FRAMING:

What do you think of the way the question is framed? Is this the “right” question to be asking?

  • Tori’s Question: “How does Burney use satire in the letters between Rev. Villars and Evelina to display the influence of male characters on the expectations of female/feminine behavior?”
  • I thought the way Tori framed this question was fine. I thought it was helpful to talk about what we get with letters versus a traditional novel narrative since we do seem to learn more about how Evelina feels. I also felt like reminding us about how our interpretations of the men in the story have changed over the course of the novel made a lot of sense too because our thoughts are directly influenced by how Evelina describes these men. One major aspect of the question that I thought was missing in the framework was the role that satire plays in Evelina, but I felt like this was the “right” question to ask. It seemed like Evelina’s agency was at the forefront of this section seeing as she was constantly trying to please certain men, like Lord Orville and Rev. Villars, while also trying to dissuade men like Sir Clement Willoughby and Lord Merton. 

How would you approach the stated topic? 

  • I would approach this question in a similar way, but I would focus more on the characteristics and values of Lord Orville and Rev. Villars, specifically how they impact Evelina. We often talk about how characters like Sir Clement and Lord Merton are satirical representations of real types of people, and it’s very obvious that Burney is trying to emphasize how bad these men are for Evelina. On the other hand, we don’t talk about Rev. Villars or Lord Orville in a similar manner as if they aren’t also satirical versions of a type of person. Both of these men are put on a pedestal by Evelina, which may seem reasonable, but they are almost too perfect. Still, their thoughts about what is right for Evelina are constantly at odds with one another. This, combined with the prevalence of negative male influences, justifies why Evelina is so often in conflict with her actions. She doesn’t want to defy the only father figure she’s ever known, so she often shuns Orville at Villar’s request, but to do so, she finds herself forced to give in to the negative male influences. Because of the values and characteristics of the men in Evelina, for most of the book, no one wins because even those who are looking out for Evelina’s best interest haven’t considered what she really wants. As a result, Evelina is perpetually unhappy with her state of being and constantly confused about how she should behave.

EXAMPLES:

Are there other examples that could better illustrate or extend the argument?

  • Even though we only really talked about the old women’s foot race during our discussion, after looking through the other examples Tori included in her discussion starter, I felt like she was very thorough when pulling out examples to support her point. I think one of the more compelling examples was when Lord Orville talks with Evelina about Mr. Macartney (pg. 318) because this is when we begin to see Evelina’s “voice of reason” start to shift from Villars to Orville. On this subject, I think it’s also important to note that while Villars only responds once to Evelina’s letters, and does so briefly, Evelina still holds him in high regard and values his advice. 

Are there any that might challenge it?

  • I think the previous example could also challenge the argument, especially combined with a similar conversation between Evelina and Lord Orville on page 364. Since we see Evelina starting to favor Orville’s advice and Villars holding back, there is a short period where Evelina is almost totally unencumbered by male influence. When it came to Macartney, she was pretty much free to do what she wanted. Even though she brought up her meeting with Macartney before receiving Villars’ response, he never mentioned anything about him or how Evelina should proceed in this situation. Additionally, Orville tried to influence Evelina to tell him about Macartney, but at first, she held her ground, choosing to respect her brother’s privacy. It wasn’t until page 364 that Lord Orville had finally acquired enough power to successfully request an explanation. This situation is a rare example of men having little influence over Evelina’s actions. Still, Evelina acts in a similar manner to how she would if she was being influenced by Villars or Orville, so one could argue that these men haven’t really had an effect on Evelina’s behavior. In other words, Evelina may have acted as she did in any other scenario even without the advice of either of those male characters.

How do you read these passages in comparison to the discussion starter?

  • Even though Evelina may not be totally influenced by a male figure for the entirety of the book, I think the original argument still holds a significant amount of weight. Evelina is almost always bound by a “voice of reason” who she describes as “one of the best men” on multiple occasions. Therefore, I also agree with Tori regarding the examples she pointed out because they really emphasize the point that Evelina is rarely ever free to make her own choices.

ADDRESS THE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:

What is lost if you disagree with the critic’s question, approach, or interpretation?

  • By disagreeing with Tori’s question, approach, and/or interpretation, you lose the entire purpose of Burney’s writing of this novel. Burney’s point seems to be that men in society have too much control over girls and young women. I think Tori’s discussion starter is so important because it brings this issue into focus, and highlights this as a very real concern for Burney, which we talked about in class to some extent. This also goes back to one of our essential questions for this unit, specifically how the novel shapes readers’ emotional responses, models of behavior, and gender expectations. Burney depicts how young women should and shouldn’t behave in society, but it’s important to remember that she’s poking fun at it as if to question whether any of it really matters. 

What would be gained by looking at the text in your way?

  • Even though I feel like my perspective is very close to Tori’s, I think my point of view explains why Evelina is so conflicted throughout the story, and why women, in general, would have a difficult time navigating social life. This furthers our discussion of what was to be gained from reading novels by giving context to why authors wrote about proper conduct and morality. Just as contemporary novels discuss current-day issues and other topics that are important to 21st-century readers, past novels would also have a heavy focus on the issues and topics that were relevant during their time.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS:

Having thought through this discussion starter, what else would you like to ask? Can you move the discussion beyond the book (into “culture,” into theory)?

  • Even though Evelina is described as a satirical commentary, how close is Evelina’s story to other young women during this time? 
  • Was the amount of control that men had over women similar to that in Evelina or was it exaggerated like the characters?
  • Were Burney’s real-life concerns about men’s control of women’s behavior common or uncommon for other women of her time?