Clarissa · Chapter
Letter 84: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe recounting a disturbing dream and her aunt Hervey's visit.
What happens
Clarissa writes to Anna Howe recounting a disturbing dream and her aunt Hervey's visit. She has sent a letter to Lovelace and now regrets it. Her aunt pressures her to comply with her family's demand to marry Solmes, but Clarissa refuses. She is torn between her family's authority and her own will.
Themes in this chapter
Family Obligation and Rebellion
Clarissa's steadfast refusal to obey her father's command to marry Solmes highlights the conflict between duty and personal will.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Clarissa worries about the appearance of her correspondence with Lovelace and the double-dealing of servants like Joseph Leman.
Characters to notice
- Clarissa Harlowe
Narrates her distress, dream, and continued refusal to marry Solmes.
- Anna Howe
Recipient of Clarissa's letter; Clarissa seeks her advice and support.
- Mr. Solmes
The suitor Clarissa is being forced to marry; appears in her dream as part of a plot.
- Robert Lovelace
Clarissa has sent him a letter; he is the subject of her family's suspicions and her dream.
- Mrs. Hervey
Clarissa's aunt who visits to pressure her into compliance with the family's demands.
- Betty Barnes
Servant who spies on Clarissa and notes her inky finger.
Key passages
“Methought my brother, my uncle Antony, and Mr. Solmes, had formed a plot to destroy Mr. Lovelace; who discovering it, and believing I had a hand in it, turned all his rage against me. I thought he made them all fly to foreign parts upon it; and afterwards seizing upon me, carried me into a churchyard; and there, notwithstanding, all my prayers and tears, and protestations of innocence, stabbed me to the heart, and then tumbled me into a deep grave ready dug, among two or three half-dissolved carcases; throwing in the dirt and earth upon me with his hands, and trampling it down with his feet.”
Clarissa dreams that her brother, uncle, and Solmes plot to kill Lovelace, who then blames her and stabs her to death in a churchyard, burying her with corpses.
This dream reveals Clarissa's deep anxiety about the conflict between her family and Lovelace, and her fear of being caught in the middle.
“I said, I should think myself happy, could I be admitted to my mother’s presence, after so long a banishment from it; but that I could not wish it upon those terms. And this is your answer, Niece? It must be my answer, Madam. Come what may, I never will have Mr. Solmes.”
Clarissa tells her aunt she would love to see her mother but refuses to promise obedience about marrying Solmes.
Clarissa's firm refusal to compromise her principles even for the chance to see her mother shows her resolve.