Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 399: Mr. Belford, to Robert Lovelace, Esq. explained
Belford updates Lovelace on Belton's illness and the eviction of his rapacious mistress, then reports on Clarissa's declining health, her distress from a cruel letter from her uncle Harlowe, and her recourse to Scripture for solace.
What happens
Belford updates Lovelace on Belton's illness and the eviction of his rapacious mistress, then reports on Clarissa's declining health, her distress from a cruel letter from her uncle Harlowe, and her recourse to Scripture for solace. He also relates a conversation between Mrs. Smith and a young clergyman who praises Clarissa's former virtue and reputation.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Redemption
Clarissa's physical and emotional decline, her scriptural meditation on human misery and divine mercy, and her search for spiritual fortitude.
Class and Social Reputation
The young clergyman's account of Clarissa's former social standing, her influence on fashion, and the scandal of her elopement.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Belton's mistress feigns marriage to seize his estate; Belford's extracts from Lovelace's letters reveal a more favorable image of Lovelace to Clarissa.
Characters to notice
- John Belford
Writes to Lovelace, recounting his actions at Belton's house and his visits to Clarissa.
- Robert Lovelace
Recipient of the letter; Belford defends his extracts and criticizes Lovelace's self-partiality.
- Clarissa Harlowe
In declining health, she receives a cruel letter from her uncle, suffers hysterics, and composes a scriptural meditation.
- Thomas Belton
Ill and dispirited; his mistress and her accomplices are driven from his house by Belford and others.
- Mrs. Smith
Provides Belford with details of Clarissa's state and the visit of a young clergyman.
- Mrs. Lovick
Reports on Clarissa's condition and shares the meditation Clarissa composed.
Key passages
“I called at Smith’s on Monday, in my way to Epsom. The lady was gone to chapel: but I had the satisfaction to hear she was not worse; and left my compliments, and an intimation that I should be out of town for three or four days.”
Belford visited Smith's on Monday but Clarissa was at chapel; he was relieved to learn she was stable and left word he would be away for a few days.
Belford's brief check on Clarissa's condition.
“She had received several letters in my absence, as Mrs. Lovick acquainted me, besides yours. Yours, it seems, much distressed her; but she ordered the messenger, who pressed for an answer, to be told that it did not require an immediate one.”
During Belford's absence, Clarissa got multiple letters including one from Lovelace that upset her, but she declined to reply immediately.
Clarissa's distress over Lovelace's letter.
“On Wednesday she received a letter from her uncle Harlowe, in answer to one she had written to her mother on Saturday on her knees. It must be a very cruel one, Mrs. Lovick says, by the effects it had upon her: for, when she received it, she was intending to take an afternoon airing in a coach: but was thrown into so violent a fit of hysterics upon it, that she was forced to lie down; and (being not recovered by it) to go to bed about eight o’clock.”
Clarissa received a harsh reply from her uncle Harlowe to her supplicating letter to her mother, causing a severe hysterical fit that forced her to bed.
The cruel letter from Clarissa's uncle worsens her health.
“He said he knew her before her fall, (that was his impudent word); and gave the substance of the following account of her, as I collected it from Mrs. Smith: 'She was then, he said, the admiration and delight of everybody: he lamented, with great solemnity, her backsliding; another of his phrases.'”
A young clergyman who visited Mrs. Smith referred to Clarissa's 'fall' and 'backsliding,' recalling how she was once universally admired.
The clergyman's judgmental view of Clarissa's reputation.
