Cecilia, subtitled (and alternatively titled) Memoirs of an Heiress, is the second novel by English author Frances Burney, set in 1779 and published in 1782. The novel, about the trials and tribulations of a young upper-class woman who must negotiate London society for the first time and who falls in love with a social superior, belongs to the genre of the novel of manners. A panoramic novel of eighteenth-century London, Cecilia was highly successful with at least 51 editions.
Background Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress was published in July 1782. Frances Burney began working on the novel in 1780, after her father, Dr. Charles Burney, and her literary mentor, Samuel Crisp, suppressed her play entitled The Witlings. Burney's father had concerns that the play, a comedic satire of bluestocking(s), would offend "real people" whom he depended on for artistic patronage, particularly Elizabeth Montagu. This disappointment and the pressure to produce a second novel in order to capitalize on the success of her first work Evelina, seems to have placed considerable strain on Burney, and may have coloured the tone and content of Cecilia. It seems that the Cecilia Stanley of The Witlings became the Cecilia Beverley of Cecilia.
Plot Cecilia opens with the beautiful 20-year-old heroine, Cecilia Beverley, saying goodbye to her country home to go on a journey to London. She is an orphan heiress (£3000 a year as soon as she becomes of age, with a smaller personal fortune of £10,000). A stipulation in her uncle's will requires whomever she marries to take her surname, that is, become Mr. Beverley.
Cecilia goes to live with one of her three guardians, Mr. Harrel, but is invited first to her friend Mr. Monckton's house for breakfast. Mr. Monckton has married an old, ugly woman for her money, but secretly regrets his decision after meeting Cecilia—a woman who combines wealth with beauty, youth, and intelligence. Mr. Monckton wants to marry Cecilia as soon as his own wife dies. He is afraid that Cecilia might fall in love or forget him while in London, and warns her continually to be careful of all ‘temptations’. At his house she meets Mr. Morrice, a young lawyer who tries to flatter everyone who is important; Captain Aresby, who likes to compliment ladies in fancy words; and Mr. Belfield, a clever, lively, proud young man who can't settle down. Mr. Monckton's wife and her poor companion, Miss Bennet, who helps Mr. Monckton with his schemes, are also there. Cecilia notes the sharp behaviour of an old man sitting quietly in the corner. She also does not understand why Lady Margaret (Mr. Monckton's wife) dislikes her so much.
Mr. Harrel is the husband of Cecilia's childhood friend, Priscilla. But Cecilia is sad to see that Mrs. Harrel doesn't care about her, and has become silly, worldly, and profligate. On her arrival, Mrs. Harrel presents her to her “friends”, and every day is filled with parties and London amusements which soon tire Cecilia. She sees Captain Aresby and Mr. Morrice again, and is introduced to many people, such as the insolent Sir Robert Floyer, who soon begins to pursue her for her money; Mrs. Harrel's gentle, serious, and shy brother Mr. Arnott, who falls in love with her; the sturdier of characters, Mr. Gosport; the frivolous and very chatty Miss Larolles; and the proud, silent Miss Leeson, but she cannot truly be attached to any of them. Mr. Monckton visits her, and she greets him with a real happiness which delights him.
Cecilia goes to an opera, where she sees the strange, gruff old man, Albany again. He warns her that she is in danger from the people around her, and admonishes her to help the poor before he leaves. The next morning, she sees a poor but honest woman named Mrs. Hill who begs her to help her starving family. Mr. Harrel has neglected to pay her husband for work. Cecilia tries to convince him to pay, but he makes excuses, and finally, Mr. Arnott, feeling sorry for the Hills, lends him the money to pay them.
Cecilia, shocked at the meanness of Mr. Harrel, tries to make arrangements to stay with one of her other guardians, but finds out they are, in different ways, perhaps just as bad: Mr. Harrel is profligate and gambles with his money, her other guardian, Mr. Briggs, is a selfish miser, while Mr. Delvile is a vain man, over-proud of his family name and history.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Harrel holds a masquerade party. At the party, Cecilia is tormented by a black demon who keeps close to her, chasing away anyone who comes near (actually Mr. Monckton in disguise). Someone dressed as a white domino, along with Mr. Arnott, Mr. Gosport, and Mr. Belfield, whom she meets again dressed up as a knight, help her. Cecilia, delighted and mystified by the white domino is surprised at how well he knows the faults of her guardians. She wonders about his identity.
After becoming bored with both solitude and the party atmosphere and frivolities of the Harrels, she decides to join Mrs. Harrel in another outing to the Opera. There, she meets Mr. Belfield who offers to help her out of her seat, but Sir Robert Floyer, pushing rudely by him, tries to help her himself. She refuses him coldly. Furious, he quarrels with Mr. Belfield and they almost duel. Terrified, Cecilia cries out, “Oh stop him!—good God! Will nobody stop him!”—at which a young man rushes up to Sir Robert Floyer and tried to stop him while reassuring Cecilia. Embarrassed and annoyed, Cecilia hurries home and worries over the duel.
The next morning, the same man comes to her telling her that they had dueled: Mr. Belfield has been a little hurt, but Sir Robert Floyer unhurt. Cecilia finds out that he is the white domino she saw at the masquerade party, and also that he is proud Mr. Delvile's son! Soon after, she meets Mrs. Delvile, and is delighted to see that she is a kind, witty, and refreshingly elegant lady, and begins to think of staying with them, instead of with the Harrels. However, she is annoyed to find that Mortimer Delvile (the white domino) first thinks that she is in love with Mr. Belfield, and then seems to think that she is engaged with Sir Robert Floyer. Indeed, Sir Robert Floyer has asked her to marry him, and though she firmly refused him, Mr. Harrel told everyone (including Mr. Delvile) that they will be married soon. Later, she meets Mr. Albany again, who introduces her to a pretty young girl, saying to Cecilia that she should help her. Cecilia finds out, with horror, that Mr. Belfield's wound was really serious, but because he did not have enough money he could not call a doctor. She helps the Belfields, and begins a warm friendship with the girl (Belfield's sister, Henrietta), and also finds out that Mortimer Delvile, too, is helping them. More and more disgusted with Sir Robert Floyer's rude boldness, and the Harrels’ silliness, she stays for a short, but very happy, while with Mrs. Delvile, whom she begins to really love, and Mortimer. However, Mr. Monckton, alarmed at her growing attachment to the Delviles, says bitter lies about them. Cecilia, however, cannot believe him, and she finally realizes she has fallen in love with Mortimer. However, she is displeased to see that he still seems to think she is engaged with Sir Robert Floyer. Meanwhile, Mr. Harrel, threatening her with his own suicide, forces Cecilia to lend him his money for his debts. Cecilia tries hard to warn Mrs. Harrel not to spend money so thoughtlessly, but weak and in denial, she will not listen to her friend.
The next day she goes to Mr. Delvile's house and asks him to help her because Mr. Harrel is of no help in discouraging Sir Robert Floyer's unwanted attentions. Mr. Delvile is suddenly called away, and Mortimer is very greatly excited and surprised when she is announced as a visitor. However, when she meets him again she is surprised and perplexed by his sudden coldness towards her.
Mr. Harrel continues to rack up unpaid gambling debts, and his sudden violent behaviour to his wife frightens Cecilia. He suddenly takes them all to Vauxhall Gardens, where, after drinking, he kisses his wife and then commits suicide shortly thereafter by shooting himself. Cecilia meets Mortimer, and noticing her terror, he feels empathetic accompanying her and Mrs. Harrel to Mrs. Delvile himself. They travel to Delvile Castle, where Cecilia finds Mortimer's behaviour yet more confusing, and Mrs. Delvile makes clear to her that she does not want Cecilia to marry her son. Lady Honoria, a relative of Mrs. Delvile's, comes and teases her about Mortimer. Finally he explains that he cannot marry her, deeply as he loves her, because then he would have to change his name from Delvile to Beverley; and because he cannot bear to see her anymore, he decides to leave the country. Angry and proud, though hurt inside, Cecilia says goodbye to him coolly. When Mrs. Delvile decides to go see her son, Cecilia goes to her old family friend, Mrs. Charlton, and stays with her. While there, Mr. Biddulph, a man who used to like her, and a friend of Mortimer's, sees with surprise that she is embarrassed whenever he talks about his friend, and tells that to Mortimer in a letter: confused, Mortimer decides to see for himself. Lady Honoria plays a trick by stealing Mortimer's dog, Fidel, giving it to Cecilia to tease her. One day, Cecilia, patting the dog, talks to him about her love for Mortimer, and how much she misses him. Meanwhile, Mortimer overhears this entire conversation.
Amazed and delighted to learn that she loves him, and that he had misunderstood her propriety for coldness, he asks her to marry him. She refuses at first even though her love is evident. She becomes very angry when he suggests that they elope. He explains that he is sure that his parents will never, ever allow their marriage, and even though Cecilia is afraid and feels guilty, she says yes. She innocently tells Mr. Monckton about her plans, and furious, he does his best to break them up. He foils their plan. He sends Miss Bennet, Lady Margaret's servant, and his helper, to interrupt the marriage ceremony; and Mrs. Delvile, hearing of it, comes and makes clear to Cecilia that she will never let them marry. Cecilia is very unhappy, but she loves and respects Mrs. Delvile and finally agrees that she will not meet Mortimer. Mortimer, however, insists on seeing her again. Because of this, all three come together for a last meeting. Mortimer, forgetting to be proud, and begs Cecilia to be his wife, and says he doesn't care if he is Mr. Beverley or not: Mrs. Delvile, horrified, suddenly falls so ill that both Mortimer and Cecilia are frightened, and finally decide to do as she says, and never meet each other again. They part.
Mrs. Delvile, after kissing Cecilia goodbye gratefully, leaves as soon as she becomes a little better, and Cecilia is very unhappy. Mr. Albany comes, however, and says that his sadness is greater, and tells his history—how he loved a woman, but she became a prostitute, and after a fight, she died and this made him crazy for three years. Cecilia listens to this bitter story, and decides that she is not really as unhappy as she thinks she is, and hopes, more cheerfully, to help the poor. The next day, however, Mrs. Charlton suddenly dies, and she is again sad and lonely.