Everyone to some degree, craves conform. Everyone wishes to be understood and to be well-liked and to be normal, because sometimes, to be complex and to be unique is lonely. Clarence Hervey, of Maria Edgeworth’s novel Belinda, is characterized as a complex man with a multitude of layers. Hervey’s prideful exterior juxtaposed by his deep-rooted insecurity is cleverly portrayed by Edgeworth’s use of point of view and tone, and thus the reader is able to see Hervey is an unmolded man desperate for shape. The narrator fully depicts Clarence Hervey’s contradictory characteristics with a third- person omniscient point of view. By being all-knowing, not only is Hervey’s facade described, but his true personality as well. Hervey’s “chameleon
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With a multitude of “he was supposed to” and “if he had,” the narrator seems to be mocking Hervey and his faults, yet there does not seem to be any malice behind it. Phrases such as “He had a strong sense of humor...but was easily led...would soon become viscious,” clearly portrays Hervey as a character, but with each hypothetical prediction, she essentially implies that Hervey has the potential to improve. That Hervey really would be, “a favorite with the fair sex,” if he refrains from being “so easily excited,” and careful of the opinions of others. The tone of the narrator shifts however, when speaking of the situation with Lady Delacour and her niece. Such a change, dims some of the negative light shone upon Hervey, and the description of his circumstances once again, induces feelings of exasperated pity. Incorporating words such as, seeing Belinda each day with “increasing admiraton,” yet having to be “inclined to despise her” due to her suspected “scientific coquetry,” but alas not having “sufficient resolution,” to deny her. The tone created by the narrator, relying heavily on diction, allows the complicated feelings of a youth struggling to find his place in the world and the sphere of love to emerge. Whatever ironic tone that was hinted at in the beginning has disappeaered by the end of excerpt, as the narrator seems to feel a tad of sympathy towards
With a multitude of “he was supposed to” and “if he had,” the narrator seems to be mocking Hervey and his faults, yet there does not seem to be any malice behind it. Phrases such as “He had a strong sense of humor...but was easily led...would soon become viscious,” clearly portrays Hervey as a character, but with each hypothetical prediction, she essentially implies that Hervey has the potential to improve. That Hervey really would be, “a favorite with the fair sex,” if he refrains from being “so easily excited,” and careful of the opinions of others. The tone of the narrator shifts however, when speaking of the situation with Lady Delacour and her niece. Such a change, dims some of the negative light shone upon Hervey, and the description of his circumstances once again, induces feelings of exasperated pity. Incorporating words such as, seeing Belinda each day with “increasing admiraton,” yet having to be “inclined to despise her” due to her suspected “scientific coquetry,” but alas not having “sufficient resolution,” to deny her. The tone created by the narrator, relying heavily on diction, allows the complicated feelings of a youth struggling to find his place in the world and the sphere of love to emerge. Whatever ironic tone that was hinted at in the beginning has disappeaered by the end of excerpt, as the narrator seems to feel a tad of sympathy towards