Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

and the underlying power of her inherited birthright and
breeding.
Mrs. Selwyn joins Villars in being instrumental to
the inheritance machine of Evelina. Villars suffers
under the settlement reserved for second sons, but the
legacy left her through her husband's jointure and will
empowers Mrs. Selwyn. Sir John Belmont finds his real
daughter and restores Evelina to her rightful place as
heiress. Burney's implication is that rights of
succession will continue no matter what the hidden name,
as long as the true inheritor is not prevented from
acting.
Writing at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
Jane Austen balances earlier efforts at exposing
injustices of inheritance with the struggles of Mr. and
Mrs. Bennet to marry off their five daughters in face of
an entail on the Bennet estate. Not only is Austen aware
of the problems inherent in strict settlement, but she
also uses her literary skill to harness the power of its
inheritance language, allowing it to be the driving force
in Pride and Prejudice. Austen was caught in a real-life
web of inheritance settlements. After the death of her
father, she and her mother and sisters were dependent on
their brothers and close male relatives for their