Well, after a slow start, things are starting to heat up in Clarissa’s world. She has been dragged with little warning from her friend Miss Howe’s home because her family learned that Lovelace (her brother’s enemy) had visited there. So she’s now been made a prisoner in her own home, with her family trying to force her to marry Mr. Solmes, who she dislikes intensely, and to get hold of the property her grandfather left her, despite the fact that they obviously have plenty of money themselves.
I’m willing to admit I was totally wrong about Miss Howe. In the last of the February letters we finally hear her perspective on what’s happened, and she appears to have Clarissa’s best interests at heart. In fact, she’s giving Clarissa the same kind of support and advice that any good girlfriend would: “Your family is treating you badly,” “Don’t let everyone walk all over you,” “If you don’t like the guy, you shouldn’t lead him on.” Only with Samuel Richardson it takes a good many more words to get those sentiments across:
I know he has nothing to boast of from what you have written: but is not his inducing you to receive letters, and to answer them, a great point gained? By your insisting that he should keep the correspondence private, it appears there is one secret which you do not wish the world should know: and he is the master of that secret. He is indeed himself, as I may say, that secret! What an intimacy does this beget for the lover! How is it distancing the parent! pg. 53 of Volume 1
You can say that again, Miss Howe.
It’s clear from the agitated tone of the letters that Clarissa's situation is getting desperate. Although she has property of her own that should protect her from her family’s greed (and clearly that’s what her grandfather intended), the convention of the times leaves her at the mercy of the male members of her family. I have a feeling that March is going to be a critical month for Clarissa Harlowe.
I’m assuming that the pace of the letters is about to increase, as we’ve only reached page 24 of the first of nine volumes! Breaking this into 12 parts makes taking on such an enormous epistolary novel possible, so thanks to Terri at
Tip of the Iceberg and JoAnn at
Lakeside Musing for hosting this year long event. I am headed over to check out the
links and see what everyone else thought about this month’s readings. Has the book captured you yet? I think I’m getting there!
I liked Miss Howe much better after hearing from her directly. I suspect we'll get a much clearer picture of the other 'player' as we read their letters, too. The pace definitely increases in March (around 60 letters for the month), so keeping up may be more of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to one of Lovelace's letters! I'm taking (the Kindle version) of Clarissa on vacation -- I'd be over the weight limit for bags if I brought the book!
ReplyDeleteI want to hear more about Mr Solmes, I mean I want to understand more why he is so horrible. Hopefully I will find this out.
ReplyDeleteI've taken to disliking Clarissa's brother so much that just having his seal of approval would make him persona non grata in my book! :) But I agree that more description would make Clarissa's point better.
DeleteI'm trying to remember if I read this book. It sounds very familiar.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very possible, as I think it's held up as an early example of an epistolary novel. I think at 1,500 pages it would be most memorable if one had dropped the book on a toe!
DeleteI'm looking forward to learning more about the men and more of the background to the drama. I think March will be quite an exciting time!
ReplyDeleteI love how we learned that Lovelace is a prolific writer. I'm waiting to hear more from him!
DeleteI am definitely involved in the story at this point! I just love the way things are worded in older novels. Such elegant word crafting.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a bit of time to get into the rhythm of the prose, but I am enjoying it now!
DeleteI hope I can keep up throughout March! One frustration I'm having with the Nook version is that it's not easy to flip ahead and see how many pages are on each day, although JoAnn's list of pages per month is helpful. I'm always afraid I'm going to sit down to read a letter quickly (since most have been short) and not realize it goes on for 60 pages or something! Although, there are a million letters, so I suppose each one is still short, even if there are multiple letters for some days. I hope I can stay on track because it's fun reading it on the actual letter dates.
ReplyDeleteI'm only trying to stick with the month in question myself, because my schedule is just too erratic to make a day-to-day commitment, although I think that would be totally fun!
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