Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 76: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe, expressing her distress over the impending meeting with Mr.
What happens
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe, expressing her distress over the impending meeting with Mr. Solmes and sharing Lovelace's urgent warnings and proposals for her escape. She reiterates her determination to never marry Solmes and pleads for Anna's prayers as she faces the dreaded interview.
Themes in this chapter
Female Agency and Virtue
Clarissa asserts her refusal to marry Solmes, insisting she would rather die, demonstrating her struggle to maintain autonomy and virtue against familial coercion.
Family Obligation and Rebellion
Clarissa is torn between obedience to her father's authority and her own will, as she contemplates avoiding the forced meeting through illness or escape.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Lovelace's promises of rescue and settlements contrast with Clarissa's awareness of his manipulative tendencies, highlighting the gap between appearance and reality.
Characters to notice
- Clarissa Harlowe
The letter's author, expressing her anxiety and resolve regarding the forced meeting with Solmes.
- Anna Howe
The recipient of the letter, to whom Clarissa entrusts her papers and confides her fears.
- Robert Lovelace
Mentioned as having written to Clarissa, pressing her to escape and threatening violent intervention.
- Mr. Solmes
The suitor Clarissa is being forced to meet; she finds his presumptuous preparations abhorrent.
- Colonel Morden
Clarissa hopes for his arrival to mediate a reconciliation.
Key passages
“I will sooner die than be that man's wife.”
Clarissa declares that she would rather die than marry Solmes.
This emphasizes her absolute rejection of the forced marriage.
“I have deposited a letter for Mr. Lovelace; in which 'I charge him, as he would not disoblige me forever, to avoid any rash step, any visit to Mr. Solmes, which may be followed by acts of violence.'”
Clarissa has written to Lovelace, ordering him not to take any violent action against Solmes or her family.
She attempts to prevent Lovelace from escalating the conflict.