Letter 329: Miss Howe, to Miss Charlotte Montague explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Friendship and Loyalty

  Anna's frantic love and devotion to Clarissa highlight the depth of their friendship.

• Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

  Clarissa's simple errand to church masks a sinister disappearance, suggesting deception.

Characters to notice

• Anna Howe

  Writes in a frenzy, demanding news of Clarissa's whereabouts.

• Clarissa Harlowe

  Missing since Friday morning; feared harmed or dead.

• Robert Lovelace

  Implicitly accused of spiriting Clarissa away.

• Miss Charlotte Montague

  Recipient of the letter; asked to provide information about Clarissa.

Key passages

• “In the frenzy of my soul I write to you, to demand of you, and of any of your family who can tell news of my beloved friend, who, I doubt, has been spirited away by the base arts of one of the blackest—O help me to a name black enough to call him by!”

  I am writing in a state of frantic desperation to ask you and your family for any news of my beloved friend, whom I fear has been abducted through the vile schemes of a most wicked man—I cannot find a word evil enough to describe him.

  Anna expresses her frantic state and suspicion of Lovelace.

• “She went out about six that morning; only intending, as they believe, to go to morning-prayers at Covent-Garden church, just by her lodgings, as she had done divers times before—Went on foot!—Left word she should be back in an hour!—Very poorly in health!”

  She left around six in the morning, supposedly just to attend morning prayers at a nearby church, as she had often done before—she walked there—said she would return in an hour—and she was in very poor health.

  Details of Clarissa's disappearance are given.