Since our last class meeting, I
became more interested in the epistolary form of Evelina. We wondered why Francis Burney’s Evelina is an epistolary novel and whether telling a story in
letters implies the story is more truthful. Nonetheless, the letterform is an
art form. There are many instances in Evelina that reveal epistolary writing as
a craft, but I am especially interested in the act of “copying.”
There is a moment in the novel
where Evelina admits to “copying” a note into one of her letters. In letter
XXVII, Evelina inserts a note written to her by Lord Orville. The act of
“copying” begs some attention. I think it calls forth the idea that writing is
a craft, and even letter writing is an art form driven by intention and
conscious choices. Evelina admits to copying Lord Orville’s words into the
letter herself: “What a letter! how has my proud heart swelled every line I have
copied!” (214). Perhaps I am influenced by my own 21st century bias
when I say that the act of copying is not an act I necessarily trust. I don’t
think it’s because I feel that Evelina is a deceitful character, but because I
can’t assume that what Evelina has copied is what was actually there. She
admits that her “heart swelled” as she copied every line, which makes me
question whether her excitement hindered her from possibly “copying” correctly.
Whether Evelina really copied Lord
Orville’s note as he had written it (if he had written one at all) or not,
seems less important to me than the actual act of copying. The act of copying
throws me out of this mindset where I assume that letters are indeed
reflections of interiority and thus, reflections of truth and instead, draws
awareness to the craft of letter writing. This in turn puts Evelina in a
position of authority because she is a conscious character, making authorial
decisions and moving the plot forward.
I think that 18th
century novels, and especially those we have read this semester, have
complicated my notion of “truth.” If we think back to Lady Mary’s letters, for
example, we know that the letters she writes to friends and family back home
were just notes she recorded from her experiences that she later turned into
epistles. The events occurred, but how Lady Mary or Evelina choose to craft the
events seem more important to me than the events themselves.
Hi Nabilah. Actually I'm thinking about writing Evelina as a writer for my final project so your post is particularly interesting to me and very helpful. I really appreciate it! And I have never thought about her act of copying. It is worth thinking, of course. I'm thinking Burney is making Evelina as a independent writer as she herself wants to be. In this sense, Evelina's act of copying, as you say, gives her authority in writing. Thank you all the time!
ReplyDeleteGreat points! As you mention, her act of copying gives her authority in writing.For me, copying gives a more plentiful interpretation of narrator. Even though her innocence and the epistolary form provides a honest narrator, copying gives a hint that sometimes Evelina also hide her real heart, for example she wanted to hide her love of Lord Orville to Mr. Villars.
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