Cecilia (novel) facts for kids
Cecilia, subtitled "Memoirs of an Heiress", is an 18th century novel by Frances Burney. It is a comical, satirical love story. It was admired by people like Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Choderlos de Laclos.
Background
Cecilia was published in July 1782. Frances Burney started work on it in 1780. Her father, Dr. Charles Burney and her mentor, Samuel Crisp stopped her from writing a play for the stage, to be titled The Witlings. Frances Burney tried to change their minds, but Dr. Burney insisted she stop and continue writing the more ladylike novels instead. “In the Novel way, there is no danger,” he said. The stress of this made Burney unhappy. Critics believe this may be why Cecilia is sadder than her first novel.
Characters
- Cecilia Beverley: the heroine of the story. She is a beautiful, clever, self-sacrificing young lady. She is honest and sympathizes with other people’s troubles, especially poor people like the Hill family.
- Mortimer Delvile: the son of Cecilia’s proud guardian, Mr. Delvile. He is not handsome but his face shows feeling. Though at first he tries not to love Cecilia because he is too proud to be Mr. Beverley, when he finds out she loves him, too, he decides to marry her secretly. He is passionate but very loving: he loves his mother and Cecilia and because of this he is unhappy.
- Priscilla Harrel: Cecilia’s friend. She is sweet tempered, but not as clever as Cecilia. When she marries Mr. Harrel and moves to town, she gets sillier and sillier. She loves parties and people too much, and doesn’t love Cecilia anymore after she marries. She is a bit selfish.
- Mr. Harrel: Cecilia’s guardian. He is a gambler and selfish. He does not care about poor people, and tries to make Cecilia and Mr. Arnott loan him money. He likes parties, too, just like his wife.
- Mr. Briggs: Cecilia’s guardian. He is a short, strong man who loves money too much. He likes to laugh at Mr. Delvile.
- Mr. Delvile: Cecilia’s guardian, and the father of Mortimer. He is very proud and selfish. He cares too much about his family and his castle. However, he really loves his son, and when Cecilia almost dies, he becomes much nicer to her.
- Mrs. Augusta Delvile: a kind, clever and charming woman. She is nice to Cecilia, who loves her. She is proud, and so does not want her son to be “Mr. Beverley”.
- Mr. Monckton: Cecilia’s “friend.” He married an ugly and old woman when he was young, for her money, but now wants to marry Cecilia as soon as his wife dies. Because of this, he hates Mortimer and later fights with him. Cecilia, not knowing that he likes her, is friendly to him at first because she thinks he is clever and nice.
- Lady Margaret: Mr. Monckton’s angry, jealous, old, and ugly wife.
- Sir Robert Floyer: a selfish man who wants to marry Cecilia because she is pretty and has a lot of money. Cecilia does not like him at all, but Mr. Harrel tries to make them marry.
- Mr. Belfield: a good-hearted man, but cannot find a job he likes. He is proud, and does not want anybody to know he is a tradesman’s son.
- Henrietta Belfield: Mr. Belfield’s sister. She is grateful, loving, and honest. She thinks more about her brother and Cecilia than herself. She is fond of Mortimer Delvile and is sad when he marries Cecilia. She later marries gentle Mr. Arnott.
- Mr. Arnott: the gentle, shy, and serious brother of Mrs. Harrel. He wants to marry Cecilia, and he is the only person she really feels sorry for when she says no. He is not as brave as Cecilia, but he still has a good heart (he helps the Hills, and feels sorry for his sister).
- Albany: a gruff old man who tries to help poor people. He is surprised at how kind Cecilia is.
- Lady Honoria Pemberton: a relative of Mrs. Delvile. She likes to gossip and tease Cecilia. Her teasing hurts Cecilia. She also likes to laugh at Mr. Delvile and his castle.
- Fidel: Mortimer’s dog. Cecilia loves Fidel and talks to him about how much she loves Mortimer.
Other writers and Cecilia
Jane Austen, a famous writer, talked about Cecilia in her novel, Northanger Abbey: “'And what are you reading, Miss — ?' 'Oh! It is only a novel!' replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. 'It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda'; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough (complete) knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed (shown) to the world in the best–chosen language."
The title of Austen's Pride and Prejudice is probably from Dr Lyster’s speech at the end of Cecilia: “remember: if to pride and prejudice you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to pride and prejudice you will also owe their termination.”
In her last novel, Persuasion, Anne Elliot talks about "the inimitable Miss Larolles."
In Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Rebecca Sharp writes to Amelia Sedley and says they "used to read Cecilia at Chiswick."
Related pages
- Northanger Abbey
- Frances Burney
- Camilla
- Evelina
