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Elizabeth Singer Rowe : Women Writers with Dr. Runge Fall 2015

Tentative outline for amending article.

I have loosely followed the Samuel Johnson article for outline ideas since it is one of about 4,000 articles out of over 4 million that is designated "featured"!

1. Biography

   Expansion with subsections that break her life down in periods if enough info. available

2. Works

  Expansion with subsections with discussion of major works

One thing that needs to be corrected or noted is the discrepancies among sources regarding the number of editions of Friendship in Death

3. Critical Reception

4. List of Works by genre and year of publication

5. Sources Notes References

6. Further Reading

7. External Links if any

For the Rowe page, it seems there are many missing citations and this needs amended.

The citations in Wikipedia are inconsistent varying from page to page which is more likely the result of open editing rather than clear guidelines, but more research needs to be done on this topic. I examined the citations for the Samuel Johnson page since it is very well researched and featured. Here is where it gets murky. For example, if you click on the note in the text, it takes you to the note section at the bottom of the page. The notes in the notes sections simply match the in-text citations which are indicated with a superscript, but the notes do not contain full bibliographic information.Then, if you click on the note from the notes section, it takes you to the full bibliographic information in the references section if it's there. Why this middle step? I did notice discrepancies and omissions here. For instance, there are notes citing information in the ODNB, and The Samuel Johnson Encyclopedia, both by Dr. Pat Rogers, in the notes section, and these notes have some of the bibliographic information, but these two works are not given full bibliographic information in the "References" section. Moreover, clicking on note number 208 from within the notes section takes me to the full bibliographic information in the references section for Dr. Pat Rogers' Johnson and Boswell: The Transit of Caledonia. However, one important thing I noticed was that page numbers were given in the notes section, not the references section. If this article is an exemplar, then page numbers are a must. ISBNs are added to the references which are linked to another Wikipedia page on ISBNs. In addition, each author or source in the references section is linked to that author's separate Wikipedia page. So there is a lot of linking and cross referencing in the bibliographic information as well as the main body of the text. Linking every source used seems like overkill to me. Overall it seems that the notes section is superfluous. Why not just take the reader to the full bibliographic information when they click on the in-text citation/superscript? Why go the to notes section that has truncated info. and then have to click that to get to the references section? Is there some reason why a list of the notes, outside of the text, but not full citation is useful?

Which is the best name for the sources, references, works cited section? I see all three used on Wikipedia, and I bet others have used bibliography. Works cited seems the most specific to me. It lets the reader know that the titles were actually CITED not just CONSULTED.

Bibliography for Elizabeth Singer Rowe:

Backscheider, Paula. Elizabeth Singer Rowe and the Development of the English Novel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, UP. 2013. Print.

Ezell, Margaret J. M. Writing Women's Literary History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1993. Print.

Hughes, Helen Sard. "Elizabeth Rowe and the Countess of Hertford." PMLA 59.3 (1944). 726-746. Web.

King, Kathryn R. "Elizabeth Singer Rowe's Tactical Use Of Print And Manuscript." Women's Writing and the Circulation of Ideas:

Manuscript Publication in England, 1550-1800. 158-181. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.

"The Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Singer Rowe" from Poems on Several Occasions. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/rowe/life.html

"Obituary." General Evening Post. London 26 Feb - 1 March 1737 Issue 564. 17th -18th Century Burney Newspaper Collection,

Gale-Cengage. Web.

Prescott, Sarah. "Provincial Networks, Dissenting Connections, And Noble Friends: Elizabeth Singer Rowe And Female Authorship In

Early Eighteenth-Century England." Eighteenth-Century Life 1 (2001): 29. Project MUSE. Web.

Richetti, John J. Popular Fiction Before Richardson. [Electronic Resource] : Narrative Patterns, 1700-1739. n.p.: Oxford : Clarendon, 1992., 1992. University of

South Florida Libraries Catalog.

Rowe, Elizabeth Singer. Friendship in Death. Ed. Michael F. Shugrue. New York: Garland, 1972. Print. Foundations of the Novel.

Staves, Susan. A Literary History of Women's Writing in Britain, 1660-1789. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. Print.

Wright, H. Bunker. "Matthew Prior And Elizabeth Singer." Philological Quarterly 24.(1945): 71-82. MLA International Bibliography. Web.

********Here is where the Rowe article draft starts*********

I have already added much to the overview and biography sections, which are already showing on the "real" article page.

Literary Works

Rowe's poetry was distinguished for its "metrical craftsmanship, beauty and imagery" and she was read more in America than Pope, Swift or Samuel Johnson. By the end of her life, she was highly recognized for her fiction and more than a dozen obituaries said, "She has oblig'd the World with Friendship in Death, and Letters Moral and Entertaining, besides several excellent poems in the Miscellanies."

Something of a prodigy, Rowe told a friend that she began writing at the age of 12, and at she 19 began a correspondence with John Dunton, a bookseller and founder of the Athenian Society. Between 1693 and 1696 she was the principal contributor of poetry to The Athenian Mercury, and many of these poems were reprinted in Poems on Several Occasions, also published by Dunton. During this time, she wrote under the pseudonyms Philomela and the Pindarick Lady, after Pindar whose odes were a popular verse form for writing about abstractions in the late 17th century.

Divine Hymns and Poems on Several Occasions (1704)

Published in 1704, Rowe was the featured poet in this collection of didactic religious poetry which also included Richard Blackmore, John Dennis and John Norris.

Poems on Several Occasions (1717)

This, her first collection, published in 1717, contains pastorals, hymns, an imitation of Anne Killigrew, a "vehement defence of women's right to poetry", in which she defends women, "over'rul'd by the Tyranny of the Prouder Sex," and her most well known poem, "On the Death of Mr. Thomas Rowe." The Thynnes, friends of Anne Finch, became her patrons around this time. This volume included one of her best known poems, "On the Death of Mr. Thomas Rowe," an impassioned poem which she wrote in response to the untimely death of her husband. This poem is said to have been an inspiration for Pope's Eloisa to Abelard (1720), and he included it in the second edition. In it she wrote, "For thee at once I from the world retire,/To feed in silent shades a hopeless fire." She kept her word and retired to her father's house in Frome.

Friendship in Death, in Twenty Letters From the Dead to the Living (1728)

Title to page of Friendship in Death. 2nd. ed. 1729.

Undoubtedly her most popular work, Friendship in Death, first published in 1728, went through at least 79 editions by 1825 and another ten by 1840. Comparatively, in the eighteenth century, editions of this work consistently outnumbered Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Richardson's Clarissa and the gap grew wider as the century progressed. The work consists of imaginary letters from virtuous friends and loved ones, including a two-year-old child to his grieving mother, who have died, gone to heaven and wish to impart spiritual advice, mainly in the interest of making sure that the souls of friends and loved ones go to heaven. The subject matter of the letters consist mainly of moral dilemmas and contemporary issues; thus, many of the letters are related to moral essays while others are closer to the situations depicted in novels. In this work, Rowe seems to be conducting a campaign against the libertinism found in amatory fiction. In the preface, Rowe states her didactic intent, "The Drift of these Letters is, to impress the Notion of the Soul's Immortality; without which, all Virtue and Religion, with their Temporal and Eternal good Consequences, must fall to the Ground." According to the spirits, death is to be welcomed and not feared since the soul experiences bliss in heaven.

Rowe's most immediate and well known literary model for Friendship in Death was Tom Brown's Letters from the Dead to the Living (1702) although Brown's work features famous men who make witty comments both on infamous contemporaries and hell. Friendship in Death is informed by the epistolary tradition, apparition literature, and patchwork literature and influenced many subsequent protracted death scenes such as in Samuel Richardson's Clarissa and Sarah Fielding's The Adventures of David Simple. Volume the Last (1753). Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (2002) is a contemporary bestseller that continues the tradition of apparition literature.

Letters Moral and Entertaining (1729-32)

Letters Moral and Entertaining was a three-part series of fictionalized letters focusing on love, marriage and death. Perhaps best described as a didactic miscellany, this work also contained religious poetry, pastorals, translations of Tasso and actual letters from the correspondence between Rowe and Lady Hertford. Part I, 1729, was published as a "sequel of sorts" to Friendship in Death and represents older forms of the coterie epistolary exchange of manuscript culture within the newer print culture.

The History of Joseph (1736)

Rowe's The History of Joseph (1736) is an extended narrative poem in the tradition of English religious epics such as Milton's Paradise Lost and an allegorical paraphrase that adds detail to the Old Testament story of Joseph. Rowe's immediate predecessors were Richard Blackmore's A Paraphrase of the Book of Job (1700) and Matthew Prior's Solomon, or the Vanity of the World (1718). Joseph was translated into German influencing the Swiss poet Johann Jacob Bodmer and Friedrick Klopstock, a German poet whose biblical epic Messias (1749) was also influenced by Paradise Lost. In this work, she continues to critique libertinism as well as pagan mythology and priestcraft celebrating a hero who exudes the virtue of chastity as he resists the temptations of Potiphar's wife, called Sabrina by Rowe, who uses charms, astrology and the philosophical arguments of libertinism to try to seduce him.

Devout Exercises of the Heart in Meditation and Soliloquy, Prayer and Praise (1737)

Following her death and according to her wishes, Isaac Watts revised and published her religious meditations in this work.

The Miscellaneous Works in Prose and Verse of Mrs Elizabeth Rowe (1739)

Published posthumously by Theophilus Rowe, this collection was prefaced by a highly complimentary biography and no less than twelve poetic tributes.

Critical Reception

Eighteenth-century literary critic and lexicographer Samuel Johnson had praise for Rowe and wrote in a Miscellanies review that the essayists in the collection "seem generally to have imitated, or tried to imitate, the copiousness and luxuriance of Mrs. Rowe. This, however, is not all their praise; they have laboured to add to her brightness of imagery, her purity of sentiment" and he gave her credit for a mastery of style which used the "ornaments of romance in the decoration of religion." Eighteenth-century English writer and bluestocking Elizabeth Carter lauded Rowe's "happy elegance of thought," describing her verse as "refin'd by virtue" with "powerful strains [that] wake the nobler passions of the soul." Rowe's contemporaries considered her to be the "virtuous successor of Katherine Phillips."

After her death, other writers and the public emphasized her virtuous reputation. In 1739 The Gentleman's Magazine wrote on Rowe in a three-part work, calling her the “Ornament of her Sex." George Ballard, eighteenth-century literary antiquarian and biographer, held up Rowe as the epitome of his domesticated model of the virtuous and modest, ideal woman writer in his highly influential Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain: who have been celebrated for their writings or skill in the learned languages, arts and sciences (1752). John Duncombe's Feminiad (1754) praised both her character and her writing. As late as 1803 an anonymous writer suggested that Rowe represented “Virtue and all her genuine beauty [that should] recommend her to the choice and admiration of a rising generation." She became a "cultural authority," influencing later women writers and nineteenth-century Christian female activists. Her works were reprinted nearly annually until 1855, out of print by 1860, and in 1897 she was not even mentioned in A Dictionary of English Authors; her reputation had gone from "exemplar" and "muse" to "antiquarian curiosity."

More recently scholars have interpreted Rowe as a pivotal figure in the development of the English novel: Rowe capitalized on stock characters and situations from the popular romances flooding into England from France and Italy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, transforming the outward struggles to save the body of the heroine from seducers and captors, to saving the mind and the soul of the heroine from the corrupt world through contemplation and virtuous self control, thus sealing the plot trajectory of subsequent fiction as evidenced in later novelists such as Samuel Richardson and Frances Burney. The lasting significance of Rowe's literary contribution continues to be reassessed.

Peer Review

Hi Dana,

This all looks amazing! One suggestion that I have is to add additional pictures to the article (such as more title page images or something for the biography section). Also, are you going to keep the "bibliography" that is now in the article? I know that you have expanded the previous sections, but the inclusion of this section would be very useful for quick referencing. Looks good though! LesBrooks (talk) 13:35, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

from LAE 6389 Dr. Laura Runge Spring 2015

Title page from the first edition of the first volume of Cecilia, 1782.

Cecilia, subtitled Memoirs of an Heiress, is the second novel by English author Frances Burney, set in 1779 and published in 1782. The novel, about the trials and tribulations of a young upper class woman who must negotiate London society for the first time and who falls in love with a social superior, belongs to the genre of the novel of manners. Cecilia, a panoramic novel of eighteenth-century London society was highly successful with at least 51 editions.

Background

Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress was published in July 1782. Frances Burney began working on the novel in 1780, after her father, Dr. Charles Burney, and her literary mentor, Samuel Crisp, suppressed her play entitled The Witlings. Her father had concerns that the play, a comedic satire of bluestocking(s), would offend "real people" whom he depended on for artistic patronage, particularly Elizabeth Montagu. This disappointment and the pressure to produce a second novel in order to capitalize on the success of her first work Evelina, seems to have placed considerable strain on Burney, and may have colored the tone and content of Cecilia. It seems that the Cecilia Stanley of The Witlings became the Cecilia Beverley of Cecilia.

Frances Burney

Plot

Cecilia opens with the beautiful 20 year-old heroine, Cecilia Beverley, saying goodbye to her country home to go on a journey to London. She is an orphan heiress (£3000 a year as soon as she becomes of age, with a smaller personal fortune of £10,000). A stipulation in her uncle's will requires whomever she marries to take her surname, that is, become Mr. Beverley.

Cecilia goes to live with one of her three guardians, Mr. Harrel, but is invited first to her friend Mr. Monckton’s house for breakfast. Mr. Monckton has married an old, ugly woman for her money, but secretly regrets his decision after meeting Cecilia--a woman who combines wealth with beauty and youth. Mr. Monckton wants to marry Cecilia as soon as his own wife dies. He is afraid that Cecilia might fall in love or forget him while in London, and warns her continually to be careful of all ‘temptations.’ At his house she meets Mr. Morrice, a young lawyer who tries to flatter everyone who is important; Captain Aresby, who likes to compliment ladies in fancy words; and Mr. Belfield, a clever, lively, proud young man who can’t settle down. Mr. Monckton’s wife and her poor companion, Miss Bennet, who helps Mr. Monckton with his schemes, are also there. Cecilia notes the sharp behavior of an old man sitting quietly in the corner. She also does not understand why Lady Margaret (Mr. Monckton’s wife) dislikes her so much.

Mr. Harrel is the husband of Cecilia's childhood friend, Priscilla. But Cecilia is sad to see that Mrs. Harrel doesn’t care about her, and has become silly, worldly, and profligate. On her arrival, Mrs. Harrel presents her to her “friends,” and every day is filled with parties and London amusements which soon tire Cecilia. She sees Captain Aresby and Mr. Morrice again, and is introduced to many people, such as the insolent Sir Robert Floyer, who soon begins to pursue her for her money; Mrs. Harrel’s gentle, serious, and shy brother Mr. Arnott, who falls in love with her; the sturdier of characters, Mr. Gosport; the frivolous and very chatty Miss Larolles; and the proud, silent Miss Leeson, but she cannot truly be attached to any of them. Mr. Monckton visits her, and she greets him with a real happiness which delights him.

Cecilia goes to an opera, where she sees the strange, gruff old man again – his name is Albany. He shouts out at her a strange warning that she is in danger from the people around her, and she should be helping the poor, and leaves. The next morning she sees a poor but honest woman named Mrs. Hill, who comes and begs her to help her and her starving family, because Mr. Harrel refused to pay them. Cecilia tries to make him pay, but he makes useless excuses constantly, and finally, Mr. Arnott, feeling sorry for the Hills, lent him the money to pay them at last.

Cecilia, shocked at the meanness of Mr. Harrel, decided to see if she could stay with any of her other guardians, but finds out they are, in different ways, perhaps just as bad: while Mr. Harrel spends and gambles his money, her other guardian, Mr. Briggs, is a selfish miser, and Mr. Delvile is a vain man, over-proud of his family.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Harrel holds a masquerade party, in which a black demon keeps on hanging around her and fighting anyone who comes near (actually Mr. Monckton in disguise). A white domino, Mr. Arnott, Mr. Gosport, and Mr. Belfield, whom she meets again dressed up a knight, help her. Cecilia is delighted with the white domino, and surprised at how well he knows the faults of her guardians, she wonders who he can be.

Finally getting as tired of being by herself as being partying, she decides to join Mrs. Harrel to go to the Opera again. There, she meets Mr. Belfield, who offers to help her out of her seat, but Sir Robert Floyer, pushing rudely by him, tries to help her himself. She refuses him coldly, and furious, he quarrels with Mr. Belfield and they almost duel. Terrified, Cecilia cried out, “Oh stop him!—good God! Will nobody stop him!”—at which a young man rushes up to Sir Robert Floyer; after trying to stop him, he reassures Cecilia. Embarrassed and annoyed, Cecilia hurries away to her house, and worries over the duel.

The next morning, the same man comes to her telling her that they had dueled: Mr. Belfield has been a little hurt, but Sir Robert Floyer unhurt. Cecilia finds out that he is the white domino she saw at the masquerade party, and also that he is proud Mr. Delvile’s son! Soon after, she meets Mrs. Delvile, and is delighted to see that she is a kind, witty, and refreshingly elegant lady, and begins to think of staying with them, instead of with the Harrels. However, she is annoyed to find that Mortimer Delvile (the white domino) first thinks that she is in love with Mr. Belfield, and then seems to think that she is engaged with Sir Robert Floyer. Indeed, Sir Robert Floyer has asked her to marry him, and though she firmly refused him, Mr. Harrel told everyone (including Mr. Delvile) that they will be married soon. Later, she meets Mr. Albany again, who introduces her to a pretty young girl, saying to Cecilia that she should help her. Cecilia finds out, with horror, that Mr. Belfield’s wound was really serious, but because he did not have enough money he could not call a doctor. She helps the Belfields, and begins a warm friendship with the girl (Belfield’s sister, Henrietta), and also finds out that Mortimer Delvile, too, is helping them. More and more disgusted with Sir Robert Floyer’s rude boldness, and the Harrels’ silliness, she stays for a short, but very happy, while with Mrs. Delvile, whom she begins to really love, and Mortimer. However, Mr. Monckton, alarmed at her growing attachment to the Delviles, says bitter lies about them. Cecilia, however, cannot believe him, and she finally realizes she has fallen in love with Mortimer. However, she is displeased to see that he still seems to think she is engaged with Sir Robert Floyer. Meanwhile, Mr. Harrel, by threatening her with his own suicide, forces Cecilia to lend him his money for his debts. Cecilia tries hard to warn Mrs. Harrel not to spend money so thoughtlessly, but silly and weak, she will not listen to her friend.

The next day she went to Mr. Delvile’s house and asked him to help her, as Sir Robert Floyer’s attentions more and more displeased her, and Mr. Harrel was absolutely no help. Mr. Delvile is suddenly called away, and Mortimer is very greatly excited and surprised by her announcement. However, when she meets him again she is hurt and surprised by his sudden coldness to her, and wonders at it.

Mr. Harrel loses at gambling more, much, much more, than he is able to pay; and his sudden violent behavior to his wife frightens Cecilia very much. He suddenly takes them all to Vauxhall, where, after drinking, he suddenly kisses his wife and shoots himself. Cecilia meets Mortimer, and frightened by her terror, he forgets to be cold, and takes her and Mrs. Harrel to Mrs. Delvile himself. They travel to Delvile Castle, where Cecilia finds Mortimer’s behavior yet more confusing, and Mrs. Delvile makes clear to her that she does not want Cecilia to marry her son. Lady Honoria, a relative of Mrs. Delvile’s, comes and teases her about Mortimer. Finally he explains that he cannot marry her, deeply as he loves her, because then he would have to change his name from Delvile to Beverley; and because he cannot bear to see her anymore, he has to leave the country. Angry and proud, though hurt inside, Cecilia says goodbye to him coolly; and when Mrs. Delvile decides to go see her son, she goes to her old family friend, Mrs. Charlton, and stays with her instead. While there, Mr. Biddulph, a man who used to like her, and a friend of Mortimer’s, sees with surprise that she is embarrassed whenever he talks about his friend, and tells that to Mortimer in a letter: confused, Mortimer decides to see for himself. Lady Honoria plays a trick by stealing Mortimer’s dog, Fidel, and giving it to Cecilia to tease her; and one day, Cecilia, patting the dog, talked to him about her love for Mortimer, and how much she missed him – and looking up, saw—Mortimer!

Amazed and delighted that she loved him, and was not cold towards him, as he had thought, he asks her to marry him. She does not want to at first, but cannot hide how much she loves him; but she is very angry when he suggests that they have a secret marriage! He explains that he is sure that his parents will never, ever allow their marriage, and even though Cecilia is afraid and feels guilty, she says yes. She innocently tells Mr. Monckton about her plans, and furious, he does his best to break them up. When they were in the middle of the marriage, he sent Miss Bennet, Lady Margaret’s servant, and his helper, to interrupt it; and Mrs. Delvile, hearing of it, came and made clear to Cecilia that what Mortimer said was true – she will never let them marry. Cecilia is very unhappy, but she loves Mrs. Delvile too much to make her hate her, and finally agrees that she will not meet Mortimer. Mortimer, however, insisted on seeing her again. Because of this, all three came together for a last meeting. Mortimer, forgetting to be proud, and begged Cecilia to be his wife, and says he doesn’t care if he is Mr. Beverley or not: Mrs. Delvile, horrified, suddenly falls so ill that both Mortimer and Cecilia are frightened, and finally decide to do as she says, and never meet each other again. They part.

Mrs. Delvile, after kissing Cecilia goodbye gratefully, leaves as soon as she becomes a little better: and Cecilia is very unhappy. Mr. Albany comes, however, and says that his sadness was greater, and tells his history—how he loved a woman, but she became a prostitute, and after a fight, she died without talking or moving, and this made him crazy for three years. Cecilia listens to this bitter story, and decides that she is not really as unhappy as she thinks she is, and hopes, more cheerfully, to help the poor. The next day, however, Mrs. Charlton suddenly dies, and she is again sad and lonely.

She goes to London and fetches Henrietta Belfield. Because she is now old enough to have her fortune, she buys a quiet house in her neighborhood and lives there with her. She is shocked by Mortimer’s sudden visit there, and finds out that Mrs. Delvile has said that if she will give up her fortune (then Mortimer will not be Mr. Beverley, but Mr. Delvile), she can marry her son. Mortimer happily says that they can just marry with her personal fortune. Cecilia, horrified, tells him that she has none of her personal fortune left, having lent most of it to Mr. Harrel, and used the rest for other things, such as helping the Hills. Cecilia also finds out that somebody told all of this already, but with lots of lies, to Mr. Delvile. She begins to suspect Mr. Monckton. Mrs. Delvile says yes, but Mr. Delvile says so many bad things about Cecilia that they argue, and separate. Cecilia and Mortimer marry quietly and happily.

Two days later, Mrs. Matt, one of the poor people she has helped, tells her who stopped her first wedding—Miss Bennet! Cecilia quickly figures out that the person who sent her must have been Mr. Monckton. She also realizes that he, too, must have been the one who lied so bitterly about her to Mr. Delvile. Shortly after, a servant comes and tells her that Mr. Monckton is dead.

Soon after, Mortimer comes and tells her that he, too, had found out Mr. Monckton’s meanness, and he had angrily told Mr. Monckton to tell Mr. Delvile the truth about Cecilia. Mr. Monckton just as angrily said no, and they shot each other in a furious fight. Mortimer was safe, but Mr. Monckton, even though he was not dead, became hurt. Cecilia tells him to leave England with his mother before she can hear about the fight, and agreeing, he goes. However, her marriage has been heard of, and her fortune is suddenly taken away from her while Mortimer is gone. Confused and unhappy, and now unable to live in the house she bought, she tells Henrietta to live with Mrs. Harrel and Mr. Arnott while she looks for Mortimer, and goes to Mr. Belfield to ask for help; but when she goes there, Mortimer suddenly walks into the room and sees them together.

Angry, surprised, and jealous, he leaves. Cecilia begins to grow crazy. She tries to go to Mr. Delvile for help, but he proudly refuses to see her. At last, some people, thinking she has escaped from a hospital for crazy people, lock her up in a room and write in a newspaper about her. Albany recognizes her, and calls Mortimer to come quickly; Henrietta, too, reads the newspaper, recognizes her, and hurries to see her. Mortimer sees her, and terrified, quickly calls his old friend Dr Lyster to heal Cecilia. Even though she grows crazier and crazier in a fever, she finally heals, and she and Mortimer say sorry to each other and explain what really happened. Mr. Delvile, feeling very guilty when he hears that Cecilia almost died, finally lets her and Mortimer come to his house and see him again. There, they meet Lady Honoria, and Dr Lyster says his famous speech about pride and prejudice.

In the end, they live happily together, and later, Mrs. Delvile’s sister gives Cecilia a lot of money when she dies, so Cecilia can begin helping the poor again with Albany, who is very happy that she did not die. As for the rest of the characters, Mrs. Harrel marries again, and soon begins to have parties and “friends” again; the gentle Mr. Arnott and Henrietta marry; Mr. Belfield still cannot settle down to a job, but finally, with the help of Mortimer, goes into the army and is happy.

Characters

• Cecilia Beverley: an heiress who moves from Bury, Suffolk to London to live with the Harrels. She is described as being very lovely and joins innocence with intelligence. She is open and liberal, and is ever ready and eager to help others and defend justice.
• The Dean: Cecilia's uncle who died shortly before the beginning of the story. He left her an inheritance and arranged for her guardians (none of whom are very well chosen). The inheritance, however, will only be given to Cecilia if her husband consents to take her surname.
• Priscilla Harrel: Cecilia's childhood friend. Cecilia is dismayed to learn that since Mrs. Harrel's marriage and removal to town, she has become a thoughtless, extravagant socialite.
• Mr. Harrel: Mrs. Harrel's husband and one of Cecilia's guardians. He alarms Cecilia by his careless behavior towards others and his wild spending. Gaming and extravagance bring upon his ruin, and he kills himself at last by suicide.
• Mr. Briggs: one of Cecilia's guardians and a miser. He is described as being short and stocky, and his dialect is some of the most ungrammatical in the whole book.
• Mr. Delvile: one of Cecilia's guardians, notable for his extreme pride. His pompous condescension towards Cecilia mortifies her severely.
• Augusta Delvile: Mr. Delvile's proud but elegant, intelligent and kind wife; she is "not more than fifty years of age," and retains proofs of former loveliness. She is revered by her son, and she and Cecilia develop a strong and mutual regard for each other. Cecilia finds her company refreshing after living with the Harrels
• Mortimer Delvile: The Delviles' son; often referred to as "young Delvile." He is tall and finely formed, and though his features are not handsome, they are full of expression. Cecilia eventually realizes that she loves him, but is uncertain that he returns her affection or that he is as good as he seems. He has strong passions, but has some of his parents' pride which creates a struggling conflict of pride and affection at first.
• Mr. Monckton: an old acquaintance from the country. In his youth, he married the much older Lady Margaret for her money, only to meet the rich, intelligent, and charming Cecilia later. He plays on Cecilia's hopes and fears in an attempt to keep her single until his wife dies and he can marry her. He grows very jealous of Mortimer Delvile when he observes Cecilia's partiality for him, and by disparaging her to the Delviles and trying to prevent their marriage, he does all in his power to break them up. When Mortimer Delvile learns of his shameless perfidy, he is angered to the point of challenging Mr. Monckton to a duel.
• Lady Margaret Monckton: the rich, unpleasant, and elderly wife of Mr. Monckton. She is very jealous of the unsuspicious and innocent Cecilia.
• Sir Robert Floyer: Mr. Harrel's arrogant associate and unwelcome suitor to Cecilia. Mr. Harrel relentlessly promotes the match between Sir Robert and Cecilia, even spreading gossip about it and keeping Sir Robert ignorant of Cecilia's refusal.
• Mr. Belfield: an acquaintance of Mr. Monckton. Despite his potential and honorable nature, he is ruined by his attempts to cover up his humble origins as a tradesman's son.
• Henrietta Belfield: the youngest of Mr. Belfield's sisters. Henrietta and her mother move in with her wounded brother and through Albany, is befriended by Cecilia. She is sweet tempered, grateful, and amiable, and adores Cecilia. She secretly cherishes a hopeless passion for Mortimer Delvile. She later marries the gentle Mr. Arnott.
• Mrs. Belfield: Mr. Belfield's mother and the widow of a shopkeeper. She is a coarse woman who spoils her son, often to the exclusion of her daughter, and angers Cecilia by her brazen suggestions of marrying her son.
• Mrs. Hill: a poor but honest woman whose husband was Mr. Harrel's carpenter. Her son Billy died before her first appearance in the story and her husband has been fatally injured while working for Mr. Harrel, leaving Mrs. Hill and her young daughters to perform hard labor and nearly starve to death. When Cecilia learns that Mr. Harrel has refused to honor his debt to the Hills, she comes to the family's aid.
• Albany: an older man who makes speeches against the uncharitable use of riches - "his friends call him the 'moralist'; the young ladies, the 'crazy-man'; the maccaronis, the 'bore'; in short, he is called by any and every name but his own."
• Mr. Arnott: Mrs. Harrel's brother. He is in love with Cecilia and will do just about anything to win her good opinion but has little hope of her returning his affection. Cecilia cannot return his love, but values his gentle and amiable qualities and is shocked when they are taken advantage of by Mr. Harrel.
• Mr. Marriot: a wealthy but "simple" young man with Cecilia dances at the Harrels' ball. Mr. Harrel uses his attraction for Cecilia in an attempt to raise money.
• Mr. Gosport: an older man and studier of absurd characters. He often appears to instruct Cecilia in the ways of the Ton (the upper-class trendsetters of London society of the era).
• Captain Aresby: an overly gallant officer that Cecilia first meets at the Monckton's. Mr. Gosport classfies him as part of Jargonist sect of the Ton, due to his pretentious use of fashionable jargon.
• Miss Larolles: a leader of the Voluble sect of the Ton (according to Mr. Gosport's classification).
• Miss Leeson: a leader of the Supercilious sect of the Ton. Cecilia is mortified by her failure at conversation with her.
• Mr. Meadows: a leader of the Insensibilist sect of the Ton, who strives to find everything dull.
• Mr. Morrice: a sycophant whom Cecilia meets at the Moncktons'. He abuses his very slight acquaintance with Cecilia to visit her at the Harrels', and is probably used by Mr. Monckton to try to prevent Cecilia's marriage.
• Mr. Hobson and Mr. Simkins: two of Mr. Harrel's creditors, introduced at the Vauxhall scene. Mr. Hobson is more financially settled and less respectful towards the upper class, while Mr. Simkins is less settled and more servile.
• Lady Honoria Pemberton: a relative of the Delviles, whom Cecilia meets during her stay at Delvile Castle. She is quick and very high-spirited, but without discretion or delicacy for others, and often torments Cecilia with her thoughtless remarks and arch raillery. She enjoys infuriating the haughty Mr. Delvile by giddy remarks on his castle, such as calling it a gaol.
• Mrs. Charlton: a generous and extremely kind-hearted old woman, who was an old friend of Cecilia's. She is not very bright or quick, but has an excellent heart, an amiable disposition, and a very sweet temper. She has two narrow-minded and rapacious granddaughters, both single, whom she loves dearly; however, her excessive fondness for Cecilia is superior even to the affection she cherishes for them. Cecilia, in return, looks up to her as a mother and a friend. Though Cecilia is little assisted by her counsel, she is always sure of Mrs. Charlton's ready sympathy, and is greatly shocked and saddened by her death.

Publishing History

Burney spent about a year and a half, starting in 1780, composing Cecilia while staying at the home of family friend Samuel Crisp. Burney then spent six months copying, correcting and proofing the draft and the book was published in 1782, the same year as her father's second volume of the General History of Music. According to what can be inferred from her letters, Burney wrote under tremendous anxiety and familial pressure, but Crisp's home provided a respite and he highly encouraged her work. A highly successful novel, Cecilia went through 51 known editions, and there were at least 25 international editions in places such as the US, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Russia during Burney's own lifetime. The first and subsequent editions of Cecilia sold out quickly and at Burney's death in 1828, there were 27 editions.

Critical Reception

Burney's work raised women's writing to a higher level of critical approbation. Cecilia, her second novel, is twice as long as the first, Evelina. Burney switched from the epistolary style to the third person and her use of free indirect discourse, also called free indirect speech reveals characters more intimately, creating a more expansive range of the social fabric of eighteenth-century London.

Although she is often compared to Jane Austen, who mostly likely took the title for Pride and Prejudice from a sentence in Cecilia, (see below) Burney's tone is much darker and serious. In Burney's novels, the heroine is tested by the hero and has to prove her worth, and marriage does not guarantee a fairytale happy ending. Burney's heroines are female counterparts to the male picaro and are described as "liminal" characters, orphans or youths, who must stake out their identity in a world of social obstacles. The highly emotional tone and the bizarre events in Cecilia have "disturbed" some critics and readers while others recognize these as among Burney's unique authorial merits. Burney often combined comedy and tragedy and her works contain some of the darker elements of Shakespearean characters such as Hamlet or King Lear. In Cecilia,Burney quotes or references Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Henry the Fourth Part One,and The Merchant of Venice.

References

Jane Austen referred to Cecilia and other novels in her novel, Northanger Abbey: “'And what are you reading, Miss — ?' 'Oh! It is only a novel!' replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. 'It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda'; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best–chosen language."

The title of Austen's Pride and Prejudice may have been inspired by a passage at the end of Cecilia: “remember: if to pride and prejudice you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to pride and prejudice you will also owe their termination.”

In Persuasion, Anne Elliot alludes to "the inimitable Miss Larolles."

In Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Rebecca Sharp writes to Amelia Sedley and says they "used to read Cecilia at Chiswick."

Footnotes

Klekar, Cynthia. “‘Her Gift was Compelled’: Gender and the Failure of the ‘Gift’ in Cecilia.” Eighteenth-Century Fiction 18, no. 1 (Fall 2005): 177-94.

External links

• Cecilia at Project Gutenberg

Category:1782 novels Category:Fiction set in 1779 Category:Novels set in London Category:Novels set in Suffolk Category:Novels set in the 1770s