Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

tension, and she reflects it in her novels. More
specifically, she calls attention to it in her preface to
Evelina when she reflects on her personal and public
\\namelessness," her reluctance to share her private work
with the public.
Unlike Richardson, who worked hard to make all his
writing didactic, a goal shared by Johnson, Frances
Burneyf s wish for her first published novel is more
difficult to define. Caroline Evelyn's fiery demise could
not keep her creator from narrating the education of
Caroline's daughter in the eighteenth-century marriage
market.
Campbell cites the similarity between Burney's
father, her literary fathers, and Mr. Villars, all of
whom subscribe to "the code of feminine propriety," which
clashes with Burney's stated need to present her
patriarchal mentors, as well as society, with a
"competitive project" (322) . Thus, Burney' s project is
filled with overtones of dominant male language, and her
own ambivalent views affect her ability to perform as the
guardian of her creation, Evelina, making Burney's
didactic wish for her novel much more subtle than
Richardson's.