Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 80: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe, describing her growing desperation as her family tightens control over her.
What happens
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe, describing her growing desperation as her family tightens control over her. She has deposited a long letter and Lovelace's letters, and finds another from Lovelace urging her to escape before she is forced to marry Solmes. She recounts overhearing her father delegate authority over her to her brother and sister, and her mother's harsh refusal of her inquiries. Betty delivers threats of further restrictions on her walks and writing. Clarissa feels torn between her family's coercion and Lovelace's violent schemes, and ends the letter in a state of anxiety, noting mysterious activity in the house.
Themes in this chapter
Female Agency and Virtue
Clarissa struggles to maintain her autonomy and moral integrity against her family's coercion and Lovelace's manipulations, highlighting the constraints on women's choices.
Family Obligation and Rebellion
Clarissa is torn between duty to her parents and her refusal to marry Solmes, leading to her father's delegation of authority and her own secret correspondence.
Characters to notice
- Clarissa Harlowe
Narrates her distress, confinement, and fear of being forced to marry Solmes; reflects on her powerlessness and the pressure from both family and Lovelace.
- Anna Howe
Recipient of Clarissa's letter; Clarissa seeks her advice and expresses concern about their correspondence.
- Robert Lovelace
Writes to Clarissa urging her to escape, offering settlements and protection; his intelligence network within the Harlowe house is confirmed.
- James Harlowe Jr.
Explicitly given authority over Clarissa by her father; part of the plot to force her to marry Solmes.
- Arabella Harlowe
Also given authority over Clarissa; present in the garden with her father and brother.
Key passages
“I am convinced, methinks, it is not with you.—But your servant cannot always be at leisure. However, I will deposit as fast as I write.”
I suspect you haven't received my letter yet, but I'll keep writing and depositing them anyway.
Clarissa expresses anxiety about the reliability of their correspondence.
“How, my dear, am I driven on one side, and invited on the other!—This last intimation is but a too probable one.”
I'm being pushed by my family and pulled by Lovelace, and his warning about being forced into marriage seems all too likely.
Clarissa feels trapped between her family's coercion and Lovelace's proposals.
“I struck into an oblique path, and got behind the yew-hedge, seeing my sister appear; and there concealed myself till they were gone past me.”
I hid behind the hedge to avoid meeting my father and sister in the garden.
Clarissa physically avoids her family, showing her fear and alienation.
“Let her not inquire after the disorders she occasions, was her harsh answer. I will not receive any compliments from her.”
My mother refused my inquiry, blaming me for her illness.
Clarissa's mother rebuffs her, deepening Clarissa's sense of guilt and isolation.
“O my dear! what is worldly wisdom but the height of folly!—I, the meanest, at least youngest, of my father's family, to thrust myself in the gap between such uncontrollable spirits!”
What is prudence but foolishness? Here I am, the youngest, trying to mediate between these violent men.
Clarissa reflects on the futility of her attempts to prevent conflict.
