"It seldom happens that a man, though extolled as a saint, is really without blemish..." (Evelina)

"It seldom happens that a man, though extolled as a saint, is really without blemish; or that another, though reviled as a devil, is really without humanity." - Evelina, Fanny Burney.

This excerpt is taken from Sir John Belmont's response to Lady Howard. Sir John is Evelina's true father, but before she was born he publicly denied his marriage to her mother. As a result, Evelina's mother dies from the shame of her broken reputation, and Evelina is brought up without her parents.

Evelina's grandmother wishes to pursue a lawsuit against Sir John in order to re-establish Evelina's claim to his estate. They ultimately decide against this, but Lady Howard writes to him anyway to enquire about Evelina's future.

The situation serves to accentuate the main theme of the novel - appearances and reputation. The conflict between men and women within this sector is also highlighted: Sir John's only daughter's reputation is hanging in the balance - will she be saved by her father's acceptance, and thus the confirmation of her legitimacy, or will she end up destroyed like her mother by rumour and suspicion? Yet Sir John responds rather dismissively, and is only interested in defending his own reputation.

Lady Howard has been extremely polite in her letter, and never formally condemns Sir John's actions. His reputation is not at stake, and he would not be as devastated as his daughter would be were it so. Yet some implicit judgements, and hinting at the right actions to take, has struck a nerve within the man, for he not only seeks to clarify his "humanity", but to first bring down that of Mr Villars, who is the "saint" in the metaphor.

The formality and etiquette of Sir John's letter is contrasted sharply with his lack of concern for his family (indeed, his letter is one third as long as Lady Howard's). Immediately after we read a letter from Evelina to Mr Villars despairing over the fixation of her "doom". The power Sir John has over the main cast's situation is emphasised, which only serves to heighten the feelings of catharsis near the end of the novel, once Evelina is recognised as legitimate and Sir John apologises*.

*Sir John puts himself and Villars in direct competition - one is the saint, one is the devil - as he is uncomfortable with Lady Howard making Villars out to be more responsible than himself. Perhaps here we see a shadow of guilt, preparing us for his character reversal that will occur later in the novel.

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