he has some business to attend to and leaves the room.
Evelina deliberately avoids Lord Orville because she realizes that she is in love with him. Although Evelina is a noble—her estranged father is a nobleman—she has been raised middle-class, and Lord Orville does not know her real identity. It is unlikely that a wealthy nobleman like Lord Orville would marry someone like Evelina, whom he believes is beneath his social rank—therefore, Evelina avoids him to avoid getting hurt.
Themes
Evelina and Mrs. Selwyn walk into town and, on the way, they are surprised to hear some young men whispering about Evelina. Mrs. Selwyn meets a friend in the town, and Evelina decides to visit the shops with some of her acquaintances. On the way, more young men point at Evelina, and it starts to rain. Evelina and the other young women rush to find shelter, and Evelina finds herself sheltering in a doorway next to Sir Clement Willoughby.
The young men in town do not consider that they may be embarrassing Evelina. They openly discuss her because they do not feel that they need to be polite to women, whom they consider inferior.
Themes
Sir Clement says that he knew Evelina was in Bristol because everyone is talking about her. Evelina is amazed, and Sir Clement says that someone has written an anonymous poem about her, which declares Evelina to be the finest young woman in Bristol. Mrs. Selwyn joins them and says that this explains why all the young women hate Evelina. Mrs. Selwyn wanders off again, and Sir Clement says that he has traveled all over town looking for Evelina, and that he thinks she evades him on purpose to cruelly tease him.
In 18th-century Britain, marriage was generally considered to be women’s main goal. Most upper- and middle-class young women could not earn their own money and relied on inheritance (which would often pass to male family members instead) or finding a husband to financially support them. Therefore, women needed to compete for male attention, and being attractive to men was considered a woman’s ultimate achievement. Furthermore, people often blamed women for the male attention they got. Therefore, Mrs. Selwyn blames Evelina because Sir Clement follows her, even though Evelina has not encouraged Sir Clement.
Themes
Sir Clement is friendly with Mrs. Selwyn and insists on walking home with her and Evelina and being introduced to Mrs. Beaumont. When they arrive at Clifton Hill, they immediately meet Lord Orville, and he and Sir Clement look surprised and unhappy to see each other. The group gathers inside, where Sir Clement is introduced. Evelina cannot help noticing the difference between Sir Clement, who is boisterous and forceful, and Lord Orville, who is polite and sincere.
Sir Clement does not care about Evelina’s feelings and forces her to spend time with him, even when she has made it clear that she does not want to. In contrast, Lord Orville is sensible (empathetic and considerate) and always does his best to make Evelina feel comfortable.
Themes
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After Sir Clement leaves, Lord Orville asks Evelina if he has done something to offend her, but Evelina coolly brushes him off once more. That evening, Lord Orville is further hurt and surprised when Evelina comes downstairs dressed for the ball, even though she told him she was not going. He asks if she plans to dance with anyone, and she says she will go with Sir Clement.
Evelina is in love with Lord Orville, but she wants to distance herself from him because of their class differences. Knowing that they will probably never get married, Evelina tries to put Lord Orville off so that she will not get hurt.
Themes
Lord Orville is quiet and sad for the rest of the evening. Sir Clement arrives and sits with Evelina for a while before taking her to the ball. He tries to give her the flattering poem about her that was found (which she assumes was written by Mr. Macartney), but Evelina notices Lord Orville watching and tries not to take it. Sir Clement forces it on her, however, and Lord Orville looks hurt.
Although Evelina is ignoring Lord Orville to protect herself, she’s being uncharacteristically selfish in not considering Lord Orville’s feelings or telling him the truth about why she’s putting distance between them. Evelina is only spending time Sir Clement him to put off Lord Orville, which only encourages Sir Clement’s persistence and impoliteness.
Themes
Evelina is quiet on the way to the ball and refuses to dance with Sir Clement when they arrive. Sir Clement sits with her and complains that, now that he has been at Howard Grove without her, he despises the Mirvans. Evelina crossly tells him not to criticize her friends, and Sir Clement then begins to interrogate her about her time spent with Lord Orville.
Sir Clement proves that he is two-faced, deceitful, and unkind. He thoughtlessly criticizes the Mirvans, even though they are Evelina’s friends. He is happy to flatter people to their faces—while being cruel about them behind their backs—if this helps him get his own way. Sir Clement is a noble and, although nobility was often associated with virtue in this period, his character proves that this is not always the case.
Themes
Evelina is pleased that the others want to leave the ball early, but she’s disappointed that Sir Clement insists on staying for supper at Clifton Hill. Evelina even cries during supper, but Lord Orville—who is also very forlorn—does not see because Sir Clement is always between them. Evelina writes that it is painful to suddenly stop being Lord Orville’s friend and begs Mr. Villars to reassure her that she’s doing the right thing by cutting him off.
Again, Sir Clement is totally insensible to Evelina’s feelings and cannot see that she is not interested in him romantically. Evelina is in love with Lord Orville but thinks that he will never marry her because he thinks they are from different classes. Lord Orville is a wealthy nobleman and, while Evelina is a noble on her father’s side, her father denies his connection to her and she has been raised middle-class. Evelina’s looks to Mr. Villars for guidance and moral advice. He has advised her not to pin her hopes for marriage on Lord Orville because inter-class marriage was rare in this period.
Themes
