Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 77: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe on the morning of her dreaded interview with Mr.
What happens
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe on the morning of her dreaded interview with Mr. Solmes. She describes a sleepless night and a tense visit from her aunt Hervey, who pressures her to comply with her family's wishes and receive Solmes as a suitor. Clarissa resists, arguing that the meeting is a trick to force her compliance, and expresses her distress at being manipulated by her brother and the rest of the family.
Themes in this chapter
Female Agency and Virtue
Clarissa struggles to assert her will against her family's demands, framing her resistance as a matter of personal integrity and aversion to Solmes.
Family Obligation and Rebellion
The chapter centers on Clarissa's conflict between familial duty and her own desires, as her aunt pressures her to obey while Clarissa rebels against the imposed interview.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Clarissa exposes the family's Sunday garden charade as a deceptive tactic to create the appearance of her compliance, contrasting their pretended kindness with their true manipulative intent.
Characters to notice
- Clarissa Harlowe
Writes in distress about the impending interview with Solmes, feeling trapped and manipulated by her family.
- Anna Howe
Recipient of Clarissa's letter; Clarissa addresses her as her 'only friend'.
- Mr. Solmes
The suitor Clarissa is being forced to meet; she expresses aversion and disdain for him.
- Mrs. Hervey
Clarissa's aunt, who visits to persuade her to comply with the family's wishes regarding Solmes.
- James Harlowe Jr.
Clarissa's brother, whom she accuses of orchestrating the family's manipulation against her.
- Arabella Harlowe
Clarissa's sister, who participated in the Sunday garden charade to create a false impression of reconciliation.
Key passages
“The day is come!—I wish it were happily over. I have had a wretched night. Hardly a wink have I slept, ruminating upon the approaching interview.”
The dreaded day has arrived; Clarissa hopes it will pass without disaster, having spent a sleepless night worrying about the meeting.
Clarissa expresses her anxiety and sleeplessness on the morning of the interview with Solmes.
“A thoughtful mind is not a blessing to be coveted, unless it had such a happy vivacity with it as yours: a vivacity, which enables a person to enjoy the present , without being overanxious about the future .”
A reflective nature is not desirable unless paired with a cheerful spirit like Anna's, which allows one to live in the moment without excessive worry.
Clarissa contrasts her own anxious temperament with Anna's vivacity.
“There can be but one happy conclusion to the intended visit; and that is, That both sides may be satisfied it will be the last.”
The only good outcome of the meeting is that everyone agrees it will be the final one.
Clarissa states her hope that the interview will end any further expectations of her marrying Solmes.
“I never found myself so fretful in my life: and so I told my aunt; and begged her pardon for it. But she said, it was well disguised then; for she saw nothing but little tremors, which were usual with young ladies when they were to see their admirers for the first time.”
Clarissa admits to being unusually irritable and apologizes, but her aunt dismisses her agitation as typical nervousness before meeting a suitor.
Clarissa's aunt misinterprets her distress as maidenly shyness rather than genuine aversion.
“See, my dear, the low cunning of that Sunday-management, which then so much surprised me!”
Clarissa now recognizes the Sunday garden scene as a calculated deception by her family.
Clarissa reflects on her family's manipulative tactics to create the illusion of her compliance.
