"Linguistic Lawlessness": Failures of Communication in Fanny Burney's Cecilia

Abstract

In Cecilia: Or, Memoirs of an Heiress (1782), Fanny Burney problematizes communication by revealing how members of the dominant social group abuse language to establish and maintain their superiority. The male characters in the novel manipulate and silence the eponymous heroine, Cecilia Beverley, who - as a woman - is a representative of the subordinated group. Through their "linguistic lawlessness," the male speakers can exercise control over her and preserve their own authority.