# Evelina — Character guide

> Key figures in Evelina by Fanny Burney.

- [Evelina Anville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/evelina.md): A gentle, unacknowledged girl raised in rural seclusion, she steps into London's glittering cruelty and must guard her heart while learning who she truly is.
- [Lord Orville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/lord_orville.md): A nobleman whose unfailing courtesy and quiet attention make him seem the one virtuous man in a corrupt world — and the standard Evelina measures everyone against.
- [Madame Duval](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/madame_duval.md): Evelina's coarse, hot-tempered French grandmother, who claims authority over her granddaughter's future while brawling openly with anyone who crosses her.
- [Sir Clement Willoughby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/sir_clement_willoughby.md): A titled, charming, and utterly unscrupulous pursuer whose gallantry curdles into menace whenever Evelina tries to escape his attentions.
- [Captain Mirvan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/captain_mirvan.md): A bluff, mocking sea captain who turns every drawing-room encounter into a skirmish and reserves his cruelest sport for Madame Duval.
- [Mrs. Selwyn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mrs_selwyn.md): A sharp-tongued, independent widow whose satirical wit strips the pretensions from everyone around her — and whose protection of Evelina is as bracing as it is genuine.
- [Mrs. Mirvan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mrs_mirvan.md): Mrs. Mirvan opens her household to Evelina and treats her with a warmth approaching maternal tenderness, insisting she stay in town rather than be left to Madame Duval's company. Yet her kindness is shadowed by a marriag
- [Miss Mirvan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/miss_mirvan.md): Maria Mirvan is the sweet-tempered daughter of Captain and Mrs. Mirvan, and the confidante Evelina leans on as she stumbles through her first assemblies, shopping expeditions, and hair-dressings. She reassures Evelina th
- [Rev. Mr. Villars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_villars.md): Mr. Villars has raised Evelina as his own, cherishing her guileless nature while dreading the snares of fashionable society and the unprincipled father who abandoned her. His letters to Lady Howard and Evelina reveal a m
- [Lady Howard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/lady_howard.md): Lady Howard is the noblewoman whose household at Howard Grove becomes Evelina's gateway into society, and whose judgment mediates between Mr. Villars's caution and Madame Duval's vehemence. When Madame Duval threatens to
- [Sir John Belmont](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/sir_john_belmont.md): Sir John Belmont is the man whose abandonment of Evelina's mother and rejection of their child hangs over the entire novel, a stranger to parental feeling who has never once inquired into his daughter's existence. His le
- [M. Du Bois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/madame_du_bois.md): A Frenchman traveling with Madame Duval, secretly in love with her.
- [Mr. Branghton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_branghton.md): A vulgar London tradesman and Madame Duval's nephew, part of her low-class relations.
- [Miss Polly Branghton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/miss_branghton.md): A flirtatious and silly cousin of Evelina, one of the Branghton daughters.
- [Mr. Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_smith.md): A young man lodging with the Branghtons who shows interest in Evelina.
- [Mr. Lovel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_lovel.md): A foppish, affected gentleman who is publicly humiliated by Captain Mirvan.
- [Lady Louisa Larpent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/lady_louisa_larpent.md): Lord Orville's proud and haughty sister who initially snubs Evelina.
- [Mr. Macartney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_macartney.md): A melancholy Scottish poet who lodges near the Branghtons and befriends Evelina.
- [Lord Merton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/lord_merton.md): A dissolute nobleman who pursues a bet with Mr. Coverley and later marries Lady Louisa.
- [Mrs. Beaumont](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mrs_beaumont.md): A fashionable hostess in Bristol who entertains the nobility.
- [Mr. Coverley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_coverley.md): A young rake who engages in a drunken bet with Lord Merton.
- [Lady Belmont](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/lady_belmont.md): Evelina's deceased mother, secretly married to Sir John Belmont.
- [Caroline Evelyn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/miss_evelyn.md): Evelina's mother, who died shortly after her birth, leaving her in Mr. Villars' care.
- [Mr. Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_brown.md): A simple young man who works for the Branghtons and is smitten with Miss Polly.
- [Mrs. Clinton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mrs_clinton.md): A loyal servant of the Belmont household who helps reveal Evelina's identity.
- [Monsieur Du Bois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/monsieur_du_bois.md): A Frenchman traveling with Madame Duval, often mocked by Captain Mirvan.
- [Mr. Garrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters/mr_garrick.md): The famous actor, briefly mentioned as a performer Evelina sees at the theater.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/evelina_se/characters