Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

1986

Thesis Director

Frank McCormick

Abstract

Throughout the 400 pages of the first installment of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, the heroine vies with at least three important people for the right to govern herself. Her brother, James Harlowe, Jr., is leader of the large extended family unit and is aiming at family aggrandisement by forcing Clarissa to marry a wealthy but odious man, Roger Solmes. Clarissa's mother, Mrs. Harlowe, aims at family peace, hoping to coax Clarissa into the same sort of obedience to patriarchal authority that she has adopted as her lifestyle. Robert Lovelace, a debonair young rake, aims at gaining total control of Clarissa, either to seduce her or marry her as he wishes.

Clarissa proves to be a formidable opponent for Mrs. Harlowe, a loving but weak wife and mother. The male members of the family eventually force Mrs. Harlowe to turn Clarissa's discipline over to her son, an often inhumane and sometimes sadistic young social climber. Even with James Jr., Clarissa's strong will and desire to rule her own soul enable her to endure what becomes a cruel imprisonment. With the crafty Lovelace, however, Clarissa is temporarily outwitted at the end of the first installment and tricked into running away with him to London.

This thesis maintains that Clarissa's eventual triumph over her family, Lovelace, and the society of her day is brought on by the strength of will she develops in doing battle with the power mongers who daily seek to control her life in the months that she lives at Harlowe Place. When, in the second installment, she gains the proper knowledge of herself and the complex Lovelace, then she is equipped to employ her superior strength of will to triumph over all the forces that have sought to rule her. She finds that her own will is the master instrument in controlling her destiny.

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