And of course, a happy ending....

Evelina and Lord Orville ride off into the sunset, and they all lived happily every after...

This is how I feel the story really should have ended. I was really confused by the end because I was expecting a completely different ending from the criticism I read for my presentation last week. In Campbell's article, she makes it seem like Lord Orville's declaration of his love is one of friendship, not one of marriage. After I finished Evelina, I was a little shocked and misled because of Campbell's interpretation and presentation of the text. So what do you do when a critical essay misrepresents a text and downplays the contents to fit the argument??? Campbell argues that Orville empowers Evelina, looks at her as a friend, and elevates her to his superior when his trial of mosreading her conduct are over (449-450). But doesn't marriage kind of undo that argument? Does Orville only profess his love becuase of her good conduct and nature, or is it in part to do with her status? Whether her father recognizes her or not, Orville knows the story and knows that she has good relations and good company that suggest her status. And better yet, the marriage is arranged! Evelina is told she is going to be married to Lord Orville. Is this something that really empowers Evelina??? And is it something that only recognizes her virtuous nature? Campbell argues that Orville notices moments, especially in her meeting Macartney and Sir Willoughby, where Evelina's virtue may be questioned, calling him a bad reader becuase he is judging the actions out of context. She says further that these are moments where Evelina cannot explain herself and her silence ends up hurting her (further saying that a woman's silence is the ultimate threat to her reputation, including in publishing). But because Orville realizes this is not true and protects Evelina from the evil forces of Sir Willoughby, he becomes her friend and protector and is redeemed as a good reader (which would parallel the argument I talked about on Thurs that Burney was seeking protection from male critics to see her work as virtuous and not misread moments that are innocent). Campbell never mentions the marriage though...and this is important becuase one can argue that Orville did all of this becuase he really liked Evelina (as is indicated throughout the text from the moment he met her) and wanted to keep her safe for that reason. Her virtue plays a role, but there are other reasons for their match in the end, especially Sir Belmont's intervention. To me it seems that by omitting the fact that they are to get married and only refering to their friendly love for eachother, Campbell is protecting herself from critics that would break down her use or Orville as a reader of Evelina and say taht it may not be as reliable of a reference as it seems if this information is included. If anyone has a chance to read the article (its pretty short) and can help me work this out, that would be awesome!

And one more thing, what is with the monkey at the end??? Can somebody please help me out with this. It seems so out of place and ridiculous, but important becuase of that. Dr. Maruca, I think anyone who can answer that deserves some extra credit!