Originally published in 1782, Cecilia was reprinted at least twice within a year of its publication, and served as an influence for the title of Jane Austen’s masterpiece Pride and Prejudice. The title of Austen's Pride and Prejudice may have been inspired by a passage at the end of Cecilia: “remember: if to pride and prejudice you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to pride and prejudice you will also owe their termination.” (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)įor more free audiobooks, or to become a volunteer reader, please visit . A social satire, Cecilia is both a love story and an examination of British upper-class conventions. 'It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda' or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best–chosen language. Jane Austen referred to Cecilia and other novels in her novel, Northanger Abbey: “'And what are you reading, Miss - ?' 'Oh! It is only a novel!' replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. This proves impossible, and she gives up her fortune to marry for love. The plot of Cecilia revolves around the heroine, Cecilia Beverley, whose inheritance from her uncle comes with the stipulation that she find a husband who will accept her name. Librivox recording of Cecilia by Fanny Burney. 64 quotes from Frances Burney: Generosity without delicacy, like wit without judgement, generally gives as much pain as pleasure., Unused to the situations in which I find myself, and embarassed by the slightest difficulties, I seldom discover, till too late, how I ought to act.

Cecilia burney