Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 161: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained
Clarissa describes a painful evening spent in the company of Mr.
What happens
Clarissa describes a painful evening spent in the company of Mr. Lovelace's libertine friends—Belton, Mowbray, Tourville, and Belford—along with Mrs. Sinclair and Miss Partington. She provides detailed character sketches of each gentleman, noting their vices and affectations, and reflects on the discomfort of being in such company, feeling that her reputation is compromised by her association with Lovelace.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Clarissa contrasts the outward appearance of the gentlemen (dress, manners) with their inner moral corruption, and notes Miss Partington's seeming modesty belied by her encouragement of indecent talk.
Libertinism and Morality
The chapter vividly portrays libertine behavior through the characters of Belton, Mowbray, Tourville, and Belford, highlighting their disregard for conventional morality and Clarissa's discomfort with their company.
Characters to notice
- Clarissa Harlowe
Narrates the letter, expressing distress and humiliation at being in the company of Lovelace's libertine friends.
- Robert Lovelace
Hosts the evening and provides Clarissa with prior histories of his friends; his judgment is questioned by Clarissa.
- John Belford
Described as good-natured, well-read, and the most tolerable of the group; he pays Clarissa a compliment that embarrasses her.
- Thomas Belton
A heavy drinker and gambler with a consumptive cough, who jests about his own ill health.
- Richard Mowbray
A bold, scarred traveler who jests about sacred things and professes to hate clergy.
Key passages
“For what are words, but the body and dress of thought? And is not the mind of a person strongly indicated by outward dress?”
Words are the outward expression of inner thoughts, just as clothing reveals character.
Clarissa reflects on the connection between speech and character.
“Oh! my dear, were but a woman, who gives reason to the world to think her to be in love with a man, ... to reflect one moment on the exaltation she gives him, and the disgrace she brings upon herself ... how would she despise herself!”
If a woman who appears to be in love realized how she elevates the man and degrades herself, she would feel deep shame.
Clarissa laments the social cost of being perceived as in love with Lovelace.