Clarissa Read-Along (Letters dated 20th-27th Feb).

Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748/1749) 12-month read-along and cooperative analysis.

Hello! After a month-long break we’ve finally got some more letters to read. Prepare yourself, there’s quite the stack of letters coming our way in March. February, I think, will give us a gentle(ish) return to Clarissa’s life and letters.

James and Bella Harlowe from the 1991 BBC adaptation of Clarissa.

As well as a video unpacking my thoughts on the letters from each month, I’ve decided to share my thoughts in writing (here) after reading each letter. My main focus tends to be character analysis, though I’m also a fan of unpacking narrative style and structure. Feel free to chime in below with your thoughts on anything; there will be lots of things I’ll miss, I’m sure.

As you know, I’m reading an eBook copy of the third edition which does differ somewhat from the original first edition (only available in paperback). But I don’t think this will present an issue until much later in the book. You might find your dates for the letters vary slightly if you’re reading the first edition.

The dates for the letters in February are:

Letter 7 — Feb, 20th.
Letter 8 — Feb, 24th.
Letter 9 — Feb, 26th.
Letter 10 — Feb, 27th.

Letter 7. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe, after her return from visiting Miss Howe. Harlowe-Place, Feb, 20th. In which Clarissa describes the severe scene upon her sudden return home from Anna’s house.

I said things would take a sudden dark turn after January, but I’d forgotten quite how sudden that turn was. Oh, Clarissa, you poor babe! And aren’t James and Bella the worst? It’s pretty clear that there’s a strong sibling rivalry here and it seems that the special notice to Clarissa in her grandfather’s will has pushed her siblings into wanton cruelty.

In later letters, it becomes clear that Clarissa has been kept on a pedestal for much of her life; considered the wisest, the prettiest, and the godliest by all her family. Even so, James and Bella’s determination to mortify Clarissa’s pride in the cruellest way is rather stomach-churning.

Here the weeping, dizzy spells and limbs-beyond-control begin; Clarissa is a character of great mental strength, but her person often seems to fail her. Both relatable (as someone with many physical symptoms of anxiety) and interesting as a reader. There’s a lot that could be said about the way Richardson presents female strength; it is, I think, done in such a way that does not challenge masculine strength but undermines it with a powerful display of weakness. Only the most depraved of men could persevere in persecuting a woman reduced so visibly.

Remember, this is Richardson’s blueprint for the perfect Christian woman. Clarissa is, in his mind, the sage upon whom every young lady should model her own behaviour.

“I could easily answer you, Sir, said I, as such a reflection deserves: but I forebear.”

Despite the ill-treatment she is met with, Clarissa behaves in a rather servile and submissive way. She is determined to be cheerful and do whatever she can to please her family, even her horrible brother and sister.

Through the extreme niceness of her own manners, Clarissa renders her family crueller in the eyes of we watchers. We would perhaps feel differently if she had matched the tone she was met with, if she had too embarrassed her brother and put everyone in their place. This is the key to Clarissa’s ‘superpower.’

What are your thoughts on this letter and the characters and events involved?

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