Evelina, Volume 3, Letters 11- 23 (72-84)

Summary
Evelina is on a mission and that mission is to avoid Lord Orville at all costs. In the past this mission would be more easily accomplished but since being guests together, Lord Orville is difficult to avoid and Evelina is finding it difficult to come up with excuses out of his invitations. Evelina is further upset when she finds that she is included in an anonymous poem, Beauties of the Wells as the most beautiful woman in town. Lord Orville’s polite jealousy is further revealed when she returns with Sir Clement who accosted her during a walk.
Lord Orville finally confronts Evelina about recent avoidance of him which has been driving him bonkers. When she reveals that she had no attachment to Sir Clement Lord Orville is relieved and eventually admits his love for her and Evelina can’t help but admit her similar feelings, hurray! But we still have more letters to go!
In rapid succession many mysteries are solved. Mr. Macartney finds out that his father is Sir Belmont (the same person who is the father of his great love) and Evelina happily informs him that they are then brother and sister. After many attempts from the determined Mrs Selwyn, Sir Belmont finally comes face to face with Evelina and instantly recognizes his wife’s face in Evelina. It is then determined that the nursemaid switched baby Evelina with her own daughter who Belmont raised and who Macartney fell in love with.
Everything is wrapped up nice and neatly in the end. Sir Clement admits to writing the letter which had set Evelina against Orville. Sir John grants both Evelinas (true and imposter) joint heiresses.  Mr Macartney marries Miss Belmont and the reverend sends Evelina his blessing to marry her Lord Orville.

Discuss
Oh my goodness our salons are at an end already!

Did anyone else find it ironic how Lord Orville and especially Sir Clement keep ending up in the same place as Evelina? Of course we’re discussing a fictional story here but it makes one wonder just how realistic that possibility could be. Fashionable/Aristocratic circles did travel to migrate a predictably as Monarch Butterflies so I did find myself wondering about how when it came to the ton, would the scenery change yet the people remain the same? Goodness, it’s like taking a vacation to Disney World and seeing all your coworkers there!

The whole incestuous situation of the Evelina, Mr Macartney, Miss Belmont affair is a bit confusing, especially when the pieces begin falling together. For we know about the unrequited love Mr Macartney had for a daughter of a baronet but her name was never mentioned. Once Evelina sees Mr Macartney’s reaction when “Miss Belmont” enters the pump room, almost all is revealed. Mr Macartney is the son of Sir Belmont making him half-brother to Evelina. He couldn’t marry Miss Belmont since he would be marrying a sister…however since she was a fraudulent daughter, in the overplayed words of Celine Dion, their "love will go on." Poor Miss Belmont. She may be getting the man she loves but she’s headed straight for a mental breakdown with all the adjustments she’s bound to encounter. That’s quite a transition to the middle class.

Meanwhile, Evelina and Lord Orville were able to admit their love of each other in a sigh-worthy scene in the Library of all places. It sets my nerdy heart all a flutter! How is this not yet a movie!

I’m sure many found the ending of Evelina a bit perplexing. For we have the end…or what should be the end, where we all find out we can get married and live happily ever after. But once again Captain Mirvin barges into the story and, finding there to be a genuine lack of Madame Duvals to torture, goes right ahead and delivers one last crowning prank on the foppish Mr Lovel, involving a monkey. As out of place this little side story seemed to be, I did enjoy the prank; there’s a few New York hipsters that could be humbled with that same prank nowadays, however I think they’d be in much better humor about it.

Through our many salons, I have loved hearing the opinions of everyone since they were so vast and different. The same is true of when the book was freshly released. According to the editor of the Broadview editions, Susan Howard, “The violence of several scenes disconcerted some readers but entertained others: Dr Burney and Samuel Crisp both found Lovel too harshly dealt with by Captain Mirvin and the monkey, but Mrs. Thrale and Dr Johnson were amused by Captain Mirvan’s practical jokes.” Aren’t we a literary circle of equivocal cleverness?!

I believe the best way to voice my final thoughts would be through the ingenious method presented by the site, Better Book Titles (Check out their version of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women). Here are two of my suggestions:

A big thank you to all who participated! Thursday was my favorite day of the week in June, I was absolutely delighted by the colorful conversation you all brought to the table. With that said, what are your final thoughts on Evelina?

The Other Duchess

The White Swan may sound like a pure sot of establishment but anyone who would have walked into it in the late 18th and early 19th centuries would probably know that was not the case. It seems as though the tavern had a reputation as a seedy motel where one could conduct an illicit affair, away from prying eyes. The White Swan offered more services than just a rendezvous point, though. If you didn’t have a prearranged partner to meet up with, there were plenty of males mulling about on the second floor to entertain you...for a price.

While male prostitution isn’t so wholly unusual in this place and time, the names these men picked for themselves is. Like our modern-day strippers with names like “Sapphire,” the White Swan prostitutes went by names that their mothers obviously did not give them: Miss Selina, Harriet, and even Kitty Fisher (a nod to the original, perhaps) could be found loitering about the tavern looking for customers. But perhaps the most grandiose of these gay prostitutes was one man who must have been pretty confident in his abilities for he went by the name, the Duchess of Devonshire.

Perhaps the most delightful bit of this juicy gossip is that these colorful tavern workers only took this role by night. If you needed to find the Duchess of Devonshire before the sun set, you could find her (or him) at her day job as a blacksmith.

Book Review: Royal Pains and Giveaway!

Royals are the ultimate level of the privileged sect.  Their lives are notoriously unavailable and therefore theoretically private to us small folk.  Perhaps that is why we have always found them so interesting...especially when they are so badly behaved.  Leslie Carroll (no relation) is no stranger to the tantalizing, and perhaps more scandalous, tales of royals throughout the ages.  Her newest book, Royal Pains: A Rogues' Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds is a collection of tales of royal family member all over the world, and throughout history who were, well, a big pain!

Beginning with King John of England and ending with the current sovereign of that country's late sister, Princess Margaret, Carroll covers both well known royal pains and not-so-well known pains.  For example, I had previously been unaware of how emo Archduke Rudolf of Austria was; it would be the cause of his untimely end.  Her expertise and love of English history is very apparent, with many of the chapters being dedicated to the badly behaved family members of the British monarchy so anglophiles will surely enjoy this read.  However, variety is the name of the game with this collection of royal biographies; not only are the subjects from different families and times they also distinct themselves in their uniquely painful behavior.  Some are pains in their love of mutilating those they rule over while others are painful in their willful pursuit of hedonism.  So who are these guilty parties lucky enough to be honored in Royal Pains you may ask?   Carroll has quite an intriguing selection: King John, Vlad the Impaler, George Duke of Clarence, Richard III, Ivan the Terrible, Lettice Knollys, Elizabeth Bathory, Henry Duke of Cumberland, Pauline Bonaparte, Archduke Rudolf, Prince Albert Victor, and Princess Margaret.

Royal Pains is one of those lovely reads that you either can't put down or you can read at your leisure, picking it up when you are in the mood for some Richard III gossip.  As a fellow enthusiast of English history I actually found myself enjoying the non-British royals' stories more.  Perhaps this was due to their stories being more foreign to me.  I also guiltily relished in all the gross and gruesome details of the lives of Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bartgory* Bathory.  Those who already know of the pain-inducing antics of these royals may want to skip over this one but those who have yet to be introduced will likely enjoy this introduction to those who wore crowns or coronets on their unworthy heads.  Just don't get any ideas!

Giveaway!
Want a copy of Leslie Carroll's Royal Pains?  Leave a comment describing how you would be a simply delectable royal pain.  Winners will be drawn at random and announced Tuesday July 5 and have 5 days to claim their prize.  Good luck!

*Freudian slip?

Yay or Nay? Sarah Siddons

Mary Boteler wow most with her look over overflowing ribbons and bows, earning her a Yay.  This week we have another hat in a very theatrical selection.

Thomas Beach paints Sarah Siddons (1786) in theatrical dress for the character of Lady MacBeth.  Yay or Nay?

[Garrick Club]