Letter 32: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Female Agency and Virtue

  Clarissa asserts her right to choose her own husband and argues that forced marriage deprives her of free will, making her miserable for life.

• Family Obligation and Rebellion

  Clarissa struggles between her duty to obey her family and her refusal to marry Solmes, leading to conflict and her uncle's harsh rebuke.

• Class and Social Reputation

  The family's concern for social standing and property is evident in the debate over Solmes's suitability and the desire to keep Clarissa's fortune within the family.

Characters to notice

• Clarissa Harlowe

  Writes to Anna Howe, enclosing letters to her uncles; argues against forced marriage to Solmes, defends her free will, and offers to remain unmarried.

• Anna Howe

  Recipient of Clarissa's letter; asked to return the uncles' replies by the first deposit.

• Mr. John Harlowe

  Uncle to Clarissa; responds harshly, accusing her of prepossession for Lovelace and defending the family's authority and Solmes's character.

• Mr. Solmes

  Proposed suitor; Clarissa describes him as narrow, covetous, coarse, and indelicate, and declares she would never marry him even if Lovelace did not exist.

• Robert Lovelace

  Mentioned as the man Clarissa is accused of preferring; her uncle claims Lovelace's regard is based on spite and her fortune.

• James Harlowe Jr.

  Clarissa criticizes his behavior, noting he has not treated her in a brotherly manner and should not be entitled to more than civility.

Key passages

• “Marriage is a very solemn engagement, enough to make a young creature's heart ache, with the best prospects, when she thinks seriously of it!—To be given up to a strange man; to be engrafted into a strange family; to give up her very name, as a mark of her becoming his absolute and dependent property; to be obliged to prefer this strange man to father, mother—to everybody:—and his humours to all her own—or to contend, perhaps, in breach of avowed duty, for every innocent instance of free-will.”

  Clarissa describes marriage as a daunting commitment where a woman loses her identity and freedom, becoming her husband's property and forced to prioritize him over everyone else.

  Clarissa articulates the loss of agency in marriage, highlighting the theme of female agency.

• “Marry first, and love will come after, was said by one of my dearest friends! But this is a shocking assertion.”

  Clarissa rejects the idea that love can develop after marriage, calling it a shocking and false claim.

  Clarissa challenges the common advice that affection follows marriage, emphasizing the importance of prior love.

• “I do absolutely declare, That were there no such man as Mr. Lovelace in the world, I would not have Mr. Solmes.”

  Clarissa states unequivocally that even if Lovelace did not exist, she would still refuse to marry Solmes.

  Clarissa clarifies that her opposition to Solmes is not due to a preference for Lovelace but to Solmes's own character.