Clarissa, in full Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady, epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, published in 1747-48. Among the longest English novels ever written (more than a million words), the book has secured a place in literary history for its tremendous psychological insight. Written in the then fashionable epistolary form, its main body consists of the letters of Clarissa Harlowe and her seducer, Lovelace (though there are many more correspondents throughout the novel).
Clarissa, a young woman who expects to marry well, is gravely disappointed by her parents’ choice of suitor. The extremely wealthy, though ugly, Solmes is not Clarissa’s idea of a good match. Instead she is drawn to a man who is as dashing and fashionable as he is lacking in moral character. He casts himself as Clarissa’s rescuer from her intended and dreaded marriage by whisking her off to the apparent safety and anonymity of London.
21 ноя 2023
