Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 179: Miss Howe, to Mrs. Judith Norton explained
Anna Howe writes to Mrs.
What happens
Anna Howe writes to Mrs. Norton, urging her to secretly inform Mrs. Harlowe that Clarissa desires reconciliation with her family, prefers a single life, and may be forced to marry Lovelace if no hope is given. Anna reveals she has taken this step without Clarissa's knowledge, based on Clarissa's earlier request for Mr. Hickman to approach her uncle John Harlowe. She asks Mrs. Norton to use her discretion and to keep the intervention secret if it fails.
Themes in this chapter
Family Obligation and Rebellion
Clarissa's desire for reconciliation and her preference for a single life are set against her family's pressure to marry Solmes, illustrating the tension between filial duty and personal autonomy.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Anna Howe's secret plan to intervene without Clarissa's knowledge, and the indirect approach through Mr. Hickman, underscore the theme of hidden motives and strategic misrepresentation.
Characters to notice
- Anna Howe
Writes to Mrs. Norton, orchestrating a secret plan to inform Mrs. Harlowe of Clarissa's desire for reconciliation.
- Mrs. Judith Norton
Recipient of the letter; asked to discreetly approach Mrs. Harlowe on Clarissa's behalf.
- Clarissa Harlowe
The subject of the plan; pines for reconciliation, prefers single life, and is pressured by Lovelace to marry.
- Mrs. Harlowe
Target of the secret approach; Anna hopes her influence will help reconcile Clarissa with her family.
- Robert Lovelace
Mentioned as continually pressing Clarissa to marry him; his faulty morals and family antipathy are noted.
Key passages
“Cannot you, without naming me as an adviser, who am hated by the family, contrive a way to let Mrs. Harlowe know, that in an accidental conversation with me, you had been assured that my beloved friend pines after a reconciliation with her relations?”
Can you find a way to inform Mrs. Harlowe, without revealing that I suggested it (since the family dislikes me), that you learned from a casual talk with me that my dear friend longs to be reconciled with her family?
Anna asks Mrs. Norton to secretly convey Clarissa's wish for reconciliation to Mrs. Harlowe.
“That she would fain avoid giving Mr. Lovelace a right to make her family uneasy in relation to her grandfather’s estate: that all she wishes for still is to be indulged in her choice of a single life, and, on that condition, would make her father’s pleasure hers with regard to that estate.”
She wants to avoid giving Mr. Lovelace any claim to trouble her family over her grandfather's estate; her only wish is to be allowed to remain single, and if that is granted, she will defer to her father's wishes regarding the estate.
Clarissa's conditions for reconciliation: a single life and yielding control of the estate to her father.
“But that their resolution must be speedy; for otherwise she would find herself obliged to give way to his pressing entreaties; and it might then be out of her power to prevent disagreeable litigations.”
But they must decide quickly; otherwise, she will have to yield to his urgent pleas, and then she may not be able to avoid unpleasant legal disputes.
Anna warns that delay may force Clarissa into marriage with Lovelace, leading to legal conflicts.