Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady: Comprehending the Most Important Concerns of Private Life. And Particularly Shewing, the Distresses that May Attend the Misconduct Both of Parents and Children, In Relation to Marriage is an epistolary novel written by English author Samuel Richardson. It was published in 1748. The story follows Clarissa Harlowe, a young woman who struggles to maintain her moral values despite the actions of her family. The Harlowe family, who recently became wealthy, focuses heavily on improving their social status. This leads them to control Clarissa’s life strictly. The novel is one of the longest in the English language, based on its estimated word count. It is widely considered Richardson’s greatest work.

In 2015, the BBC listed Clarissa as the 14th greatest British novel in its list of 100. In 2013, The Guardian included Clarissa in its list of 100 best novels written in English.

Samuel Richardson revised the novel multiple times. Many versions of the story exist because he rewrote and republished it several times.

Plot summary

Robert Lovelace, a wealthy man known for his immoral behavior and heir to a large estate, begins to pursue Arabella, Clarissa's older sister. Arabella refuses his advances because she believes he values her parents' approval more than her. Lovelace soon shifts his attention to Clarissa, a young woman known for her strong moral character. Arabella and their brother James are upset by this change, as James has a history of conflict with Lovelace, including a past duel. The siblings also resent Clarissa because their grandfather left her a piece of land, leading them to treat her harshly. The Harlowe family supports Clarissa's marriage to Roger Solmes, but she dislikes him and refuses to marry him. Her family begins to doubt her claims of disliking Lovelace.

To control Clarissa, the Harlowes prevent her from leaving her room or communicating with her friend Anna Howe until she agrees to marry Solmes. Desperate to regain freedom, Clarissa secretly writes to Anna and begins a hidden correspondence with Lovelace, trying to convince her parents to stop forcing her to marry Solmes. Neither Clarissa nor her parents compromise, and their relationship breaks down completely.

Through their secret letters, Lovelace pressures Clarissa to run away with him. He sees her moral strength as a challenge and aims to prove his ability to overcome it, while also seeking revenge against the Harlowes for rejecting his proposal. Clarissa reluctantly agrees to elope but later changes her mind, writing to Lovelace to cancel the plan. Lovelace deliberately ignores her message. When Clarissa confronts him in person, he uses a trick to make her believe there is a disturbance at the Harlowe home, causing her to surrender and allow him to take her to his lodgings.

Once in Lovelace's control, Clarissa grows fearful and angry, suspecting he intends to seduce her rather than marry her. Though he claims to love her and speaks of marriage, he never formally asks her to marry him. He alternates between charming her and threatening her, but Clarissa refuses to submit. She tries to reconcile with her family, but they reject her, believing her elopement was a betrayal. Her father warns her that her disobedience will lead to ruin.

Lovelace holds Clarissa captive for months, moving her between lodgings, including a brothel disguised as a respectable home. He introduces her to his friends, some of whom admire her virtue. One friend, John Belford, urges Lovelace to marry Clarissa, but Lovelace refuses. Lovelace continues his efforts to break Clarissa's will, eventually forcing his way into her room under the pretense of saving her from a fire. She resists him violently and later promises to marry him if he stops threatening her, though she later considers this promise invalid. She escapes to Hampstead, hiding in lodgings there.

Angry at her escape, Lovelace tracks her down, traps her by renting rooms around her, and uses fake family members to gain her trust. He intercepts a letter from Anna Howe, warning Clarissa about his deceit, and forges documents to stop their communication. Eventually, he tricks Clarissa into returning with his imposter relatives to a brothel, where he drugs and rapes her.

After the rape, Clarissa loses her sanity for several days, writing confused letters and verses that blame herself and Lovelace. When she recovers, she refuses to marry Lovelace or live with him as his mistress, accusing him of unlawful detention. Lovelace claims the rape was justified, but Clarissa insists on her freedom. He attempts to rape her again without drugs, but she threatens to kill herself, forcing him to back down.

When Lovelace is called away to care for his dying uncle, he orders the brothel staff to keep Clarissa confined but treated kindly. She escapes, but the brothel owner sends bailiffs to capture her, leading to her imprisonment for unpaid debts. John Belford finds her and pays her bail. She later finds shelter with a shopkeeper and his wife.

Publication

The first two volumes of the book were published in December 1747, and the next five volumes were published in 1748. The book contains about 970,000 words, and it is considered the longest novel in the English canon.

Response

Clarissa is considered one of the most important works of eighteenth-century European literature. A well-known critic named Harold Bloom said he often read the novel again each year. When the book was first published, it was widely liked. However, many readers asked the author, Samuel Richardson, to write a happy ending where Clarissa and Lovelace marry. At the end of the novel, many readers were unhappy with the sad conclusion. Some even wrote their own versions of the ending with happier outcomes. Two sisters, Lady Bradshaigh and Lady Echlin, are among the most famous people who created these alternative endings. Richardson believed the moral lessons of his story were not clearly understood by readers. In later editions of the book, he changed Clarissa's character to make her seem more pure and Lovelace's character to appear more evil. These changes were meant to help readers better understand the message of the novel.

The first American nurse, Clara Barton, was named after the main character in Richardson's novel. Her full name was Clarissa Harlowe Barton.

Critical Edition

• Penguin Classics (1985), edited by Angus Ross (based on the first edition)
• The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Samuel Richardson (coming soon)

Radio and television adaptations

The BBC adapted the novel into a television series in 1991, starring Sean Bean, Saskia Wickham, and Sean Pertwee. In March and April 2010, BBC Radio 4 released a radio adaptation of the novel, starring Richard Armitage and Zoe Waites.