Threshold heroines : an analysis on the liminality of the female in the novels of Frances Burney

Abstract

This study analyses three out of the four novels written by Frances Burney. These are Evelina, Cecilia and The Wanderer. The focus of this study is the liminal status of the female. Burney’s heroines are representatives of this notion as they are neither here nor there, they are in between states. The introduction features a close analysis of Burney’s own life where she emerges as a marginal figure herself. The first chapter discusses her first novel Evelina, where questions of legitimacy, innocence and public presentation outline the heroine’s marginal status. In the second chapter there is an exploration of the Burneyan themes of inheritance, patriarchy, patrilineality and madness which bring to light the threshold status of Cecilia. The third chapter will focus on The Wanderer, where Burney returns to the question of legitimacy and identity. The heroine’s economic plight also serves as a reflection on the social exclusion of women caused by the French Revolution. In the end, all of the heroines are freed from their liminal status through marriage, showing that Burney adhered to the courtship plot prevalent in her time. Moreover, this serves as a reflection on the ambivalent gender politics of the author, a discussion taken forward at the end of each chapter. The conclusion serves as a brief summary of the whole work which celebrates her position as one of the most formative influences on writers such as Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf.