SOURCE: “An Unerring Rule: The Reformation of the Father in Frances Burney's Evelina,” in The Eighteenth Century, Vol. 36, No. 2, Summer, 1995, pp. 119-38.

In the following essay, Severance proposes a psychoanalytical approach to Evelina that focuses on political rather than individual psychology. From this standpoint, Severance examines the relationship of the theme and structure of Evelina to the kingship of George III and his evolution from a symbol of illegitimate power to an impotent emblem of national unity.

If in my heart the love of Virtue glows, ‘Twas planted there by an unerring rule; From thy example the pure flame arose, Thy life, my precept—thy good works, my school.(1) 

For most of Frances Burney's critical afterlife, these verses dedicated to her father have served mainly to indicate her status as a daddy's girl. A recent resurgence of critical interest in Burney's life and work, however, has taken up...