OED essay on culpable

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) proved to be a valuable resource with regards to the etymological study of the word culpable. There exist multiple word forms as well as a historical tracking of the word’s evolution. In this essay I will attempt to show the word’s derivation, it’s peculiar 18th c. meaning(s), its “lost”, rare or obsolete meaning(s), and finally how the word culpable is used by Frances Burney in the work, Evelina. I have attached a Xerox copy from the OED page tracking the word’s etymology to this essay.

The word culpable stems from both the Middle English (ME.) and Old French (OF.) word coupable and is given a Latinate (L.) meaning of guilty, or culpābil-is. The latter further developed to include such forms of definition such as blameworthy, or the feminine (f.) form of culpa, or fault, blame. The derivation of culpable itself spans from (by that of course meaning time of usage in a common setting) the 13th c. thru the 14th and even 16th c. The OED tracked its etymological beginnings from the OF. form which was “regularly reduced to coupable in [the] 13th c., but was frequently written culpable after L. in 14th c., [and] coulpable in 16th c. (OED, pg. 118; Vol. IV).” According to the OED it is the Latinized form that has had the most “staying” power, “established both in spelling and pronunciation (OED, pg. 118; Vol. IV).”

The OED cites two major definitions of the word culpable; i.e., in one case it is defined as “guilty, criminal; deserving of punishment or condemnation (OED, pg.118; Vol. IV).” This latter part of the definition is, according to the OED, obsolete (Obs.). In a second notable definition the OED states that the word culpable is taken to mean deserving blame or censure, blameworthy. This second definition was also found to contain a rare citing. The term culpable was stated to include the “artistically faulty or censurable (OED, pg. 118; Vol. IV).” It seems to me that the idea of culpable is to be found within the realm of this rare definition, and as such may shed some light on Burney’s 18th c. usage in Evelina.

Frances Burney uses the word culpable on page 475 in her novel Evelina to mean the “artistically faulty or censurable (OED).” Though the definition is a rare one I believe the choice or word play fits into the character and context found on pages 474-475. The text from Evelina reads,

Yet so strong is the desire you have implanted in me to act
With uprightness and propriety, …the weakness of my heart
May distress and afflict me, it will never, I humbly trust,
Render me willfully culpable.

Evelina is looking for approval as to her latest conduct with L. Orville from her pseudo-father Mr. Villers. Burney knowingly plays on the word play culpable to exert both the f. culpa and the rare definition in culpable. Combined in meaning as well as form they convey the meaning of the text twice as strong! The desired effect is a readership rendering a first glance of Evelina shunning fault, or blame, then of course a deeper search reveals an Evelina who is deceptive and artful, or in the rare definition “artistically faulty (OED).” It is a deception that seems to cost her much as she states-“…in the midst of my regret,-for never, never can I cease to regret that I have lost the friendship of Lord Orville! (Evelina, pg. 474).” In this case she blames or faults herself. However, the remainder of the novel pits her willful character against others in a world of the artful (Sir Willoughby, M. Duval) and the artless (L. Orville, M. Villers). This dichotomy allows Burney to truly emphasize her word choice-culpable to mean more than mere guilt. Evelina blames not herself but the weakness of her heart in her. Evelina says that “however the weakness of her heart may distress and afflict me, it will never, I humbly trust, render me willfully culpable. It is the adjective willfully that modifies her character to be faulty. In other words Burney perhaps chose the word culpable to emphasize Evelina’s “feelings”, as well as to highlight the notion of her artful ways. Evelina is behaving artful in her role of the culpable (as taken from the rare aforementioned definition). Taking the word culpable from the OED, after much research, justifies Burney’s attempts at complicating Evelina, and as such leaves no room for either error or coincidence (even opinion is cornered to yield a verdict).

The OED allowed me to track the word culpable and all its forms and derivatives. This etymological study increased my awareness as both critic and reader and afforded me a closer, careful examination of the novel Evelina, and as such proved a significant exercise in the art of word research and better reading.