# Letter 379: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained — Clarissa

> Chapter companion for Clarissa by Samuel Richardson.

## What happens

Clarissa writes to Anna Howe, expressing pleasure at Anna's approval of her resolution never to marry Lovelace. She reflects on her escape from a miserable marriage, defends her family's harshness by imagining her mother's perspective, and urges Anna to oblige her mother's wishes regarding her own marriage to Hickman.

## Themes in this chapter

### Female Agency and Virtue

Clarissa asserts her moral independence by choosing not to marry Lovelace, framing it as an act of virtue and self-preservation.

### Family Obligation and Rebellion

Clarissa reflects on her family's suffering and her own fault, showing the tension between filial duty and personal integrity.

## Character check-ins

### Clarissa Harlowe

Author of the letter; reaffirms her decision to reject Lovelace and reflects on her family's suffering.

### Anna Howe

Recipient; Clarissa praises her approbation and advises her to oblige her mother's marriage wishes.

### Robert Lovelace

Discussed as a man whose character would have made marriage miserable; Clarissa considers her escape a blessing.

### Mrs. Harlowe

Imagined by Clarissa as sorrowing and burdened by her daughter's disgrace, yet still a model of virtue.

### Mr. Hickman

Mentioned in relation to Anna's marriage; Clarissa declines to hasten the day.

## Key lines

> You have given me great pleasure, my dearest friend, by your approbation of my reasonings, and of my resolution founded upon them, never to have Mr. Lovelace.

I am delighted that you approve of my reasoning and my decision never to marry Mr. Lovelace.

_Clarissa thanks Anna for supporting her resolve._

> I cannot but reflect that I have had an escape, rather than a loss, in missing Mr. Lovelace for a husband

I see my failure to marry Lovelace as a fortunate escape, not a loss.

_Clarissa reframes her situation as a positive outcome._

> Here was my mother, one of the most prudent persons of her sex, married into a family...

Consider my mother, a very prudent woman who once governed the family wisely.

_Clarissa imagines her mother's former happiness and current sorrow._

## Links

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