Evelina and Her Exciting, Extraordinary, Extremely Exhilarating Life of Leisure

Evelina is the coming of age story of a 18th century "young lady's entrance into the world" and I know all of you just shivered from the exhilaration of such a tale. To be fair, it’s not my favorite genre but it is a rather interesting story.

When you think of young woman entering the world, you probably think of her traveling the world, developing an interesting personality, doing something to benefit society (or at least just her personal society of friends and family), perhaps you think she has to overcome some grand betrayal from a lover and turns into an independent woman who don’t need no man.

A Leisurely Introduction to Leisure...

Well, I haven’t actually started reading the text, but I have instead started with reading the introduction to this particular edition that outlines the social norms and traditions during the century that Burney published Evelina. In my defense, the introduction is the first 60 pages of this edition so I feel justified spending a little time there.

Apparently, as I have learned reading from this section, “entering the world” doesn’t mean any of those things that I listed above. According to Frances Burney and the social tenants of the 18^th century, “a young lady entering the world” means that Evelina leaves her home and walks into town. And while this doesn’t seem rather exciting, it is actually a comment on the how the industry of “leisure” was a huge economic factor in 18^th century England, which, despite this rather long introduction of the role of leisure in Evelina’s world, is rather a brilliant way to guide a novel such as this and follow a young girl's social development. 

Way to go, Frances Burney! You've caught my attention (and I haven't even started reading the actual book yet.) 

Picture Credit: Evelina Starting her Adventure Into Town (Public Domain Image via WikiCommons)