Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1
1748
Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1
1748
One of the most ambitious novels ever written, this epistolary masterpiece burrows into the mind of a young woman fighting for her autonomy in a world determined to control her. Clarissa Harlowe is brilliant, principled, and trapped: her family demands she marry the insufferable Mr. Solmes, while she finds herself drawn to the charismatic but dangerous Robert Lovelace. What begins as a family dispute over a suitor escalates into a psychological siege, as Clarissa's relatives employ manipulation, isolation, and coercion to bend her to their will. Through letters exchanged with her friend Anna Howe, we enter the deepest chambers of a remarkable consciousness confronting impossible choices with unwavering integrity. Richardson's 18th-century psychological depth remains startling: this is a novel that understands how families can become prisons, how love can become a battlefield, and how a woman's virtue can be weaponized against her. It is dark, intense, and devastating in its portrayal of one woman's tragedy.
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“For love must be a very foolish thing to look back upon, when it has brought persons born to affluence into indigence, and laid a generous mind under obligation and dependence.””
— Samuel Richardson
“to be courted as princesses for a few weeks, in order to be treated as slaves for the rest of our lives.””
— Samuel Richardson
“I was exceedingly affected, says he, upon the occasion. But was ashamed to be surprised by her into such a fit of unmanly weakness-so ashamed that I was resolved to subdue it at the instant, and guard against the like for the future. Yet, at that moment, I more than half regretted that I could not permit her to enjoy a triumph which she so well deserved to glory in-her youth, her beauty, her artless innocence, and her manner, equally beyond comparison or description. But her indifference, Belford!-That she could resolve to sacrifice me to the malice of my enemies; and carry on the design in so clandestine a manner-yet love her, as I do, to frenzy!-revere her, as I do, to adoration!-These were the recollections with which I fortified my recreant heart against her-Yet, after all, if she persevere, she must conquer!-Coward, as she has made me, that never was a coward before!””
— Samuel Richardson
“I had rather all the world should be angry with me than my mamma!””
— Samuel Richardson
“Affected by my mother's goodness to me, and by that part of her argument which related to her own peace, and to the suspicions they had of her secretly inclining to prefer the man so hated by them,””
— Samuel Richardson
“She paused, with a look of expectation, as if she waited for my consenting answer. I was still silent; looking down; the tears in my eyes.””
— Samuel Richardson
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<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1 by Samuel Richardson free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1 by Samuel Richardson free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053Cite this book
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Richardson, Samuel. Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1. Lex, lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053.Richardson, S. (1748). Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053Richardson, Samuel. Clarissa Harlowe; or the History of a Young Lady — Volume 1. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/clarissa-harlowe-or-the-history-of-a-young-lady-volume-1-ecf98c76-efc6-4df0-95fe-5a885ffc7053.
