Maria Edgeworth's Belinda

Humans mirror humans, as it is necessary to survive in a harsh social and political society. In the 1801 novel Belinda, Maria Edgeworth introduces Clarence Hervey, a suitable bachelor for the protagonist Belinda, as “chameleon-like” but humorous and empathetic. Edgeworth develops Hervey’s complex character through irony, a third person point of view and a critical yet mildly sarcastic tone. Firstly, Edgeworth enlightens us by stating that Hervey is never his true self and changes his personality depending upon whom he is in company with. We see this as ironic when he believes that Belinda, whom he was meeting with, was being orchestrated, or simply being just as fake as he is. The irony behind this is because of his nature and the

Although we have every right to make our own conclusions on Hervey and given enough information on him to do so, the narrator makes it prevalent that she is displeased with him through her diction and tone. We see right from the get go, with the line “Clarence Hervey might have been more than a pleasant man if he had not been smitten with the desire of being thought superior in every thing” which has a sarcastic tone with the idea that it was the desire of being thought as superior rather than simply being. This then again connects back to the idea that Hervey is complex in that he is insanely self conscious of what others think of him and that the narrator knows this and will point this out. Hervey’s flawed path of life is also seen again when the narrator states that he was “so easily excited by his companions, and his companions were now of such a sort, that it was probable that he would soon become vicious.” This analysis of his character and the criticism of what may be from it shows a biting tone, especially with the idea that he could “become vicious” simply because of his companions easily deem him as weak willed, further complexing his character as the pompous attitude that others see him as having is a facade to protect the fact that he is weak and self conscious and a raw human being