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Evelina (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

~ Frances Burney (Author), Edward A. Bloom (Editor), Vivien Jones (Introduction) "OH author of my being!-far more dear..." (more)
Key Phrases: pon honour, Lord Orville, Madame Duval, Sir Clement (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

`Fanny Burney's first novel Evelina was the chick-lit novel of 1778 - all about a young girl's adventures in London, and one of the best of its kind ever written...the Oxford World's Classics edition has a knowledgeable preface by Edward A. Bloom' Derwent May, the Times


Product Description

Frances Burney's first and most enduringly popular novel is a vivid, satirical, and seductive account of the pleasures and dangers of fashionable life in late eighteenth-century London. As she describes her heroine's entry into society, womanhood and, inevitably, love, Burney exposes the vulnerability of female innocence in an image-conscious and often cruel world where social snobbery and sexual aggression are played out in the public arenas of pleasure-gardens, theatre visits, and balls. But Evelina's innocence also makes her a shrewd commentator on the excesses and absurdities of manners and social ambitions--as well as attracting the attention of the eminently eligible Lord Orville. Evelina, comic and shrewd, is at once a guide to fashionable London, a satirical attack on the new consumerism, an investigation of women's position in the late eighteenth century, and a love story. The new introduction and full notes to this edition help make this richness all the more readily available to a modern reader.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 18, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0192840312
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192840318
  • Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #373,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #44 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > British > 18th Century

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Fanny Burney
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
OH author of my being!-far more dear Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pon honour
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Orville, Madame Duval, Sir Clement, Miss Anville, Lady Louisa, Miss Mirvan, Miss Branghton, Lord Merton, Lady Howard, Howard Grove, Berry Hill, Miss Polly, Monsieur Du Bois, Captain Mirvan, Sir John Belmont, Lady Belmont, Miss Belmont, Miss Evelyn, Miss Biddy, Dame Green, Jack Coverley, White-Conduit House, Clifton Hill, Don Saltero, Madame French
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and Insightful, July 24, 2004
By tobb delow (Delray Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
Fanny Burney was a big influence on Jane Austen, but she has significant differences. Burney was an urban sophisticate, sexually aware, and with a taste for slapstick humor--and far less sentimental.

The beginning of Evelina is a little hard to get through, but once the title character appears it will have been worth it. Evelina is a country girl who comes to the big city and makes every possible faux pas. Along the way she faces near incest, a bitch of a grandmother, other embarrassing relatives, near rape, clinging prostitutes, and a mischievous monkey. The book is full of unforgettable scenes that stick with you long after you close the cover.

But for all the humor, the book is also moving as Evelina it traces Evelina's moral growth.

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Evelina: Starts Out As Innocent & Finishes The Same Way, August 23, 2006
By Martin Asiner (jersey city, nj United States) - See all my reviews
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EVELINA by Fanny Burney was an immensely popular novel in its day (1778). Published as an epistolary novel, it built upon the tradition of Richardson and Fielding, both of whom wrote of their respective heroes learning to make their way into a hostile world to make their mark. The world as Fanny saw it was one inhabited exclusively by the upper middle class and full of rules that strictly delineated one's place on the social pecking order. Those who are familiar with Jane Austen's relentless focus on formal balls, flouncy bouncy dresses, and quests for marriage with suitably wealthy men will feel quite at home with Fanny. However, where Austen would have Elizabeth Bennett question the propriety of one rule or another, Fanny would have Evelina accept the underlying ideology that upheld the legitimacy of the heavy-handed patriarchy. As Evelina leaves the security of the home of Reverend Villars, who cares for her as his ward, she learns that she may be the daughter of the wealthy and high-born Sir John Belmont. At the beginning of the novel, as at the end, Evelina is the pure innocent. If one denies her flatness of character, it is only because her goodness is heavily diluted with a priggish sense of righteousness. The bulk of the book lies in her quest to find her identity, but the enduring appeal lies in the satiric peeks and pokes that Fanny Burney took along the way. With the exception of the Reverend Villars, nearly everyone else is flawed to one degree. Madam Duval, Evelina's grandmother, is a perpetual victim of ridicule by others, which goes a long way toward explaining her odious character. Her biological father, Sir John, is a pompous oaf who acknowledges his kinship only after he has no choice but to do so. Lord Orville, whom Evelina eventually marries as the supposed hero, is about as full of life as Evelina is of any trait other than her annoying goodness. The lessons that Evelina learns about life from the start to finish are superficial. She learns only how to move about in circles sufficiently well enough to climb that social ladder. Inwardly, she is more knowledgeable, but hardly wiser. Contemporary readers loved EVELINA because they could see that it was a rich vein of oafs, fools, and prigs, all of whom were ready victims, like Madam Duval, to be taken down a peg or two. Modern readers generally read it for the descriptions of a society that are so tightly wound in social caste that they resemble the nonsense world of the cartoon. There might not be such a big difference between the two after all.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Evelina is charming and a fun read--but sometimes you will wish the heroine would get some backbone!!, November 17, 2006
By Clark Gable (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
Evelina details the coming of age of a young girl and her introduction into late eighteenth century London society. The entirety of the story is told through a series of letters, generally between Evelina and her father. This epistolary format makes the work very reminiscent of the conduct books which were in vogue in the period and taught young girls how they `ought' to conduct themselves. Indeed the book may have been regarded as an appetizing format of moral instruction for its readers as it delivers the same message as conduct books but in a more appealing and palatable format.
Evelina may be somewhat frustrating to the modern female reader (as I found her at times) due to her tendency to have a bit too much of that `feminine delicacy' which was all the rage in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There are many instances when she is `overcome' and faint of heart or to put it colloquially cannot stand on her own two feet. Evelina whilst endearing, often falls upon the assistance of the eligible (and naturally dashing and good looking) Lord Orville instead of relying on her own intuition, she is certainly no Elizabeth Bennet (from Austen's Pride and Prejudice).
When making my way through this novel I sometimes questioned just how innocent Evelina is as her `delicacy' seems to fade considerably when it comes to interations with her cousins and grandmother, people who she for the most part disowns in favour of a higher class set of acquaintances. It seems to be more socially convenient and indeed attractive for her not to be associated with those who are her real relations. However I am not sure if my contempt for her disregard of her family is the influence of my own contemporary perspective on the novel.
I found Evelina to be a nice love story, full of misunderstanding, tender feelings and of course a few scoundrels to be saved from. I am sure to the adept reader, there is probably much more to this novel, I always worry when I am reading books such as Evelina which are from a time so removed from my own, that I am missing huge contextual witticisms or ironies which make the book so much cleverer or give it additional layers of meaning, however, even in the absence of a deeper understanding of the late eighteenth century this is still a good read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Underappreciated
I have read a great deal of literature from this time period, and this rises above a large majority of them as one of my favorites. Read more
Published 8 months ago by harvest cheddar

5.0 out of 5 stars Evelina's Sister
As a long time lover of Jane Austen, with a sister named Evelyn, I had to read this book. It is easy to see why Jane Austen considered Fanny Burney among her favorite authors... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Barbara Knypstra

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Classic
A wonderful story written in satire of the upperclass life in the 18th century. I couldn't put it down until I was sure I had finished every word. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Erin P. Manott

5.0 out of 5 stars Evelina
This is a fun and enjoyable novel that deserves more of a comeback. It also has easy to access editorial notes. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mac

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh my goodness - all the laughing
A prankster would love this book.

So would any Jane Austen fan.

Why?

Well, for starters, Frances Burney created a story about a young woman... Read more
Published on November 10, 2007 by Biblibio

5.0 out of 5 stars What a page turner!
This book is fantastic! It is so entertaining and engages the reader from the first page. This is actually the first review I've written, but I just finished this book and had to... Read more
Published on September 13, 2007 by Avid Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Evelina
I enjoyed this book, my first by Frances Burney. I read Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice this summer and thought I would try Burney since she influenced Austin. Read more
Published on September 5, 2007 by Valerie Fox

4.0 out of 5 stars We've come a long way
When I read novels from the past, I am often struck by how similar the people are with people today in terms of motivation and character although different in how they think and... Read more
Published on July 13, 2007 by Margaret Tassey

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