Female Voice In Fanny Burney’s Evelina

Fanny Burney (1752-1840), is one of the most important British female novelists in theeighteenth century. Dr. Johnson compares her with Samuel Richardson, and Virginia Woolfalso praises her as “the mother of English fiction”. Evelina (1778) being Burney’s mostfamous work, this epistolary novel has been noticed for its conduct criteria and moraleducation to British women in the eighteenth century. With the rise of feminist criticism,some critics have analyzed its exposure of and criticism to the inequality between men andwomen in the patriarchal society. However, few people discuss this novel from theperspective of female voice, exploring how the female voice is suppressed by the society andwhat efforts women make to have their voice.“Voice” in feminism is almost identical to identity and power, and has the strongideological sense, while in narrative theories it refers to the concrete form in the practical text,which focuses on the narrator and has little to do with narrative action, ideology, and socialmeaning. In her Fictions of Authority: Women Writers and Narrative Voice (1992), SusanSniader Lanser points that “female voice is a site of ideological tension made visible intextual practices” and “in thus linking social identity and narrative form”. In the process ofthe eighteenth century British women’s searching for their own independence, their livingconditions and development space are limited and their power of discourse is deprived. So thevoice of the (female mass)“is behind the single (male) voice.” This thesis analyzes theheroine’s voice in Fanny Burney’s Evelina, and explores in what way she gains socialposition, happy marriage and finally achieves herself without overturning the socialconventions.This thesis is divided into three chapters besides Introduction and Conclusion. ChapterOne analyzes Evelina’s subdued voice. On the outset of the novel, Evelina is introduced as ano name and no identity girl in others’ narration, so at the beginning her voice is absent. Thenshe is assigned into the London society. Just stepping into the society and leaving herguardian who she always depends on, Evelina can’t independently deal with the troubles sheencounters in the society. So she only keeps silent and uses this compromised strategy to findthe suitable way for her living. Chapter Two focuses on Evelina’s contradictive voice. In the public field, Evelina has to cater to the social consensus in every aspect and obey the socialconventions prescribed to women. Her voice is compliant, which could help her recognizedby the society. While in the private field, Evelina has her own judgments and opinions, whichimplies her eagerness to express herself. This contradictive voice is actually a kind ofcompromise or strategy used by Evelina, for a living as well as a subject of thinking andreflection. Chapter Three focuses more on Evelina’s defiant voice. When silence andobedience still get Evelina continually into troubles and difficulties, she begins to have thedefiant voice. By her defiant voice, Evelina is accepted by her biological father, marries to anoble, and finally has the happy ending.The thesis concludes that the female voice in Evelina is a kind of strategy, whichexperiences the process from totally silence to having the defiant voice. This female voicereflects Evelina’s efforts to construct her own identity, but at the same time, shows women’sreluctance in making this compromised strategy.