Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady

by Samuel Richardson

First published in 1748, "Clarissa" is the long and tragic tale of the ever-virtuous Miss Clarissa Harlowe. Though her family, newly wealthy, wishes to enter the aristocracy, they can only do so by marrying Clarissa to an unrefined and loveless man. She is soon offered protection from the selfish motives of her family by Robert Lovelace, who tricks Clarissa into running away with him. Though witty and urbane, Lovelace soon proves himself a villainous rake, eager to strike out at the Harlowes by making sexual advances on their highly moral daughter. Clarissa repeatedly refuses the vague offers of marriage Lovelace gives her, deceiving herself by denying her physical attraction to him, yet holding true to her belief in virtue, even as she grows increasingly ill from the stress of her situation. A masterful epistolary novel, "Clarissa" is a tragic heroine who remains true to her quest for virtue to the very end. Contained in this book is the first of two volumes.

864 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2004

About the author

Pamela (1740) and Clarissa Harlowe (1748) of English writer Samuel Richardson helped to legitimize the novel as a literary form in English.

An established printer and publisher for most of his life, Richardson wrote his first novel at the age of 51. He is best known for his major 18th-century epistolary novel Sir Charles Grandison (1753).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_...

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very long. Realllly bloated in that way that a lot of classic literature often is. But if you read it in chunks, it’s amazing, and if you enjoy stories told through letters. Richardson has dark themes (suicide, rape). This may be the longest book I have ever read. I also felt that reading the Spark notes has helped me understand the book and maybe appreciate the author’s intent better. Kinda like years ago when I could not finish Emma. I thought it tedious and long and I didn’t like Emma (just like I find Clarissa self-absorbed, to be all dramatic, and ‘poor me’ after a while), I found Emma easier to read after I listened to it on CDs. For whatever reason hearing the language made me more engaged.

Anyway... A person who reads contemporary works might give up on it because it probably could be told in a more shortened novel or be frustrated by Clarissa, wondering why she makes such choices when we recognize the danger (not blaming her but a modern reader might say, Gah! Saw that coming!) but looking at when it was written, I just want the woman to find her HEA, that my modern sensibilities knows I’m not going to get that payoff in the end. I bet there are college classes devoted all to this one book. It’s a semester’s worth of discussion.

[Megan]

DNF @ 6% on 2/19/23

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok. I know this a "classic", but I couldn't get past page 3. Given that this is a very long book, this must be the lowest percentage of a book I read before I gave up. The style is very gossipy letters written a chatty style. Painful.