Sonnet: poem properly expressive of a single complete thought; idea or sentiment. 14 line poem, usually in iambic pentameter; Types: Petrarchan and Shakespearean. Sidney's Astrophil and Stella.

Sonnet Sequence: a series or group of sonnets compiled as one work; Example: Sidney's Astrophil and Stella.

Stella: literally means 'star', the inspiration of Astrophil's love in Sidney's "Astrophil and Stella".

Astrophil: protagonist of Sidney's sonnet "Astrophil and Stella"; his name literally means 'starlover' as he addresses Stella, meaning 'star'; could have been a representation of Sidney writing to his lost lover. The writing style suggests it was written for an audience, not a private entry.

Pamphilia:

"Dark Lady"

Orsino: (Channing Tatum) lovesick for Lady Olivia, but finds himself becoming more fond of his new page boy, Cesario, who is actually a woman Viola (Amanda Bynes)

Olivia: likes the idea of love, but not the person, wealthy, beautiful noble; courted by Orsino and Sir Andrew Aguecheek--but insists that she is mourning the death of her brother. Viola's arrival in the masculine disguise of Cesario enables Olivia to break free of her self-indulgent melancholy.

Viola: A young woman of aristocratic birth, and the play’s protagonist. Washed up on the shore of Illyria when her ship is wrecked in a storm, she disguises herself as a young man, "Cesario," and becomes a page to Duke Orsino. She falls in love with Orsino—meanwhile Olivia, the woman Orsino is courting, falls in love with Cesario. Viola finds her disguise has trapped her: she cannot tell Orsino that she loves him, and she cannot tell Olivia why she, as Cesario, cannot love her. Her poignant plight is the central conflict in the play.

Sebastian

Sir Toby Belch

Sir Andrew Aguecheeck

Maria

Malvolio

Feste

Comedy

Conceit

Cavalier Poetry

Metaphysical Poetry: a loose group of poets who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them; work was characterized by inventiveness, wit and a lot of ellaborate stylistic maneuvers, such as the use of conceits or metaphors; investigated the world by rational discussion of its phenomena rather than intuition. Examples: John Donne and George Herbert.

Carpe Diem: seize

Parallelism: (parallel structure or parallel construction) a balance of 2 or more similar words, phrases or clauses.

The Restoration: began in 1660 when English, Scottish, and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II after Oliver Cromwell was executed; constitutionally, the nineteen year gap never happened; the church of england was restored as the national church

Great Fire (1666): started Sunday, Sept 2nd through Wednesday, the 5th, 1666 in London in a bakery. It consumed 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches and also St. Paul's Cathedral; helped end the plague and was thought to be started

Coffeehouses: first time people met to talk and to discuss their ideas and share opinions on govt without getting in trouble, both aristocracy and common people came together to talk and debate; coffee trade east Indies

Test Acts: series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists; none that professed the Established Church were eligible for public employment, and the severe penalties; make sure you were protestants. Herbert and Donne both had to go through a form of the Test Acts to become ordained. Both became protestants because of this rule.

Polite Society: manners and etiquette of upper class; depicted in Evelina.

Royal Society: chartered by Charles II 1660, a royal scientific society; The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge; learned society for science; scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals profess gathered in England; led to coffeehouses; discussed science and philosophy but not religion or politics. Shared observations

Pastoral: a deliberately conventional poem expressing an urban poet's nostalgic image of the supposed peace and simplicity of the life of shepherds and other rural folk in an idealized natural setting; Example: Milton's Lycidas

Mock-epic: form of satire that mocks the elevated heroic style of a classical poem to a trivial subject; such as invoking the muse at the beginning, the way he treats it is like its huge and epic when really he is mocking society. Example: Rape of Lock

Country-houses and gardens: developed by the British leisured class; was a part of the upper class society for relaxation and parties. Alexander Pope was a proponent of country houses and gardens; also setting in Rape of the Lock and Evelina.

Epistolary Novel: novel written as series of documents such as a letter; Evelina is written in epistolary form.

Willoughby: he's wealthy but a bad example of polite society. Tries to trick her with Orville's letter;

Mrs. Selwyn: friend of Villars family; escorts to Bristol; none of the men like her because she defends Evelina from insolent beaus; opposite of Evelina--strong and opinionated; witty and mean but a good heart; makes sure Evelina finds her dad.

Selima the Cat: tabby cat that drowns after trying catch a fish; written about in "Death of a Beloved Cat" by Thomas Grey; could be classified as a mock epic.

World Lit II FINAL

Identification of Quotes - title, author, characters

Short answer

ESSAY

Themes:

Enslavement / Captivity

Escape / Survival

Travel / Motion

What it means to be a woman / man

Community / Society : Individual

Social class

Death

Transition

Violence

Revenge

Isolation

Evelina (Best Summary)

Burney, Frances. Evelina.

Summary

Volume One

Evelina's Family History: Lady Howard from Howard Grove, Kent, announces to Reverend Arthur Villars from Berry Hill, Dorsetshire, that Madame Duval from Paris wishes Villars's ward, her seventeen-year-old grand-daughter Evelina, to be sent to her. Villars refuses on account of Madame Duval's being "by no means a proper companion or guardian for a young woman: she is at once uneducated and unprincipled; ungentle in her temper, and unamiable in her manners" (p. 13). Madame Duval's first marriage to Mr Evelyn produced the daughter Caroline, who was by her father's last will brought up as Villars's ward. When she came off age, Madame Duval sent for her to Paris and pressed her to marry a nephew of her second husband Monsieur Duval. Caroline rashly married Sir John Belmont instead, fled to England, and was abandoned by her husband. Her mother disclaimed her. Lady Belmont died after she gave birth to Evelina.

Invitation to London: Lady Howard invites Evelina to join her daughter Mrs Mirvan, her husband Captain Mirvan, and their daughter Maria for a period of two or three months which they intent to spend in London. For both Maria and Evelina it is the first time that they are introduced to society. Evelina uses the name Miss Anville, though she is acquainted with her family history. Evelina is at first enchanted by the theatres, operas, and sights of London. As a girl inexperienced with city manners, she however soon commits a series of social blunders.

The Ball and Lord Orville: At a ball Evelina unwittingly violates a social rule when she rejects a disagreeable coxcomb, Mr Lovel, but shortly afterwards she accepts another man, Lord Orville, for a dancing partner. She admires Lord Orville's gentlemanly manners, politeness, and grace. When she realizes her faux pas, she is highly disconcerted by the thought that Lord Orville may interpret her ignorance as ill-breeding or mischief.

The Ridotto and Sir Willoughby: At the ridotto, another dancing entertainment, Evelina is asked for a dance by a stranger. It is not acceptable in high society for a lady to dance with strangers, but Evelina does not know how to reject the man politely, so she professes that she is already engaged for the dance. The stranger, Sir Clement Willoughby, keeps on pressing her in a very impolite manner and seeks to learn the name of her partner. She finally points out Lord Orville who immediately understands the situation and supports her. Evelina now looks forward to quitting London: "I am too inexperienced and ignorant to conduct myself properly in this town, where every thing is new to me, and many things are unaccountable and perplexing" (p. 53).

Appearance of Madame Duval: On returning from an evening entertainment, Evelina's party accidentally comes across a stranger who lost her company and they assist the woman to their coach. The stranger turns out to be Madame Duval. She immediately falls in dispute with Captain Mirvan, who is strongly prejudiced against anything not English, while the frenchified Madame Duval makes a point of despising all English. Evelina does not like Madame Duval's manners but is obliged to pay her grandmother due respect.

Coach Accident: Madame Duval joins the party for a tea Ranelagh. She has been a widow for the last three months and is accompanied by her beau, Monsieur Du Bois. He is not a great addition to the company for he does not speak English. Evelina's party is joined by Lord Orville and Sir Willoughby. It is cold and raining when they leave, and their coach meets an accident. Seeing Evelina in distress, Sir Willoughby carries her in his arms back to the warm room. Madame Duval and Monsieur Du Bois are even worse than the rest of the company, for they both fell in mud when the gentleman attempted to carry the lady over a puddle in his arms.

The Comedy and Mr Lovel's Offence: Evelina meets Madame Duval's nephew Mr Branghton, his wife, their pretentious daughters Polly and Biddy, and their mischievous son Tom. Evelina and the Mirvans attend William Congreve's sentimental comedy Love for Love and the ladies find the play very bawdy and indecent. The company meets Mr Lovel who behaves rudely to Evelina, implying a comparison of Evelina and an unrefined country girl from the play. Lord Orville appears and defends Evelina, comparing her to the lovely principal heroine of the play.

The Opera and the Branghtons: The Mirvans are taking Evelina for a musical opera, but in midst of the preparations, the Branghtons storm into the house with the intention to take Evelina for the same opera themselves. Evelina at first refuses, explaining that she is already engaged. Madame Duval however makes a terrible raging scene, on which Evelina consents to accompany her. Neither the Mirvans nor Madame Duval have ever been to an opera and they do not know how to behave at such occasion. Evelina is ashamed at their behaviour: "I fear you will think this London journey has made me grow very proud, but indeed this family is so low-bred and vulgar, that I should be equally ashamed of such a connection in the country, or any where" (p. 104-5).

Sir Willoughby's Advance: Evelina is grateful when Sir Willoughby appears at the opera and offers her his company. She immediately leaves the Branghtons, but does not realize that she is not dressed well enough to be able to join the ladies in the best seats in the pit. She must be therefore escorted by with Sir Willoughby. In the coach, Sir Willoughby frightens Evelina with his his confession that he adores her. Evelina's fear further heightens when she realizes that the coach carries her somewhere else than to the Mirvans. She is on the point of jumping out when Sir Willoughby orders the coachman to turn to the correct address and begs Evelina to forgive him, which she duly does.

The Pantheon and the Stranger's Offence: Evelina learns from Mrs Mirvan that Lord Orville ensured that Evelina would not be offended by Mr Lovel again. Lord Orville apparently asked Mr Lovel either to improve his conduct or to fight a duel with him. Mr Lovel's behaviour immediately improves. Evelina's spends her last evening in London in the Pantheon, where Sir Willoughby, unabashed, continues on courting her. Another gentleman, a stranger, intrudes into Evelina's society. Evelina thinks both men very rude and Lord Orville observes them with a frown.

Claiming Evelina's Father: Evelina is to leave London for a stay with Lady Howard at Howard Grove. Madame Duval forces herself on the company and must be taken with them. When Monsieur Du Bois intrudes into the coach to accompany Madame Duval, Captain Mirvan throws him out. Madame Duval announces her intention to claim by law Evelina's father and to make Evelina a polished lady by taking her to Paris. In a letter to Lady Howard, Reverend Villars reveals that he intends to adopt Evelina for his own daughter and heiress and that he wishes her to prefer simple country life in future rather than the dissipated city.

Volume 2

Captain Mirvan's Practical Joke: The company at Howard Grove is joined by Sir Willoughby to much joy of Captain Mirvan. The two men share a cruel sense of humour and together they devise a plan by which they convince Madame Duval that Monsieur Du Bois was arrested for treason. Madame Duval makes Evelina accompany her to the justice of peace to plead for Du Bois's release. They travel in vain for they are reached by a note saying that Du Bois had escaped from prison. On their way back their coach gets lost and they are robbed. The masked robbers are nobody else but Captain Mirvan and Sir Willoughby. The latter had slipped Evelina a note ensuring her that she has nothing to fear whatever happens. Madame Duval is the only who does not see through the plot, she is humiliated and derided by everyone, including the coachmen.

To London with Madame Duval: Sir John Belmont writes a letter in which he refuses to acknowledge Evelina as his daughter. Madame Duval intends to take Evelina to Paris where Sir Belmont is staying at the moment and to confront him in person. Evelina does not wish to go, neither does she wish to see the parent who rejected her. Reverend Villars does not allow Madame Duval to take Evelina to Paris, but on personal confrontation, Madame Duval makes him consent to Evelina's staying with her in London where they are to wait for Sir Belmont's return. With Madame Duval, Evelina moves in the lower-class society. They lodge together with Monsieur Du Bois and the Branghtons in disreputable poor quarters in Holborn.

Vauxhall and Sir Willoughby: Evelina's company introduces her to vulgar places that they think fashionable. During a night visit to Vauxhall, Misses Branghton leave their party for a stroll in a dark alley. Evelina accompanies them. Their original design is to frighten their company by making them believe that they got lost. They are however frightened themselves when they are surrounded by a group of jolly men who treat them with utmost insolence. The men seize the girls captive and refuse to let them go. One of the men turns out to be Sir Willoughby who singles out Evelina and delivers her safely to her company. Evelina is embarrassed at being seen by Sir Willoughby in such a vulgar party and so is Sir Willoughby. The next day Sir Willoughby pays Evelina a visit during which he is cruelly abused by Madame Duval and derided by the rest of the company.

Hampstead Ball and Mr Smith the Landlord: Mr Smith, the landlord, courts Evelina and invites her for a ball at Hampstead. Madame Duval makes Evelina attend the ball and instead of playing cards in the separate room, which is proper for elderly women at such occasions, she usurps Mr Smith for dancing. Evelina is shocked by the vulgar manners of Madame Duval and by the ill-breeding of the men who keep on asking her for a dance. She refuses all, including Mr Smith, who thinks her a vain coquette. Evelina's cousin is jealous of her for she thinks of having Mr Smith to herself. She has set her mind on competing in love affairs with her sister who already has her beau.

Mr Macartney the Poor Lodger: Evelina saves the life of one of the fellow lodgers, the poor Scottish poet Mr Macartney. He is about to commit suicide, but Evelina notices his melancholy and catches him in the act. Observing his extreme poverty, she is moved by compassion and drops her purse to assist him without obliging him. Mr Macartney explains his history in a letter to Evelina. He was born of English parents, but his mother fled to Scotland after being abandoned by his father. When visiting his friend in Paris, he fell in love with a daughter of respectable parents and injured her disapproving father in a duel. The girl's father turned out to be his own father and the girl his own sister. After his mother's death soon afterwards, he was too proud to accept help from friends and fell in poverty.

The Fireworks and Evelina's Suitors: Evelina's company attends a performance with fireworks. Evelina and the other ladies are frightened by the explosions and hasten farther from the stage so as not to incur any harm. The company breaks up and Evelina finds herself alone in the crowd. She is pursued by a strange man and seeks protection with two ladies, who however turn out to be women of ill-fame. Accidentally, Lord Orville appears and though he is surprised to find Evelina in such a company, he seems to understand her conditions. Back in their lodgings, Madame Duval suggests that Evelina should marry her cousin Branghton, if she does not find a better match in Paris. At the same time, Evelina receives a note from Monsieur Du Bois who declares his romantic attachment to Evelina.

Lord Orville's Offensive Letter: Evelina apologizes in a letter to Lord Orville for the behaviour of the Branghtons. Lord Orville shocks her by a letter of reply in which he mentions commencing a correspondence, which implies an invitation to sexual liaison. Young ladies at time did not correspondent with men to whom they were not engaged: ""That a man who had behaved with so strict a regard to delicacy," continued Mr Villars, "and who, as far as occasion had allowed, manifested sentiments the most honourable, should thus insolently, thus wantonly insult a modest young woman, in his perfect senses, I cannot think possible. But, my dear, you should have enclosed this letter in an empty cover, and have returned it to him again: such a resentment would at once have become your character, and have given him an opportunity, in some measure, of clearing his own"" (p. 298). Evelina is so deeply disappointed in Lord Orville's character that she falls ill and must be transferred to the Bristol spa.

Volume 3

Bristol and Lord Orville: Evelina is accompanied to Bristol by the articulate Mrs Selwyn who fends her against the advances of insolent beaus. One of them is Lord Merton, the stranger who offended Evelina with his unwelcome attention in the Pantheon. Lord Merton is about to marry the young wealthy sister of Lord Orville, Lady Louisa Larpent. The whole family stays in the house of a relation, Mrs Beaumont, at Clifton Hill. Mrs Selwyn and Evelina are invited for a stay at Mrs Beaumont during which Evelina enjoys Lord Orville's respectful attentions. Lord Merton and his companion Mr Jack Coverley make a bet for a phaeton-race between each other. The ladies disapprove, so the men produce an alternative plan featuring two old women foot-racing on behalf of the two men. Lord Merton is intoxicated with his victory in the race and makes advances to Evelina, who is delivered from his hands by Lord Orville.

Miss Belmont and Mr Macartney: Mr Macartney appears at Clifton Hill to inform Evelina about his improved fortune and to return her the borrowed money, which Evelina refuses. She is seen in his company by Lord Orville who misinterprets the encounter, but the mistake is explained afterwards. Lord Orville arranges the meeting of Evelina and Mr Macartney so that the two could talk without suspicion of indecency. Evelina is shocked to learn that there is Miss Belmont in the city, the sole heiress of Sir John Belmont. Mr Macartney informs Evelina that Miss Belmont is the daughter of his own father and Evelina realizes that Mr Macartney is her half-brother.

Lord Orville and Sir Willoughby: Reverend Villars grows aware of Evelina's attachment to Lord Orville, warns her against him, and urges her to quit him. Evelina obeys Villars's instructions and starts avoiding Lord Orville. She is sorry to lose a valuable friend and protector. Lord Orville reacts with the same coldness. Sir Willoughby makes his appearance in Bristol and joins the party. Lord Orville believes that Evelina's reasons lie in her preferring Sir Willoughby rather than himself. Evelina is delivered by Lord Orville from the advances of Sir Willoughby who refuses to acknowledge her denial. Evelina assures Lord Orville that Sir Willoughby is not the cause of her changed behaviour but refuses to tell more for the moment. Lord Orville discloses his love to Evelina. It turns out that the offensive letter was not written by Lord Orville but by Sir Willoughby who took hold of Evelina's note and responded in Lord Orville's name.

All Revealed and Explained: Mrs Selwyn acts on behalf of Evelina and introduces her to Sir John Belmont. He is stricken by Evelina's resemblance to her dead mother and acknowledges her as his daughter. It turns out that the professed Miss Belmont is a child of the nurse who was to deliver Lady Belmont's infant daughter to her father. The nurse exchanged the babies on purpose and instead of Evelina, she handed in her own daughter Polly. Sir John Belmont had the girl brought up in a secluded convent in France. On receiving the letter on behalf of his true heiress, he believed he was being tricked, therefore he refused to acknowledge Evelina before.

Becoming Countess Orville: The penitent Sir Belmont clears the name of his late wife and he also takes on responsibility to Miss Polly Green whom he declares his foster-daughter. Miss Green is to be married to Mr Macartney as the two are now discovered not to be related. Evelina and her company travel to Bath and on their way, they are joined by Captain Mirvan and his daughter Maria. Captain plays his last practical joke when he introduces a monkey as a doppelgänger of the base Mr Lovel. Mr Lovel is furious, assaults the beast, and is bitten by him in his neck. Evelina obtains permission to marriage from Reverend Villars, she is married to become Countess Orville, and sets off with her husband for Berry Hill.

Analysis

Structure: The novel was published first anonymously. It is introduced by a poem in dedication to an unnamed person, presumably Burney's father. Follows a letter "To the Authors of the Monthly and Critical Reviews" in which the author asks for unbiased critique. The "Preface" explains that the aim of the novel is to present not a fashionable romance but an imitation of real life. It is an epistolary novel, written completely in letters by different persons, but the bulk of the novel consists of continuing letters by Evelina herself. Evelina's accounts of her experience are interrupted only several times by the few letters from Reverend Villars, who provides a mature moral judgement on the events. The letters span from March to October.

Themes and Motifs: The novel portrays in great detail the world of suffocating social rules and conventions inhabited by characters who either attempt to comply to them or deliberately rebel against them. The innocent Evelina violates social codes out of ignorance. The well informed Lord Orville complies to the rules with grace and so represents the ideal of a well-bred gentleman. The rakish Sir Willoughby deliberately breaks the rules in order to pursue his own licentious pleasures. Captain Mirvan and Mrs Selwyn refuse to follow the rules which they regard as pretentious and foolish and make use of the criterion of practicality and common sense instead. The novel shows the snares set for an unprotected young and beautiful woman in the larger world beyond her home: Evelina is in constant danger from seducers who do not accept denial for an answer, she is even often held by force until delivered by a protector. One of the novel's motifs is the conflict between domestic English manners and the more lax ways imported from France: the mutual hostility between the English and the French is well manifested in the fights between Madame Duval and Captain Mirvan.

Influence: Burney's novels profoundly influenced the work of Jane Austen. Austen's Sense and Sensibility also features a character named Willoughby, who is also presented as a young, attractive, but irresponsible seducer. Austen's Pride and Prejudice includes a more refined version of the rough and pragmatic Captain Mirvan in the character of Mr Bennet, who also satirizes the deficiencies of the fashionable society. In Burney's novel, Captain Mirvan is supplemented with a female counterpart in the straightforward Mrs Selwyn, who sees through the pretensions of the society and comments on them with brilliant wit.

Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood

Section 1 (the veil): The first section sets the tone for the rest of the book. Marjane is forced to wear a veil at school, and she doesn't know what to think about it. Her parents protest against the revolution, and she is separated from her friends. At the core of her being is religion. It was for this reason that she submits to the authority of her teachers, who have told her of the religious symbolism behind the veil. This first section introduces her conversations with God in which she is "told" many things, some of which are that she is the celestial light, God's "last and best choice" for a prophet. Everyone, including her parents, finds this odd, so she lies about it, saying that she wants to be a doctor.

Section 2 (the bicycle): After a brief talk with her friends, in which she learns that revolutions are like bicycles (if they're not in motion, they will stop working) she starts to read about revolutionaries such as Fidel Beitro and Che Guevara. Because of the constant misdeeds being committed by those who are in charge of the Iranian Police forces she decides that she wants to become a revolutionary like Che Guevara. Her parents, unwilling to allow their daughter to be put in danger, do not let her go to the protests saying that they are too dangerous.

Section 3 (the water cell): Although her parents protested every day, Marjane decided that she supported the king because he was chosen by God Himself (which was told to her by her teacher). Her dad tells her a story about how the king was really chosen, and it had nothing to do with God. After the first king was chosen, it was simply passed down from father to son. She then learns that if the king of that line had not been overthrown, her grandfather would have become king. She is, of course, very excited to hear this. Her grandfather became the king's prime minister because he was well educated, but he was mistreated to the point of becoming a communist. She then learned from her mother that her grandfather was sent to prison. It was there that he lived the rest of his life under pain of torture. Marjane felt awful after hearing this and attempted to reconstruct one of her grandfather's tortures, being partially submerged in water for hours at a time, by staying in the tub for several hours.

Section 4 (Persepolis): Marjane's grandmother comes into town to visit and tells Marjane about the hardships and poverty of years past. She told of how she boiled water and pretended to be cooking to hide their poverty from the neighbors. They had no money because the Shah's father took everything they owned. Marjane then learned that although the father of the Shah was brutal, his son was ten times worse. It was because of this that her grandfather was forced to stay in prison. Marjane's father does not come home from taking pictures of the riot on time and after a few hours they start to get scared. Marjane is sure that her father has been shot, but just as she is losing hope her father walks through the door with a full report of the day's events. The crowd saw a man's body being carried out of the hospital, and moments later the protesters lifted him up on their shoulders and marched him through town as a martyr. It turns out that the man had died of cancer, but when the crowd hears this they continued to honor him and protest the king, although now they are joined by the man's widow.

Section 5 (The Letter): Marjane goes to a book signing of her favorite author, who she refers to as "a local Charles Dickens" he writes about children who are forced into labor at an early age. Marjane starts to think about it, and realizes that that is the reason that she is embarrassed about her father driving a Cadillac. She then thinks of the maid that lives with them, who had been forced into labor at an early age, just like in the book. They had more than one social class living under one roof. The maid falls in love with a boy living in the house next to theirs; they write love letters to each other, once a week. Marjane's father gets word of this and informs the boy next door that the woman that he is falling in love with is simply a maid. The boy is never seen again.

Section 6 (The Party) Marjane is becoming more aware of her political surroundings. She tells of the downfall of the shah and of how her parents had been protesting his reign like most Iranians. The party after his exile gives the section its name, she claims that it was the biggest party her country has ever known. After the celebration the transition to a new government is further illustrated by Marjane as she tells of tearing the shah's photograph from her textbook and of how her friends treated the children of secret service members. Her mother lectures her on how she should be more forgiving. This makes her feel a need to apologize for her harsh actions.

Section 7 (The Heroes) Marjane tells of the release of the political prisoners after the fall of the shah. Her family knew two of the men released, Siamak Jari and Mohsen Shakiba. They arrive at her house and regale them with stories of their imprisonment. Marjane's parents forget to spare her this unfortunate story. The freed political prisoners tell of how they were tortured and of how their friends were killed. Laly, the daughter of Siamak, is very proud of her father. She makes Marjane feel bad by touting this fact in front of Marjane whenever she gets a chance.

Section 8 (Moscow) Still upset by how her father is no hero she makes up stories to help make her feel better. One day her parents tell her of her uncle Anoosh. He is a communist revolutionary and a hero in Marjane's eyes. He comes to visit and he tells her his story. He informs her of his uncle Fereydon and how he was killed by the shah. He tells her of how he himself went to the U.S.S.R. and married. After he divorced his wife he tried to re-enter Iran but was caught and imprisoned for nine years. This revelation makes Marjane proud to be related to Anoosh.

Section 9 (The Sheep) Marjane is under pressure from her family because she repeats fake statistics that she hear from the television. The creation of an Islamic Republic forced some of her friends leave Iran. A large portion of her family left the country shortly thereafter. Reports came in that Mohsen was killed by the new regime. As these similar stories come in, she is told by her parents that Anoosh has gone back to Moscow. Later on she learns that he was imprisoned. She is allowed to see him right before they execute him. The section ends with the beginning of the War.

Section 10 (The Trip) Marjane sees on the Television that the universities are being closed down by the new regime. Later her mother is insulted by the guardians of the regime. She is sick and lies in bed for days. The new rules changes their neighbors' outlooks on the religious ideals. The veil was reinstated and there were to be no symbols of the west at all. Her parents took her to a demonstration to protest. There she witnessed police brutality and violence for the first time in her life. It was her last demonstration.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

Section 1 (The Soup): Marjane has just arrived in Vienna. She starts at a boarding house run by nuns and wondering what her room mate, Lucia, will be like. She then says why she was at the boarding house and not with her mother's friend, ZoZo. She then tells what happened at Zozo's house. She didn't seem to like Marjane much and there was a lot of fighting between Zozo and her husband. Plus, her daughter, Shirin, isn't like Marjane remembers her and Marjane doesn't like the new Shirin. When she arrives at the boarding house, a nun shows her around. She then experiences the freedom she now has by going shopping for her own food. When she returns, she meets her roommate. Lucia speaks German so Marjane doesn't understand her until they were eating some soup and they found a way to communicate. The section ended by both girls watching a movie in the TV room and Marjane leaves.

Section 2 (Tunechi): Marjane starts the section with complaining about Lucia waking her up every morning at 6:30 with her hair dryer. A little after that, Marjane starts to make friends at school when she gets the highest grade on a math test. She also becomes very popular for her unflattering portraits of teachers. Later, she is introduced to people who become her friends. They talk about what they are going to do during their Christmas break, which makes Marjane feel left out because she doesn't celebrate Christmas and the Iranian New Year isn't until March. She goes back to her room and tells Lucia how she feels. Lucia offers to take her to her home town over the holiday to meet her parents. She went to the evening mass and had dinner with them.

Section 3 (Pasta): The next break, Marjane listens to her friends' plans for winter break and comes up with her own excuse for what she is going to do: read. She spends her break reading and eating pasta. One evening she makes a big potful of spaghetti and goes down to eat it in the public TV room at her boarding house. One of the nuns tells her off for eating out of a pot, and then insults her for being Iranian. Marjane talks back to the nun, and ends up getting kicked out of the boarding house. She says goodbye to Lucia and leaves. Marjane's friend Julie invites her to stay in her house with her and her mother.

Section 4 (The Pill): Marjane starts living with Julie and is disturbed by how disrespectful she is to her mother, whom Marjane respects. Marjane and Julie have a talk before bed, and Julie tells Marjane about her sexual endeavors, which Marjane is shocked by. Julie's mother goes on a business trip, and Julie has a party, but it is not what Marjane expects. Later that night, she hears Julie and her boyfriend having sex, and is appalled.

Section 5 (The Vegetable): Marjane discusses her changing physical appearance, and starts cutting her own hair, and even selling haircuts to the hall monitors at her school. Her friends, who think the hall monitors are conformists, are displeased. Marjane's friends begin to get into drug use, and Marjane pretends to participate, but doesn't. She begins to feel like she is betraying her Iranian heritage. Finally, she overhears some people in a cafe talking about how she's making her past up, and defends her culture, then feels like she has redeemed herself.

Section 6 (The Horse): Julie leaves Vienna, and Marjane starts staying in a communal apartment with eight homosexual men. Her mother surprises her by calling to say she is coming to visit, and arrives soon after. Marjane spends time with her mother and, because her apartment is only hers for a limited amount of time, finds a new place to stay, a room in the house of Frau Dr. Heller.

Section 7 (Hide and Seek): Marjane starts having trouble with Frau Dr. Heller, about the doctor's untidy dog. Marjane's boyfriend Enrique invites her to a party, and, although it's not what she expects, she has fun. She meets Enrique's friend Ingrid, and, when she wakes up in the morning with Enrique not next to her, jumps to the conclusion that he is in love with Ingrid, but, later that day, he reveals to Marjane that he is, in fact, gay. Marjane is feeling confused, and has a long talk with her physics teacher. She decides that she wants a physical relationship, and, after failing miserably with the boy she likes, begins getting farther and farther into drugs. She soon meets Markus, a student at her school, and falls in love with him, but their relationship is frowned upon by both Markus's mother and Frau Dr. Heller. Marjane procures some drugs for Markus, and gains a reputation as a drug dealer.

Section 8 (The Croissant): Marjane is having trouble on her exams, so she calls and asks her mother to pray for her. In need of money, she ends up getting a job at a cafe. When the school year starts, she gets subtly told off by the principal for drug dealing. She stops, but ends up taking more and more of them herself, so much so that her boyfriend Markus begins to get fed up and it begins affecting her health. She begins to get involved with some of Markus's friends, and with protesting the new Austrian president, who Markus's friends tell her is a Nazi. Marjane prepares to go away to spend her birthday with a friend, and is distressed by Markus's nonchalant reaction. However, she ends up missing her train, and goes to Markus's house to celebrate her birthday with him, but discovers him cheating on her.

Section 9 (The Veil): Marjane falls apart over her breakup with Markus, and, when she is accused of stealing Frau Dr. Heller's brooch, gets fed up and leaves. She spends the day on a park bench, and reflects upon how cruel Markus was to her. She soon discovers that she has nowhere to go and ends up living on the street for over two months, where she contracts severe bronchitis and ends up in the hospital. When she recovers, she remembers her mother telling her that a friend in Vienna that Marjane stayed with when she first got there owes her some money. She goes to pick it up, and discovers that her parents have been desperately trying to contact her for the two months she spent on the streets. She arranges with her parents to go back to Iran.

Character list

• Marjane
• Mrs. Satrapi or Taji (Marjane's mother)
• Mr. Satrapi or Ebi (Marjane's father)
• Marjane's Grandmother
• Uncle Anoosh
• Kaveh (Marjane's childhood friend that eventually left for America)
• Siamak and Mohsen (Heroes of the revolution and friends to Marjane's family)
• Mehridia (The maid of Marjane's house Marjane's childhood friend)

As I Lay Dying (final)

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Two, narrated by Darl Summary

• Jewel rides to Armstid’s farm and returns with Armstid’s team of mules.
• Cash, still half-unconscious, is placed on top of Addie’s coffin. (He was kicked in the stomach by Jewel’s horse after he was pulled out of the water.) He tries to make sure his tools are nearby (everyone has a security blanket).
• The Bundrens travel to Armstid’s place for food and shelter for the night.
• Jewel hangs back to take care of his horse while the others go in for dinner.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Three, narrated by Armstid Summary

• At dinner, Anse refuses to use Armstid’s team of mules – he would rather buy a new team of his own.
• Meantime, Jewel goes to get Peabody to fix Cash’s leg. All he can find is a horse doctor, who does what he can. Cash elects to pass out rather than complain.
• Anse rides Jewel’s horse over to Snipe’s to find a team of mules to buy.
• Vardaman chases the buzzards around.
• When Anse returns and announces that he mortgaged all his stuff to buy a new team, Darl knows that he must have traded away something more than his junky farm equipment.
• As it turns out, Darl is right. Anse used the eight dollars that Cash had been saving up to buy a graphophone. He also used some money from his own personal "Let’s get me some teeth!" fund.
• Oh, and he also traded away Jewel’s horse.
• Jewel takes his horse and rides off into the horizon.
• Anse claims that his family will go with their own team, again refusing Armstid’s offer to lend his own mules. Cash is placed on a quilt on top of Addie’s coffin.
• The next morning, Snopes brings the mules over and explains that Jewel’s horse was left on his property (meaning the trade went through.) Jewel is nowhere to be seen.
• Armstid notes that there’s something about Anse that makes other men want to help him.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Four, narrated by Vardaman Summary

• The family travels towards Mottson. Anse figures they’ll need to buy Cash medicine, and Darl says they’d better sell Dewey Dell’s cakes in Mottson before they go bad.
• Jewel still hasn’t shown up.
• Cash is awake and in pain. Darl tries to adjust the rope to make it better for him.
• Vardaman and Darl count the number of buzzards flying above them.
• As they ascend a hill, Darl, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell walk while Anse drives the weak team of mules.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Five, narrated by Moseley Summary

• The family arrives in Mottson.
• Dewey Dell enters a drugstore and indirectly asks for the druggist, Moseley, to give her something to abort her two-month-old baby. She offers him the ten dollars Lafe gave her.
• Moseley refuses to do so, advising Dewey Dell to take the ten dollars and marry Lafe.
• One of the boys goes in a hardware store to buy cement for Cash’s leg.
• The marshal says cement will kill Cash, a Vardaman Bundren ld corpse. In fact, all the townspeople are offended and disturbed by the Bundrens and their traveling corpse party.
• Anse defends his family by bombarding the citizens with all of the obstacles they’ve encountered thus far.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Six, narrated by Darl Summary

• The family stops at a house to ask for water, since Cash is on the edge of death.
• Darl mixes cement for Cash’s leg with powder, water, and some sand that Vardaman collects.
• They pour the cement over Cash’s leg to create a cast.
• Jewel returns, says nothing, and gets into the wagon.
• Anse sees a hill ahead of them, so he has them all get out and walk.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Seven, narrated by Vardaman Summary

• Dewey Dell, Jewel, Darl, and Vardaman walk up the hill. Anse and Cash are in the wagon.
• Vardaman counts five buzzards and asks Darl where they (the buzzards) go at night. He resolves to watch and find out for himself.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Eight, narrated by Darl Summary

• The Bundrens have stopped to rest at a farm owned by a man named Gillespie.
• Darl asks Jewel who his father was. Jewel curses him and doesn’t answer.
• Cash starts sweating. He’s in pain because, in the heat, his leg is swelling against the concrete. They pour water on his leg, he thanks them, and everyone tries to sleep.

As I Lay Dying Section Forty-Nine, narrated by Vardaman Summary

• In the middle of the night, Darl and Vardaman go over to Addie’s coffin, which they’ve placed under an apple tree.
• Darl has Vardaman put his ear to the coffin to see what their mother is saying.
• Vardaman says Addie is asking God to help her.
• They go back to check up on Cash, who has them pour more water on his leg.
• Anse, Jewel, and Darl all move the coffin into the barn for the night.
• Later that night, Vardaman gets up to go see where the buzzards are after dark.
• He then sees "something," namely Darl setting fire to the Gillespie barn. Dewey Dell later tells him not to reveal what he saw to anyone.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty, narrated by Darl Summary

• The Gillespie barn is on fire. Everyone runs out of the house.
• Jewel rushes in to save the horses and cows from the burning barn. He then does the same thing to save his mother’s coffin.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-One, narrated by Vardaman Summary

• The cement around Cash’s leg is blackened. Anse tries to break the cast off.
• Gillespie wonders why they ever put cement on it without greasing it up first. Anse claims he had the boy’s best interest at heart.
• Darl is nowhere to be found until Vardaman sees him lying on Addie’s coffin, crying.
• Dewey Dell applies a butter ointment onto Jewel’s burnt back.
• Darl continues to cry over Addie’s coffin while Vardaman tries to console him.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Two, narrated by Darl Summary

• The family is almost to Jefferson. Anse concludes that once they get to town, they’ll need to take Cash to a doctor right away.
• Anse adds that they ought to have done what Armstid and Gillespie recommended and called in to have the burial plot dug ahead of time. But he feels someone in the family should do the digging. Jewel states that anyone can dig a hole.
• Out of the blue, Dewey Dell runs for the bushes on the side of the road. She comes back wearing her Sunday dress, which Anse criticizes her for bringing.
• As the Bundrens approach town, they pass by three people on the road. Two of them comment on the stench of the box, and Jewel turns to the third person and aims to punch him. He insults the man, and the pedestrian pulls out a knife. Darl orders that Jewel take back what he said, and this avoids a physical fight.
• Instead of getting back into the wagon, Jewel sits on the perimeter, the better for pouting.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Three, narrated by Cash Summary

• Darl is being sent to a mental institution in Jackson. The Bundrens are worried that if they don’t, Gillespie will sue him for burning down his barn.
• Jewel wants to tie Darl up so he can’t set fire to anything else, but Cash says they should wait until Addie is buried to do so.
• Anse laments his own rotten luck. Again.
• Cash philosophizes that there is no such thing as "crazy" or "sane," and that it all depends on who’s looking at you when you act and what they think. (This is important stuff, Shmooper.)
• He understands Jewel’s anger, but he thinks that Darl was trying to burn up the value of Jewel's horse in the barn, to make up for the fact that it was traded away.
• He also thinks it was God’s plan to have Addie’s body taken in an easy, natural way. He wonders if Jewel worked against God’s plan when he fought so hard to pull the coffin from the river.
• Still, nothing justifies Darl’s burning down Gillespie’s barn. He muses that this must be how "crazy" is defined – by acting in a way that other men can’t see eye to eye with.
• As the family makes their way into town, Darl proposes that they take Cash to the doctor before burying Addie. But Cash says he can wait until after.
• Pa realizes they don’t have a spade to dig the hole with. Jewel wants to spend the money to buy one, but Pa says that he will borrow it from a citizen in town.
• The boys wait in front of a house while Pa goes in to get a spade. Cash refers to it as "Mrs. Bundren’s house," which will make sense by the end of the novel. From inside the house he can hear music playing from a graphophone –just like the one he would have bought with the money that Anse took to buy the replacement team of mules.
• Anse comes back from the house with two spades. They drive away from the house, but he looks back it. In the window Cash can see a woman’s face.
• After Addie is buried, some men come to take Darl away to the institution. A fight breaks out when he resists apprehension. Jewel is angry, yelling for them to kill Darl. Darl looks up at Cash and says, "I thought you would have told me." Then he begins laughing maniacally.
• Cash tells his brother that it will be better for him to go. Darl just keeps laughing.
• Cash feels conflicted, but he maintains his earlier conviction that nothing justifies burning down a barn, a man’s livelihood.
• But then he again doubts himself, reiterating that no man has a right to deem an action sane or crazy.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Four, narrated by Peabody Summary

• Peabody tries to remove the cement from Cash’s leg and takes with it 60-some square inches of skin.
• He marvels when Cash calmly accepts the situation, even the news that he might not be able to walk again.
• By now, Darl has been handcuffed and arrested.
• Peabody says they ought to have buried Anse while they were burying Addie, on account of how poorly he treats his children (like setting his son’s leg in cement).

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Five, narrated by MacGowan Summary

• MacGowan is a clerk at a pharmacy. He sees Dewey Dell enter, finds her attractive, and pretends to be the doctor.
• Dewey Dell asks him, again indirectly, about getting an abortion. MacGowan decides to take advantage of the situation. While nothing is explicit, it seems he’s asking her to have sex with him as payment, in addition to the ten dollars she brought from Lafe.
• Dewey Dell seems to agree, implicitly. McGowan gives her turpentine and asks her to return at 10pm for the rest of the remedy.
• Dewey Dell returns at 10pm with Vardaman, whom she leaves waiting on the curb outside. MacGowan gives her capsules he has filled with talcum powder and leads her down to the basement.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Six, narrated by Vardaman Summary

• Vardaman waits outside while Dewey Dell is in the pharmacy.
• He keeps thinking about Darl, his brother, who is going to Jackson because he is crazy.
• Vardaman notices a cow across the street. No one else is out at night.
• Vardaman thinks about the train set in the window they passed.
• After a long time, Dewey Dell comes out, cursing the "doctor" and saying that she knows it won’t work.
• Vardaman wants to know what won’t work, but Dewey Dell just answers that they should go back to their hotel.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Seven, narrated by Darl Summary

• Darl talks in the third person about himself, wondering why Darl keeps laughing.
• As he is being taken away to the insane asylum, he looks back and sees his family by the wagon. Dewey Dell, Cash, and Vardaman are eating bananas.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Eight, narrated by Dewey Dell Summary

• Anse finds the ten dollars that Dewey Dell was going to use for an abortion.
• He demands to know where she got the money from. Dewey Dell denies that it is hers, saying it belongs to Cora and that she got it by selling Cora’s cakes in town.
• Anse guilt trips Dewey Dell. He says that he does so much for her and doesn’t expect anything in return, and now she won’t even lend him ten dollars.
• Dewey Dell insists over and over that it is not hers and she doesn’t have the right to give it away.
• Anse takes the money from Dewey Dell.

As I Lay Dying Section Fifty-Nine, narrated by Cash Summary

• Anse is gone a long time while supposedly returning the shovels. He insisted that he had to be the one to bring them back.
• While waiting outside, Cash remembers the graphophone they heard earlier. He thinks music is just about the greatest thing in the world. He thinks he could have bought one with five dollars, except that Anse took the money for the replacement mules.
• After he comes back, Anse goes into the barber’s to get a shave. Cash notices that he’s all prettied up when he comes back.
• The next morning, Anse asks Cash if he has any more money. Cash says no, and then says that if they need anything else, they should go to Peabody. Anse says no, they don’t need anything else.
• Cash waits in the wagon with Jewel, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell, who are eating bananas.
• Finally, they see Anse approaching with the woman he borrowed the spades from. Jewel notices that he finally got the teeth he’s been talking about.
• The woman in question is "duck-shaped," dressed-up, and carrying a little graphophone. Cash momentarily wishes that Darl were around so that he could listen to the music, too, but concludes that "this world is not his world; this life his life."
• Pa introduces all of his children to the new Mrs. Bundren.

Evelina

Plot summary

The novel opens with a distressed letter from Lady Howard to her long-time acquaintance, the Reverend Arthur Villars. In the letter, Lady Howard reports that Mme. Duval, the grandmother of Villars' ward, Evelina Anville, intends to visit England to renew her acquaintance with her grand-daughter Evelina. Eighteen years earlier, Mme. Duval had broken off her relationship with her daughter Caroline, Evelina's mother, and has never acknowledged Evelina. Reverend Villars fears Mme. Duval's influence could lead Evelina to an untimely and shameful death similar to that of her mother Caroline.

In an effort to keep Evelina away from Mme. Duval, the Reverend consents to her visiting Lady Howard's home, Howard Grove, on an extended holiday. While she is there, news comes informing the family that Lady Howard's son-in-law, Captain Mirvan, a naval officer, is returning to England after an absence of seven years. Desperate to join the Mirvans on their trip to London, Evelina entreats her guardian to let her attend them, promising that the visit will last only a few weeks. With reluctance, the Reverend consents.

In London, Evelina's beauty and ambiguous social status attract unwanted attention and unkind speculation. Ignorant of the conventions and behaviours of 18th-century London society, she makes a series of humiliating (but humorous) faux pas, further exposing her to the ridicule of society. She soon earns the attentions of two gentlemen: Lord Orville, a handsome and extremely eligible peer who is a pattern card of modest and becoming behaviour, and Sir Clement Willoughby, a baronet with duplicitous intentions. Evelina's untimely reunion with her grandmother, along with the embarrassment her grandmother and her hitherto unknown extended family, the Branghtons, cause with their boorish social-climbing antics, soon lead her to believe that she will never gain Lord Orville's attention.

The Mirvans finally return to the country, taking Evelina and Mme. Duval with them. Spurred by Evelina's greedy cousins, Mme. Duval concocts a plan to sue Sir John Belmont, Evelina's father, and force him to recognize his daughter's claim in court. The Reverend is furious. Lady Howard intervenes and manages to elicit a compromise that sees her write to Sir John. Sir John responds unfavorably to her entreaty.

Mme. Duval is furious and threatens to take Evelina back to Paris with her to pursue the lawsuit. A second compromise sees Evelina return to London with her grandmother. There, she is forced to spend time in the company of her ill-bred cousins, the Branghtons, and their rowdy friends. During this period, Evelina is distracted by a melancholy Scottish poet, Mr. Macartney, whose dire poverty is clear. At one stage, she misinterprets his acquisition of pistols as a suicide attempt and bids him to look to his salvation. She later discovers he had been premeditating armed robbery to change his financial status whilst tracing his own obscure parentage, as well as recovering from the sudden death of his mother and the discovery that his beloved is actually his sister. Evelina gives him her purse as an act of charity. Beyond this episode, her time with the Branghtons is uniformly mortifying. Among the events she must suffer through is a disastrous visit to Marylebone, a pleasure garden, which sees her attacked by a drunken sailor and then rescued by prostitutes. It is in this humiliating company that she meets Lord Orville again. Certain that she has lost all possibility of his respect, she is stunned when he seeks her out in the unfashionable section of London and appears to be interested in renewing their earlier acquaintance. However, an insulting letter supposedly from Lord Orville leaves her devastated. Despondent at the belief that she erred in her perceptions of Orville, she returns home to Berry Hill and falls ill.

Slowly recuperating from her illness, Evelina agrees to accompany her neighbour, a sarcastic widow named Mrs. Selwyn, to the resort town of Clifton Heights. There, she attracts the unwanted attentions of a womanizer, Lord Merton, who she eventually learns is on the eve of marrying Lady Louisa Larpent, Lord Orville's sister. She realises they have come to Clifton to prepare for the wedding. Evelina tries to distance herself from Lord Orville because of his impertinent piece of correspondence, but his gentle manners work their spell and Evelina is torn between her attachment to him and her belief in his past duplicity.

The unexpected appearance of Mr. Macartney reveals an unexpected streak of jealousy in the heretofore unflappable Lord Orville. Convinced that Macartney is a rival for Evelina's affections, Lord Orville withdraws. In reality, Macartney has arrived in Clifton Heights to repay his financial debt to Evelina.

Lord Orville's genuine affection for Evelina and her assurances that nothing untoward is going on between her and Macartney finally win out over Orville's jealousy, and he secures a meeting between Evelina and Macartney. It appears that all doubts have been resolved between Lord Orville and Evelina, especially when Mrs. Selwyn informs her that she overheared Lord Orville arguing with Sir Clement about the latter's inappropriate attentions to Evelina. Lord Orville proposes, much to Evelina's delight. However, Evelina is distraught at the continuing gulf between herself and her father and the mystery surrounding his false daughter. Finally, Mrs. Selwyn is able to secure a surprise meeting with Sir John. When he sees Evelina, he is horrified and guilt-stricken because she closely resembles her mother, Caroline. Evelina is able to ease his guilt with her repeated gentle pardons and the delivery of a letter written by her mother on her deathbed in which she forgives Sir John for his behavior if he will remove her ignominy (by acknowledging their marriage) and acknowledge Evelina as his legitimate daughter.

It is Mrs. Clifton, Berry Hill's longtime housekeeper, who is able to reveal the second Miss Belmont's parentage. She identifies Polly Green, Evelina's former wetnurse and mother of a girl only six weeks older than Evelina, as the perpetrator of the fraud. Polly has been passing her own daughter off as that of Sir John and Caroline for the past eighteen years in the hopes of securing a better future for her. Ultimately, Lord Orville suggests that the unfortunate girl be named a co-heiress alongside Evelina, much to kind-hearted Evelina's delight.

Finally, Sir Clement Willoughby writes to Evelina and confesses to being the author of the insulting letter she received from Orville (although Evelina already suspected as much), which he wrote in the hope of separating Lord Orville and Evelina. Mr. Macartney is reunited with the false Miss Belmont, who was the young woman with whom he had been in love in Paris. Separated by Sir John, at first because Macartney was of too low birth and wealth to marry his purported daughter, and then because, thanks to an affair with Mr. Macartney's mother, he thought they were brother and sister, they are able to marry now that Miss "Belmont's" true parentage has become known. They are married in a joint ceremony alongside Lord Orville and Evelina, now Sir John's acknowledged daughter. After Lord Orville and Evelina marry, they travel to Berry Hill to see Reverend Villars for their honeymoon trip.^[2]

Evelina

Introduction

Fanny Burney’s Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World is a fascinating and funny look at high society in late eighteenth-century Britain. Through a quite extensive collection of letters, the story unfolds and the reader is welcomed into the evolving world of a young, innocent country girl as she learns the ways of her society through misunderstandings and embarrassing social errors. Evelina’s innocence is matched in equal measure with the lies and pretenses of egocentric characters who make fools of themselves in their attempts to win influence.

With twists and turns, misunderstandings, and false identities, Burney tells a story that is reminiscent of Shakespearean comedies. When Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World was first published, Kate Chisholm writes in an article for the Guardian, “everyone wanted to know who had written such a wickedly funny satire on fashionable society.” This book marked the beginning of Burney’s very successful career as a writer, as well as the birth of one of England’s most famous female novelists. Her books were the talk of the town, and people impatiently waited for each new book to appear. Burney’s writing was, according to Lauren Goldstein, writing for Time Europe, “more widely read than Jane Austen’s” during her time.

Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World is the kind of book that is hard to put down. Even if the reader suspects how the book will end, the writing is so compelling and the story so convoluted that trying to figure out what will happen next keeps the reader turning the pages. The book was audacious in Burney’s time. Today it is a fascinating look into the eighteenth century through the eyes of an intelligent and witty woman.

Evelina Summary

Letter I–Letter IX
Fanny Burney’s story Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World opens with a letter from Lady Howard to the Reverend Arthur Villars in which she complains about the rudeness of Madame Duvall. Lady Howard then continues the letter inviting Evelina to stay at Howard Grove for a brief period of time. The reverend agrees to send Evelina to Lady Howard so she can enjoy the company of Maria Mirvan, Lady Howard’s granddaughter and a childhood friend of Evelina’s. Shortly after Evelina arrives, Lady Howard sends another note to the reverend asking his permission to allow Evelina to accompany Maria and her mother to London to await the arrival of Captain Mirvan, Maria’s father, who is returning from sea duty. The reverend agrees and Mrs. Mirvan, Maria, and Evelina set off for London.

Letter X–Letter XXIII
During their stay in London, Mrs. Mirvan decides to take the two young girls to a ball. At the ball, Evelina dances with Lord Orville. This is the first ball that Evelina ever attended, and she makes many social errors, including insulting a man with whom she refuses to dance and becoming somewhat dumbfounded by the presence of Lord Orville. Maria overhears Lord Orville describe Evelina as “a poor weak girl!” However, when the man with whom she refused to dance refers to Evelina as being ill bred, Lord Orville comes to her defense and states “that elegant face can never be so vile a mask!”

Evelina is somewhat intrigued by Lord Orville, but she does not like that he has referred to her as a weak girl, and every time she sees him afterward, she tries to improve his image of her, but she always finds herself at a loss for words because she is so awed by him.

While in London, the Mirvans accidentally bump into Madame Duvall who is on her way to stay with Lady Howard. Captain Mirvan makes fun of Madame Duvall at every opportunity. Madame Duvall, for her part, continually exposes her lack of social grace and intelligence. Eventually, everyone returns to Howard Grove.

Letter XXIV–Letter XXXIX
Back at Howard Grove, Evelina remarks that the atmosphere has changed so much with the presence of the Captain and his constant disapproval of Madame Duvall that she is uncomfortable there. Madame Duvall then informs her that she is writing to Sir John Belmont to find out if he would acknowledge Evelina as his daughter. If all else fails, Madame Duvall is willing to bring a lawsuit against Sir Belmont, something that everyone at Howard Grove finds disgraceful except for Madame Duvall. To soften Madame Duvall’s crude attempts to win Sir Belmont’s support of his daughter, Lady Howard writes a letter to Sir Belmont, asking that he allow Evelina to visit him. Sir Belmont writes back, refusing.

Sir Clement Willoughby visits Howard Grove and continues his aggressive pursuit of Evelina. Willoughby also schemes with the Captain to further antagonize Madame Duvall, by sending her off on a wild goose chase for her companion Monsieur DuBois and then faking a robbery of some of her goods. Madame Duvall leaves Howard Grove and visits with the Reverend Villars in an attempt to get him to concede to her taking Evelina back to Paris with her. In concession, he does agree to allow Evelina to stay with Madame Duvall for a short while in London.

Letter XL–Letter LVI
Evelina stays with Madame Duvall in London. She remarks that the London she had visited earlier with Mrs. Mirvan and Maria is totally different from the London that she...