SOURCE: An introduction to Evelina; or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World, by Frances Burney, edited by Edward A. Bloom, Oxford University Press, 1968, pp. vii-xxxi.

In the following essay, Bloom dissects Evelina, evaluating its characterization, structure, and critical reception.

'This year was ushered in by a grand and most important event! At the latter end of January, the literary world was favoured with the first publication of the ingenious, learned, and most profound Fanny Burney! I doubt not but this memorable affair will, in future times, mark the period whence chronologers will date the zenith of the polite arts in this island!' Thus the author of Evelina announced in her diary for 1778 the appearance of her novel. And thus—playfully ironic—she continued the game writing had been for her since her tenth year. Despite herself she was a better prophet than she...