Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 52: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained
Clarissa forwards to Anna Howe a harsh letter from her brother James, which accuses her of manipulation and defiance, demands her submission to the family's will, and threatens her removal to Uncle Antony's estate.
What happens
Clarissa forwards to Anna Howe a harsh letter from her brother James, which accuses her of manipulation and defiance, demands her submission to the family's will, and threatens her removal to Uncle Antony's estate. In her own commentary, Clarissa expresses despair at her isolation, wishes for Anna's marriage to Mr. Hickman as a potential refuge, and laments the torment she endures from her family.
Themes in this chapter
Family Obligation and Rebellion
James Harlowe's letter demands absolute filial submission, while Clarissa's response reveals her internal rebellion and despair over being forced into a marriage against her will.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
James accuses Clarissa of using 'art' and 'whining pathetics' to manipulate her parents, while Clarissa sees her own sincerity as misunderstood.
Power and Manipulation
The family uses confinement, threats of removal, and psychological pressure to coerce Clarissa, while James's letter itself is a tool of manipulation.
Characters to notice
- Clarissa Harlowe
Writes to Anna Howe, forwarding her brother's confutation-letter and expressing deep despair and isolation.
- James Harlowe Jr.
Author of the harsh letter to Clarissa, accusing her of artfulness and demanding her submission.
- Arabella Harlowe
Mentioned as exulting over the confutation-letter with James and others.
- Antony Harlowe
Mentioned as exulting over the letter and as the uncle to whose estate Clarissa is to be removed.
- Mr. Solmes
Mentioned as exulting over the letter and as the suitor Clarissa is pressured to accept.
- Anna Howe
Recipient of Clarissa's letter; Clarissa wishes she were married so Mr. Hickman could offer protection.
Key passages
“I send you the boasted confutation-letter, just now put into my hands. My brother and sister, my uncle Antony and Mr. Solmes, are, I understand, exulting over the copy of it below, as an unanswerable performance.”
Clarissa forwards the letter her brother wrote to refute her, noting that James, Arabella, Uncle Antony, and Mr. Solmes are celebrating it as a decisive argument.
Clarissa introduces the letter she is enclosing, highlighting the family's triumphalism.
“Blush, then, Delicacy, that cannot bear the poet's amor omnibus idem !—Blush, then, Purity! Be ashamed, Virgin Modesty! And, if capable of conviction, surrender your whole will to the will of the honoured pair, to whom you owe your being.”
James sarcastically tells Clarissa that her refined sensibilities should be ashamed, and she should submit completely to her parents' authority.
James mocks Clarissa's virtue and demands absolute obedience.
“Oh! that my cousin were but come! Is it not a sad thing, beloved as I thought myself so lately by everyone, that now I have not one person in the world to plead for me, to stand by me, or who would afford me refuge, were I to be under the necessity of asking for it!”
Clarissa laments that she has no ally left to defend or shelter her, despite having once felt universally loved.
Clarissa expresses her profound isolation and longing for support.