Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress

by Burney, Frances; Sabor, Peter; Doody, Margaret Anne; Doody, Margaret Anne

• ISBN13: 9780192817426
• ISBN10: 0192817426
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1988-09-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782) is an unusual and disturbing love-story. In playing on the issue of the heroine's name, the novel illustrates the high cost of a patriarchal system. Burney exhibits her comic and satiric powers in depicting Cecilia's dismaying entry into the gilded fashionable world. Cecilia's experiences also bring her into contact with the poor and the low; running through the social analysis is an almost Dickensian forceful sympathy for those whose place in the structure of things is taken for granted. Controversial in its time, and much admired by writers as diverse as Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Choderlos de Laclos, Cecilia still retains its freshness.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. x
Introduction	p. xi
Note on the Text	p. xl
Select Bibliography	p. xlii
A Chronology of Frances Burney	p. xlv
Advertisement	p. 3
A Journey	p. 5
An Argument	p. 10
An Arrival	p. 20
A Sketch of High Life	p. 27
An Assembly	p. 35
A Breakfast	p. 46
A Project	p. 52
An Opera Rehearsal	p. 60
A Supplication	p. 70
A Provocation	p. 79
A Narration	p. 84
A Man of Wealth	p. 93
A Man of Family	p. 97
A Masquerade	p. 103
An Affray	p. 128
A Fashionable Friend	p. 142
A Family Party	p. 151
An Examination	p. 160
A Tete a Tete	p. 167
An Application	p. 173
A Perplexity	p. 182
An Admonition	p. 188
An Evasion	p. 199
An Adventure	p. 203
A Man of Genius	p. 212
An Expedient	p. 225
A Remonstrance	p. 229
A Victory	p. 235
A Complaint	p. 245
A Sympathy	p. 249
A Conflict	p. 253
An Expectation	p. 259
An Agitation	p. 263
A Man of the Ton	p. 274
A Reproof	p. 294
A Mistake	p. 302
An Explanation	p. 306
A Murmuring	p. 313
A Rout	p. 321
A Broad Hint	p. 338
An Accommodation	p. 344
A Detection	p. 348
A Sarcasm	p. 353
A Surmise	p. 359
A Bold Stroke	p. 363
A Miser's Mansion	p. 371
A Declaration	p. 375
A Gamester's Conscience	p. 380
A Persecution	p. 387
A Man of Business	p. 398
A Solution	p. 423
A Debate	p. 440
A Railing	p. 451
An Antique Mansion	p. 457
A Rattle	p. 463
A Storm	p. 471
A Mystery	p. 478
An Anecdote	p. 488
A Conference	p. 495
An Attack	p. 503
A Retreat	p. 515
A Worry	p. 521
A Renovation	p. 529
A Visit	p. 538
An Incident	p. 545
A Proposition	p. 552
A Letter	p. 560
A Discussion	p. 567
A Retrospection	p. 575
An Embarrassment	p. 586
A Torment	p. 590
An Interruption	p. 611
An Event	p. 623
A Consternation	p. 633
A Perturbation	p. 643
A Cottage	p. 655
A Contest	p. 668
A Message	p. 685
A Parting	p. 693
A Tale	p. 699
A Shock	p. 711
A Cogitation	p. 715
A Surprize	p. 721
A Confabulation	p. 731
A Wrangling	p. 741
A Suspicion	p. 761
A Disturbance	p. 771
A Calm	p. 789
An Alarm	p. 796
A Suspense	p. 810
A Relation	p. 817
An Enterprise	p. 825
A Discovery	p. 833
An Interview	p. 838
A Summons	p. 852
A Deliberation	p. 858
A Decision	p. 866
A Prating	p. 876
A Pursuit	p. 891
An Encounter	p. 900
A Tribute	p. 909
A Termination	p. 917
Burney's Draft Introduction to Cecilia	p. 943
Glossary of French Terms	p. 947
London	p. 948
Finance	p. 951
Fashionable Amusements	p. 953
Explanatory Notes	p. 957
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