Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

more powerful than any apprehension he may have for her
safety or her future. He sends her as a companion and
servant, not as an entity in her own right. Evelina's
mother was left to go alone to France to Madame Duval,
left to her own devices in her marriage, then finally
left alone to deal with the conception of her child, the
denial of her marriage, and her own eventual death.
Villars, as the passive observer of those events, should
have had the common sense to decide that Evelina,
perhaps, should not be allowed to go to London without
him.
He compounds his incredible reluctance to act with
his knowledge of Madame Duval and her capabilities,
knowing she is lurking in London, threatening to contact
her granddaughter. Susan Greenfield declares Madame
Duval "a vulgar woman and dangerous parent . . . barely
less destructive" than Caroline Evelyn' s father (313) .
Once Evelina is out of reach of Mr. Villars, she has no
effective guardian and no mentor available to her until
she meets Mrs. Selwyn.
Lady Howard and her daughter, Mrs. Mirvan, do not
want to advise Evelina. Evelina is a companion to Miss
Mirvan, who is London to enter the marriage market.
Captain Mirvan has little or no interest in any woman,