So many people limit themselves because they are afraid of what others will think, so we cast ourselves into something we are not, a fabricated version of ourselves. Clarence Hervey, as the people know him, is a made up version of himself. In the novel entitled Belinda, author Maria Edgeworth describes the character Clarence Hervey, suitor of Belinda, as a man of intellect and potential shadowed by a pompous attitude using techniques such as point of view to provide negative characterization through a third-person perspective, a constant shift between the narrator’s hope for Hervey and a swift loss of hope, and ironic diction to develop Hervey’s very prevalent complex character.
To begin with, Edgeworth uses point of view to provide negative characterization through a third person perspective. Although coming from the narrator, the focus is turned to Hervey, showing the narrator’s disappointed feelings towards Hervey, as he “might have been more than a pleasant young man had he not been smitten with the desire of being thought superior in everything.” Filled with opinions of Hervey coming from one perspective, the root of such a negative view of Hervey is quite untraceable. It’s unclear whether the narrator opposes Hervey due to his character traits or because the narrator curls his/her upper lip in disdain because Hervey is not living up to the potential the narrator believes him to possess. What the bias of the third person point of view does give us, however, is a peek into Hervey’s future, or the one he invented for himself. The narrator states that Hervey would “soon become vicious” as he is “easily led, or rather so easily excited by his companions”, providing a feasible foreshadowing not only of Hervey’s future, as he worries too much about the way he is seen and how the way of others contributes to such, but also as to what is to come in the novel. To the narrator, and now to us readers, Hervey is a lifeless entity consumed with a character who seeks acceptance by putting down others to do so. Superiority is key to this that resides in Hervey and serves nothing but a hindrance to his potential of being any different, of accepting others for who they are in order to be accepted for who he truly is.
Secondly, Maria Edgeworth uses bold diction coupled with irony to emphasize descriptors of Hervey as well as those around him to add to his complex character. For example, Edgeworth says Hervey was “so dreadfully afraid of passing for a pedant”, with emphasis on the word dreadfully. This goes beyond just being afraid,as to absolutely dread something connotes to him anticipating it, constantly letting it wreck his brain, alluding to the fact that he cares that much about how he is seen; it consumes him. This is quite ironic as he is using this emotion and applying it to “passing for a pedant” when a pedant is excessively concerned with minor details, just as Hervey is. Edgeworth then goes on to say “ there was none on which he valued himself so much as on his gallantry”, meaning he admires his courageous behavior, which is ironic as it is actually the exact opposite of the traits Hervey possesses. It takes courage to be who you really are and as the narrator portrays Hervey as a charlatan such as when she says “ he pretended to disdain every species of knowledge. His chameleon character seemed to vary in different lights, and according to the different situations in which he happened to be placed”, a true coward is in the makings. Lastly, after an admittance of Hervey being smitten of Belinda when Edgeworth says “every day he saw her with increasing admiration of her beauty, and with 40 increasing dread of being taken in to marry a niece of ‘the catch-match-maker,’’ we see the word dread dragged along again, this time in relation to Belinda’s status as a “niece of a catch-match-maker”. This further reveals Hervey’s obsessive character not only of himself, but of others as well. Most people obsess over themselves and tend to forget about others, however Hervey, being as complex as he is, does quite the opposite. He takes note of Belinda as infatuation grows but he also takes note of her status, turning his nose up to someone besides himself for once.
Furthermore, Edgeworth uses tone shifts coupled with a parallel syntax structure to show high hopes contrasted with the sad reality of Hervey. For instance, when Edgeworth says “He had considerable literary talents, by which he was distinguished at Oxford; but he was so dreadfully afraid of passing for a pedant, that when he came into the company of the idle and the ignorant, he pretended to disdain every species of knowledge.”, we see the narrator gawking in awe at the accomplishments of Hervey, however he does nothing with it, and in fact disregards is, leaving the narrator with disappointment. The parallel syntax structure used by Edgeworth here adds to the complexity of not only the sentence, but of Hervey as well, utilizing two different ideas in the sentence, signifying Hervey’s two-sidedness. However, the narrator themself contradicts the tone present when noting the traits of Hervey. The entire passage is judgement from the narrator, as if the narrator is peering down taking note of each and every detail. The narrator in a sense is the puppeteer while everyone else, from Hervey to Belinda, is a marionette. They don’t make one move without the narrator’s okay, making the tone quite stiff, also pinpointing the scared attitudes the marionettes have for the puppeteer. The narrator is no exception to the upper-class personalities of the characters and proves to us so through the constant critique and judgement he/she spews out. Everything is freeze-framed while the narrator goes through with a fine-tooth comb, nitpicking at every little detail.
Maria Edgeworth molds an emblem of complexity through Clarence Hervey with the help of techniques such as point of view to provide negative characterization through a third- person perspective, a constant shift between tone to show the narrator’s hope for Hervey and to a swift loss of hope, and ironic diction to develop Hervey’s very prevalent complex character. In a society where scrutiny such as that coming from the narrator is prevails, it is not unreasonable for Hervey to attempt to exude superiority and hide his true self. For if gold rusts, what will iron do?
