Hale: Madame D' Arhlay 



25 



Edgar Mandelbert, and Mr. Harleigh, is not very human. They are 

 all exemplary young men,^^ but they have no individuality or initia- 

 tive. We certainly cannot visualize them. Mr. Macartney, too, 

 leaves no impression upon us. Sir Clement and Lovel belong to the 

 conventional types of the beau and the bore combined, which with 

 slight alterations occur in all of these novels. 



In the second story we find the tendency to caricature fully devel- 

 oped. We encounter a number of skilfully drawn personages, but as 

 Mr. Elton says, ''there is more mind in the work, but less nature". 

 Macaulay takes the same position is his Essay, and shows that 

 Madame D'Arblay has created ''humors" rather than characters. 

 But it must be conceded that she has shown great ability in the 

 portrayal of these "humors". And Macaulay is right when he says, 

 "Nevertheless, a writer may show as much genius in the exhibition of 

 these humors as to be fairly entitled to a distinguished and per- 

 manent rank among classics. "^^^ Professor Raleigh is hardly fair in 

 declaring that "Cecilia's three guardians . . . carry no conviction 

 of reality and exhibit no credentials", tho his statement is sound 

 that "the fops, witlings, and jargonists are mere types, the products 

 of a busy comic wit that has lost its way".^^ These characters are 

 exaggerated, beyond a doubt, but they make a strong impression 

 upon us. We cannot deny, as Macaulay has pointed out, that each 

 after his kind talks in the same manner on all occasions; but each has 

 a distinct individuality. They are caricatures; but we know exactly 

 the kind of people they are, and to a limited extent we know them. 

 Mr. DelVile, Mr. Briggs, Mr. Hobson, and Mr. Albany are certainly 

 "four old fools", but they are clearly individualized old fools, and 

 create the impression of human beings. Mr. Hobson is the most real 

 character in the book. Mrs. Belfield's maternal bias seems hardly 

 overdone. The construction of Mrs. Delvile, in spite of Daddy 

 Crisp's criticism,^^ shows skilful work. Madame D'Arblay deserves 

 credit for having differentiated with clearcut lines so exceedingly 

 large a number of characters. As Professor Cross states, "Cecilia 

 is the best caricature we have of English society just before the 

 French Revolution. "^^^ 



In Camilla' and The Wanderer the caricature shows marked 



95 Harleigh, for instance, is said to have declared "he never meant should he marry, 

 to be tender to his wife before company" (The Wanderer, I, 195). 



96 A Survey of English Literature, 177. 



9sA Select Essays of Macaulay (ed. Thurber), 169. 



97 The English Novel, 259. 



98 Select Essays of Macaulay (ed. Thurber), 171. 



99 Cecilia, III, 222 ff. (footnote). 



100 Development of the English Novel, 95. 



