# Letter 9: Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe explained — Clarissa

> Chapter companion for Clarissa by Samuel Richardson.

## What happens

Clarissa writes to Anna Howe about her family's pressure to marry Mr. Solmes, revealing that her brother James has manipulated their father against her. She describes her aunt's visit and advice to comply, but Clarissa refuses. She proposes a secret correspondence via a hidden spot in the Green Lane near the wood-house, using chalk marks and deposits under sticks. She asks for Anna's advice but warns against favoring Solmes, and reflects on her forced clandestine measures.

## Themes in this chapter

### Female Agency and Virtue

Clarissa asserts her refusal to marry Solmes and seeks a clandestine correspondence, demonstrating her struggle for autonomy within patriarchal constraints.

### Family Obligation and Rebellion

Clarissa resists her family's demands to marry Solmes for the family's advantage, leading to secretive measures and conflict with her brother.

### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

Clarissa laments that forced restraints lead to artifice and clandestine correspondence, highlighting the gap between outward obedience and inner resistance.

## Character check-ins

### Clarissa Harlowe

Author of the letter; resists family pressure to marry Solmes and proposes a secret correspondence with Anna.

### Anna Howe

Recipient of the letter; Clarissa asks for her advice and proposes a clandestine correspondence method.

### James Harlowe Jr.

Clarissa's brother; she blames him for manipulating their father and for the family's harsh measures.

### Arabella Harlowe

Clarissa's sister; mentioned as someone who should be provided for before Clarissa is forced into marriage.

### Mr. Solmes

The suitor Clarissa is pressured to accept; she refuses him absolutely.

### Mrs. Harlowe

Clarissa's mother; Clarissa notes she may not have been consulted on the correspondence prohibition.

## Key lines

> I verily think, upon a strict examination of myself, that I have almost as much in me of my father’s as of my mother’s family.

Clarissa believes she has inherited her father's strong will as much as her mother's gentleness.

_Clarissa reflects on her own temperament, suggesting she is not as meek as her family assumes._

> How do needless watchfulness and undue restraint produce artifice and contrivance!

Unnecessary surveillance and restrictions force people to become deceitful and scheming.

_Clarissa criticizes her family's control, which drives her to secret correspondence._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/clarissa_se/chapters/letter-9-miss-clarissa-harlowe-to-miss-howe
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/clarissa_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/clarissa_se/chapters