Clarissa

Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady

Author	Samuel Richardson
Country	Britain
Language	English
Genre(s)	Epistolary novel
Publisher
Publication date	1748
Media type	Print

Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady epistolary novel, published in 1748, tells the tragic story of a heroine whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by her family. It is commonly cited as the longest novel in the English language.

Plot summary

Clarissa Harlowe, the tragic heroine of Clarissa, is a beautiful and virtuous young lady whose family has become very wealthy only in recent years and is now eager to become part of the aristocracy by acquiring estates and titles through advantageous pairings. Clarissa's relatives attempt to force her to marry a rich but heartless man against her will and, more importantly, against her own sense of virtue. Desperate to remain free, she is tricked by a young gentleman of her acquaintance, Lovelace, into escaping with him. However, she refuses to marry him, longing — unusually for a girl in her time — to live by herself in peace. Lovelace, in the meantime, has been trying to arrange a fake marriage all along, and considers it a sport to add Clarissa to his long list of conquests. However, as he is more and more impressed by Clarissa, he finds it difficult to keep convincing himself that truly virtuous women do not exist. The continuous pressure he finds himself under, combined with his growing passion for Clarissa, drives him to extremes and eventually he rapes her. Clarissa manages to escape from him, but becomes dangerously ill. When she dies, however, it is in the full consciousness of her own virtue, and trusting in a better life after death. Lovelace, tormented by what he has done but still unable to change, dies in a duel with Clarissa's cousin. Clarissa's relatives finally realise the misery they have caused, but discover that they are too late and Clarissa has already died.

Television adaptions

The BBC adapted the novel as a television series in 1991, starring Sean Bean.

See also

• Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
• Sir Charles Grandison

External links

• Clarissa (1991) at the Internet Movie Database

• Japanese translation

• Clarissa at Project Gutenberg

• A version currently in print ISBN 0140432159

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