Chapter One Clarissa's Rebellion: Never to Be the Family Property

The original title of Clarissa is The Lady's Legacy, which reflects the importance of the grandfather's legacy in the novel. According to Christopher Hill, “The grandfather's will from the start sets personal affection in conflict with family ambition” (105). Clarissa's grandfather leaves her the estate due to his personal preference for her, but he does not predict this will cause so much uneasiness in the Harlowes who are anxious for family aggrandizement. All the conflicts and upheavals in the Harlowe family get intensified after Clarissa inherits the legacy. If Clarissa's grandfather had abode by the convention and distributed his personal estate among his sons or left it to his only grandson, there would not have been so much trouble in the family after he passed away. In addition to the effects of the grandfather's legacy, this chapter will also examine the Harlowes' attitudes towards Lovelace and their choice of Solmes as Clarissa's future husband with the focus on the Harlowes' treating Clarissa as family property.

I. The Effect of the Grandfather's Legacy

Why does Clarissa's grandfather leave the estate to her instead of his sons or other grandchildren? In my opinion, it is her grandfather's preference for her that accounts for his bypassing his three sons and one grandson and another granddaughter, ignoring the principle of primogeniture. Furthermore, he considers the others well provided for as mentioned in his will. He knows that both his unmarried sons are very rich, as John benefits from his new-found mines and Antony gets rich by East India traffic and successful voyages. His second son James Sr. has married Clarissa's mother, daughter of a viscount. Clarissa's maternal grandparents are both from honourable families and James Sr. obtains a large portion of their property by marriage. Doody succinctly summarizes the Harlowes' status: “The Harlowes, who have risen in the world through accumulation of land, through mercantile trade with the East and coal mines, represent the crossing of the new wealth with the old.” (“Samuel Richardson: Fiction and Knowledge” 105) As his only grandson James Jr. will get his godmother Lovell's Scottish and English estates, the grandfather does not worry about James' status. Since Clarissa's father will leave a proper estate to Arabella, the grandfather does not worry about her either. In this family, everyone has a considerable portion of property, so there is nothing much to worry about. Therefore, Clarissa's grandfather leaves her the estate in return for her great love and care. Although he states in the will that “they will not impugn or contest the following bequests and dispositions in favour of my said granddaughter Clarissa ...” (L4, 53), the grandfather has perhaps foreseen the possible conflicts in the family and thus cautioned them against disputes. In fact, his gift of bequest to Clarissa becomes a thorn in everyone's side, resulting in family upheaval and sibling rivalry. To quote Clarissa's own words, “I found jealousies and uneasiness rising in every breast, where all before was unity and love.” (L19, 104)

The bequest of the grandfather's estate was meant to reward Clarissa for her extraordinary qualities, but it turns out to be a bomb thrown into the previously quiet Harlowe family, giving rise to the sibling rivalry, jealousy and uneasiness. Clarissa's father hates her inheritance, as she expresses, “my father himself could not bear that I should be made sole, as I may call it, and independent, for such the will as to that estate and the powers it gave (unaccountably, as they all said), made me.” (L13, 78) As the head of the Harlowe family, James Harlowe Sr. does not want to see his daughter get independent economically even though she transfers to him the management. Her uncle Antony also expresses discontentment on her inheritance of the grandfather's estate. As he asserts to Clarissa, “Is not this estate our estate, as we may say? Have we not all an interest in it, and a prior right, if right were to have taken place? And was it more than a good old man's dotage, God rest his soul! That gave it you before us all?” (L32.4, 155) Antony Harlowe is implying that he and the other members of the family have a privilege to inherit the estate if the grandfather follows the common rule. It is the grandfather's personal favor that leads to Clarissa's inheritance of the estate, which makes the rest of the family feel less loved by the old man. Hence it causes uneasiness, hatred and sibling rivalry.

Clarissa is an ideal girl in everybody's eyes at the beginning of the novel. She is renowned for her beauty, charm and prudence. She helps her mother in house-keeping, and her grandfather in keeping the accounts. As a dutiful child, Clarissa is beloved by her grandfather who praises her highly in his will: “my dearest and beloved grand-daughter Clarissa Harlowe has been from infancy a matchless young creature in her duty to me, and admired by all who knew her as a very extraordinary child.” (L4, 53) Almost everybody who knows Clarissa will sing praise for her outstanding merits, though she is only an eighteen-year-old girl. Good reputation brings the family honor and wins her the love of her family members.

From the grandfather's will, we get to know that Clarissa has been taking care of her grandfather in his old age. Lovingly called by the old man “the delight of my old age”, she not only helps keep the accounts and take care of daily routines, but also gives much comfort and love to her grandfather. This reminds us of Richardson's first novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, in which the titular character is rewarded with a marriage with Mr. B for her virtue though it is a virtue of a different kind. In that novel, Pamela successfully resists Mr. B's seduction and keeps her virginity intact, whereas in this novel Clarissa's loving care for her grandfather in his late years gets rewarded by his bequest of the estate, family pictures and the family-plates. She and her grandfather share the same view about family life, that is, love is more important than money in this family.

While the other family members are talking about estates and property, she often stays in her Dairy House, reading or writing to her best friend—Anna Howe. Taking little interest in property, Clarissa is very kind and generous to the poor. As a dutiful child, she transfers the management of her estate to her father for fear of causing misunderstanding about her possible independence after she gets it. Unlike the other members of her family in many aspects, Clarissa states her particular views concerning money and property in Letter 19 to Miss Howe, claiming that “happiness and riches are two things, and very seldom meet together” (L19, 106). In her eyes, material wealth is not equal to happiness whereas the Harlowes are avaricious in accumulating wealth and aggrandizing their family property. We could suppose that the grandfather's leaving the estate to Clarissa is meant to be a lesson to other family members—only those who have proper views on property and cherish love and compassion can inherit his personal estate.

Growing up together with Clarissa, Arabella often feels neglected because she is outshone by Clarissa's brilliancy which takes the attention of the whole family. In the company of such an incomparable paragon of virtue, Arabella always lives under the shade of Clarissa, like an unknown star eclipsed by the bright sun. We can imagine how envious Arabella is in such an environment. She is not a tolerant person after all. The grandfather's leaving his estate to Clarissa arouses Arabella's envy because the legacy renders Clarissa the possibility of free will in marriage choice, which Arabella insanely resents (Harris 53). In a letter to Anna, Clarissa writes about the conversation with her sister, who says the following: “I do not doubt but it is Miss Clary's aim ... to get her estate into her own hands, and go to live at The Grove, in that independence upon which she builds all her perverseness. And, dear heart! my little love, how will you then blaze away!” (L44, 199) The jealous Arabella implies that Clarissa might have played some tricks in gaining the senile grandfather's estate, which, as we have analyzed previously, is not the case. Clarissa is given the estate as a reward for her love and care for her grandfather. With such an outstanding younger sister who is superior to her in almost every aspect, it is no wonder that Arabella feels jealous. In Letter 42 Clarissa relates her dialogue with Arabella, who calls Clarissa “a very artful one” and continues to say “that nobody could be valued or respected, but must stand like cyphers wherever I [Clarissa] came” (L42, 194). Arabella complains further about being unattended to whenever Clarissa expresses her opinions. In comparison to a brilliant virtuous sister, Arabella is often slighted by people; therefore, she cannot help feeling jealous of Clarissa.

To add insult to injury, Arabella finds a rival in love for Lovelace in Clarissa. In Letter 2 Clarissa describes the short period of courtship between Lovelace and Arabella, which explains why Arabella bears such an ill will against her. At first, Lovelace is introduced to the Harlowe family as the suitor of Arabella. To use Clarissa's words, “She [Arabella] liked the gentleman still more at his next visit; and yet he made no particular address to her... This was wondered at, as my uncle had introduced him into our family declaredly as a visitor to my sister.” (L2, 42) “The distant behavior”, as Arabella calls it, indicates that Lovelace is only interested in cultivating a friendship with the whole family. So after several visits paid by Lovelace, Arabella becomes impatient and worse-tempered than usual. Having successfully provoked her to be very angry with him, Lovelace puts forward the proposal, which is naturally denied by the displeased Arabella. Thus Lovelace skillfully gets rid of an unsatisfactory match, and apparently he does nothing wrong because it is Arabella who says no to his proposal. From this point we can also find that Lovelace is very good at detecting female psychology.

After this, Lovelace still pays visits to the Harlowe family, hoping to keep up the friendship. At that time, Clarissa is at home, and Lovelace immediately fixes his attention on her, making everybody believe that Clarissa “had made a conquest” (L3, 46). Then the next day Lord M. comes to the Harlowe Place and makes a formal proposal to the younger sister in his nephew's name, expressing the wish to be related to the Harlowe family. So Lovelace continues his visits to the Harlowe Place, now as the suitor of Clarissa. This leads to the envy and hatred of Arabella against not only Lovelace but also her own sister. To quote Clarissa's words in a letter to Anna Howe, “Poisons and poniards have often been set to work by minds inflamed by disappointed love and revenge; will you wonder then, that the ties of relationship in such a case have no force, and that a sister forgets to be a sister?” (L15, 85) The unreturned love Arabella has for Lovelace turns into deep hatred for her sister, formerly a favored granddaughter who gets the estate and now a rival in love who wins the affection of her potential suitor.

The grandfather's leaving Clarissa his personal estate also enrages her brother James Jr. As the only grandson of the Harlowe family, James considers himself to be the right inheritor of the property and therefore bears an ill will against Clarissa. The Harlowe elders want to raise their economic and social status by aggrandizing the family property, and Clarissa's two uncles remain single just for the purpose of keeping the estates together, hoping to get a peerage for James. Yet, James is afraid that his two uncles may follow the suit of his grandfather and leave Clarissa all their property. So he persuades Arabella to form a league against Clarissa, believing, “This little siren is in a fair way to out-uncle as well as out-grandfather us both!” (L13, 80). By calling Clarissa “little siren”, James is maliciously implying that Clarissa is an artful and deceptive woman who has lured his grandfather into leaving her the estate, which causes his great apprehension that his uncles may follow his grandfather's example in Clarissa's favor.

During the period when Lovelace pays visits to the Harlowe family, James is in Scotland, taking care of the estates left to him by his godmother. When he hears about Lovelace's visits, James writes his father immediately, asking him not to make any decision until he comes back home. The whole situation changes as soon as James returns from Scotland. He does not approve of Lovelace's courting either of his two sisters, not to say the marriage between the two families. In Letter 4, we find James' negative description of Lovelace's character for the antipathy began when they were fellow students at college. James thinks Lovelace has great flaws in character and tells the family “they never met without quarrelling”. In Clarissa's words, James, “who is not noted for the gentleness of his temper,” now resumes “an antipathy early begun, and so deeply-rooted” (L4, 49). He gradually manipulates the family's opinions against Lovelace. Furthermore, he provokes Lovelace in public and starts a duel, which ends with James getting slightly wounded. This incident arouses a tumult in the family, and Lovelace is not allowed to visit the family anymore.

The inflamed James and the jealous Arabella now join together to persecute Clarissa. In Letter 13, Clarissa gives a description of her brother's ambition: as the only son in the Harlowe family, James regards that it is enough for his two sisters to “be very well provided for by ten or fifteen thousand pounds apiece” and that “all the real estates in the family, to wit, my grandfather's, father's, and two uncles', and the remainder of their respective personal estates,” together with what he might get from his godmother would “entitle him to hope for a peerage”. And James thinks “that daughters were but encumbrances and drawbacks upon a family” because “a man who has sons brings up chickens for his own table” whereas “daughters are chickens brought up for the tables of other men” (L13, 77). Living in a patriarchal society, James naturally makes the comparison between “daughters” and “chickens”, for the inequality between men and women is engraved in the male consciousness. He takes it for granted that all the real estates of the family belong to him as he is the only one to bear the family name to the next generation.

Apart from Clarissa's favored position and economic independence rendered possible by their grandfather's estate, he also feels threatened by Clarissa's intelligence. Much of James' power is derived from university education, which is the foundation of all hierarchy according to Clarissa, who asks such a rhetorical question: For what are colleges “but classes of tyrants, from the upper students over the lower, and from them to the tutor?” (L29.3, 139) Clarissa argues that the main aim of university education is not knowledge but morality, as she says to James, that if humanity were a branch of his studies at the university, “it has not found a genius in you for mastering it” (L50.2, 219). James, who seems wanting in ability to make his learning valuable to himself or to anybody else, feels threatened by intelligent women: “I know not what wit in a woman is good for, but to make her over-value herself, and despise everybody else.” He cannot stand the “saucy lecturing” of “such a conceited and pert preacher and questioner” as Clarissa (L29.2, 138). In the face of men's educational privilege, Clarissa suggests that she has taught herself more than what James ever learnt at university (L29.1, 137-138). Such a narrow-minded man as he is, James cannot endure being inferior to his sister with regards to intelligence and learning, and as an arrogant man, James will not allow himself to be despised by a woman. All this adds fire to the sibling conflict in the novel.

II. The Harlowe Family's Concern with Property

The Harlowe family is not a nuclear family which has only parents and children, for it also includes the two unmarried uncles. In Letter 6, Clarissa writes to Anna, “But never was there a family more united in its different branches than ours. Our uncles consider us as their own children, and declare that it is for our sakes they live single.” (56) As mentioned before, Uncle John and Uncle Antony remain single just because they want to concentrate the property in one family, with the ambition of raising the social status of the Harlowe family and winning a rank among the nobility. As to the bequest of the grandfather's estate to Clarissa, John and Antony have a reason to be unsatisfied, for the grandfather does not give his estate to any male heir, but to the youngest granddaughter.

What will happen to the estate if Clarissa gets married? Usually the daughter will take her property as dowry to her husband's house, just as Clarissa's mother brings a large amount of property to her father's family. At that time, women (except those of the working class) must have proper dowry if they want to have a good marriage. Ian Watt states that in the eighteenth century, “women found it much more difficult to find a husband unless they could bring him a dowry” (142). It seems that the grandfather does not care much about the family's ambition of aggrandizement, for otherwise he would not have left the estate to Clarissa. From what the grandfather says in the will, “never (blessed be God therefore!) was there a family more prosperous in all its branches,” we could feel that the grandfather is contented with the present family status (L4, 53). He feels thankful to God who brings riches to the family. The grandfather's decision is meant to be a caution against further avarice for much more riches, for the whole family living in unity and peace is what he actually desires. Clarissa sees eye to eye with her grandfather in this aspect, but she senses the abrupt changes after she receives the bequest, and the situation becomes worse with the introduction of Lovelace to the family.

In the eighteenth century, marriage has everything to do with economic concerns, and it is important for the head of the family to choose whom his daughter should marry. Daughters usually do not have the freedom of choice in marriage which is closely related to property. Since a daughter must bring dowry to her husband's family, to use young James' metaphor quoted earlier, “daughters are chickens brought up for the tables of other men,” it is crucial for the family authority to choose a suitable husband in the consideration of not only educational background and personality, but also economic concerns. Sometimes, if the married couple does not have child, their estates can even be inherited by members of the woman's family.

Clarissa's father gets his property mainly through his wife, who brings to him bequests of property from her relatives. Since Mr. Harlowe has experienced this in marriage, he feels uneasy about the grandfather's bequest to Clarissa because once she gets married, she will take away the estate. Although she transfers the management of the estate to her father, Mr. Harlowe won't be relieved until he finds a proper way to keep the estate within the Harlowe family. Clarissa's father is represented as a stubborn, tyrant-like figure to his daughter, whom he regards as undutiful after she rejects the family's arrangement of her marriage with Solmes. He may act as a lord to his passive and docile wife, but much of his authority goes to his son James. As noted earlier, when Lovelace pays visits to Clarissa, Mr. Harlowe receives a letter from his son who tells him not to make any decision until his arrival, and he does exactly as his son requires. Clarissa also notices her brother's attitudes to their father: he treats the old man like a steward. After James returns from Scotland, he criticizes the family for thinking of encouraging Lovelace to court either of his sisters and “at the same time returning his thanks to my father for declining his consent till he arrived, in such a manner, I thought, as a superior would do when he commended an inferior for having well performed his duty in his absence” (L4, 48).

This is the first evident instance that Mr. Harlowe transfers his power to James. Gradually Mr. Harlowe loses his authority in the household, with his blustering words being treated as empty clichés. Thus James succeeds in manipulating the family's opinions because his father blindly transfers paternal authority to him. Just like Mrs. Harlowe informs Clarissa, “your papa has given his sanction to your brother's dislikes, and they are now your papa's dislikes, and my dislikes, your uncles and everybody's!” (L25.2, 124) The implication is that the eldest and only son of the Harlowe family now represents the opinions of the whole household with the permission of his father.

Mrs. Harlowe is an ambiguous character in the novel. She is a daughter of a viscount and brings to the Harlowe family a large sum of property and inheritance from several of her relations. Therefore, Mrs. Harlowe actually contributes much to the family's fortune, and one might expect that such a wife with aristocratic background would behave in a kind of arrogant manner in the Harlowe family. But, as Clarissa mentions to Anna, “there is not a more condescending wife in the world than my mamma” (L9, 64). Having accepted the arranged marriage, Mrs. Harlowe seems to be contented to “sell” herself to buy family harmony, and in front of her tyrannical husband, she is always ready to comply. This passivity puts her at a dilemma when Clarissa sincerely pleads for her help. On the one hand, Mrs. Harlowe loves her daughter dearly and is ready to protect her; on the other hand, she dares not disobey the irascible husband. Always a docile wife, Mrs. Harlowe chooses to follow her husband's opinions. To this powerless mother, it is “much more eligible to give up a daughter, than to disoblige a husband” (L25, 122). She would rather sacrifice her daughter than displease the tyrant husband, which reflects her inability to play an active part in her children's lives for fear of enraging the family patriarchy.

But sometimes Mrs. Harlowe acts very strangely out of the concern for her family's safety. As Carol Kay rightly points out, “Officially, Clarissa's mother takes a consistent position that the father is the sovereign of the family. But at times she acts independently, in a very ambiguous way authorizing Clarissa's attempt to cool Lovelace down by writing to him and so prevent another duel” (167). Kay's implied meaning is that it is perhaps not a good way for a mother to make such suggestions so as to prevent disturbance. For her son's safety, Mrs. Harlowe is heedless of the possible consequences that Clarissa's keeping correspondence with Lovelace may bring about. This reflects the deep influence that patriarchy has upon Mrs. Harlowe.

Clarissa is clear about the Harlowes' motive of “raising a family,” which she regards as “[a] view too frequently, it seems, entertained by families which having great substance, cannot be satisfied without rank and title” (L13, 77). Aiming at family aggrandizement, the Harlowes work hard as a whole so as to accelerate the accumulation and concentration of more property. To them, Clarissa is also their property, but they cannot keep this piece of property at home since she is of the marriageable age. To marry her off with beneficial terms becomes a serious concern of the Harlowe male authority. In the eighteenth century, women have little freedom to choose their future husband. Even if they have the freedom to choose, their parents, or often their father to be more exact, shall make the final decision. For example, Sophia in Fielding's Tom Jones runs away in defiance of the arranged marriage with Blifil which her father and aunt want to force on her. Daughters are only chips of transaction when marriage is considered as an economic act. Because Sophia's marriage with Blifil will combine the Western family's land with Allworthy's, Aunt Western uses the example of a French princess marrying a Spanish prince to persuade Sophia: “it is the match between two kingdoms rather than two persons. The same happens in great families such as ours. The alliance between the families is the principal matter” (VII, iii, 281). Just as Squire Western and Aunt Western do not really take Sophia's feelings into account, the Harlowes will not care for Clarissa's real happiness, but consider the advantages and benefits of the marriage as the priority.

Both Lovelace and Solmes are intruders to the Harlowe family. Since one of them will not only marry Clarissa but more importantly take away the estate, the Harlowes feel uneasy about this and thus loses their usual peace and unity. Then why do the Harlowes choose Solmes instead of Lovelace from the aristocratic class? The most important reason is that Solmes' marriage terms are more advantageous to the Harlowes. As Clarissa's mother tells her:

But what shall we do about the terms Mr Solmes offers? Those are the inducements with everybody. He has even given hopes to your brother that he will make exchanges of estates, or at least that he will purchase the northern one; for, you know, it must be entirely consistent with the family views that we increase our interest in this county. Your brother, in short, has given in a plan that captivates us all; and a family so rich in all its branches that has its views to honour must be pleased to see a very great probability of being on a footing with the principal in the kingdom. (L17, 101)

Solmes, though ugly and illiterate, apparently not an appropriate match for the beautiful and virtuous Clarissa, offers the advantageous terms to the Harlowes. He is willing to “make exchanges of estates” or “purchase the northern one” for the purpose of increasing the Harlowes' interest in that county. This term pleases James greatly for he sees a probability to win a peerage. Furthermore, as part of the arrangements, Solmes proposes to revert to the Harlowe family the estate if Clarissa dies childless and he has none by another marriage. These arrangements, though ridiculous to some extent, console the Harlowes with false hopes that in the future they might still keep Clarissa's estate inherited from her grandfather within the family and inherit Solmes' as well.

In both class status and personal merits Solmes is inferior to Lovelace. Solmes' wealth, like that of the Harlowes, is not inherited; neither does his family claim a title. His is an “upstart” whose wealth is amassed through family rivalries and “unjust settlements” (L13, 81). In his favor is the fact that his moral reputation is beyond reproach, despite his obvious lack of refinement. On his part, Solmes stands to gain enormously from an alliance with the Harlowes. Their estate (the one Clarissa inherits from her grandfather) is situated between two of his and thus would be “of twice the value to him that it would be of to any other person”. The land, as Clarissa is quick to note, “is a stronger motive with him than the wife” (L13, 81). If Clarissa marries Lovelace, however, she will take the bequeathed estate out of the Harlowe family. Furthermore, Clarissa's two uncles may, as James fears, follow her grandfather's example and leave her the estates to ensure a peerage. In other words, once Clarissa marries Lovelace, all the dreams of seeking a rank will be shattered for James. So, it is quite clear that the chief motive for James' manipulating the family's opinions in Solmes' favor is his own selfish concern over the possible title of peerage.

What's more, humiliated by Lovelace in the duel, James will not allow his sister to marry such a man whom he hates ever since he was in college. Therefore, he repeatedly emphasizes Lovelace's “reputed faulty morals” (L13, 78) and in contrast Solmes' being a moral cipher. As the only heir of his aristocratic family, Lovelace has a prospect to inherit his uncle's property and other relatives' as well. Not only has Lovelace an aristocratic background, he is also good-mannered and well-educated. In her letter to Anna Howe, Clarissa relates that her father regards Lovelace as “a person of reading, judgement, and taste” (L3, 47). As regards his property, Clarissa retells what Lovelace informs her to Anna Howe, “that his own estate is sufficient for us both; not a nominal, but a real, two thousand pounds per annum ... that he is clear of the world.” In addition, “his uncle moreover resolves to settle upon him a thousand pounds per annum on his nuptials” (L88, 357). From the remarks, we learn specifically how rich Lovelace is. Not only does he have money, he is also debt-free and has a good prospect to get more from his uncle.

As time goes by, Lovelace is given completely different receptions in the Harlowe family. At first he is introduced formally into the family as Arabella's suitor and wins the favor of the Harlowes with his gentility. The Harlowes, even Clarissa's father, praise his great learning. After Lovelace cleverly gets rid of Arabella and turns his attention to Clarissa, he is still warmly received at the family. He is asked to write letters about his traveling experiences, the reading of which is considered a delight to the Harlowes. At that time, Lovelace often sends letters to Clarissa, which is not forbidden by Clarissa's mother for fear of causing trouble. But with the intervention of James, Lovelace suffers abrupt coldness from the Harlowes. After the duel, his presence is forbidden at the house, which greatly enrages the proud Lovelace who then threatens to take revenge on the family. The reason of his cold reception is twofold: one is the old grudge between Lovelace and James started at college, and the other is Lovelace's bad reputation for being a woman chaser. James would not allow this man to be of any connection with his family.

To Clarissa, it will be a nightmare to think of marrying Solmes, who “has but a very ordinary share of understanding, is very illiterate, knows nothing but the value of estates and how to improve them, and what belongs to land-jobbing and husbandry” (L8, 62). In Letter 16, Clarissa gives a detailed description about how hateful Solmes is, and reading the letter, we feel that her antipathy towards Solmes is almost physical and involuntary:

I went down this morning when breakfast was ready with a very uneasy heart... But, unluckily, there was the odious Solmes sitting a squat between my mamma and sister, with so much assurance in his looks!—But you know, my dear, that those we love not cannot do anything to please us.

Had the wretch kept his seat, it might have been well enough, but the bent and broad-shouldered creature must needs rise and stalk towards a chair, which was just by that which was set for me.

I removed it at a distance, as if to make way to my own; and down I sat, abruptly I believe...

But this was not enough to daunt him....

He took the removed chair and drew it so near mine, squatting in it with his ugly weight, that he pressed upon my hoop—I was so offended (all I had heard, as I said, in my head) that I removed to another chair....

I saw my papa was excessively displeased. When angry, no man's countenance ever shows it so much as my papa's.... Sir! said I, and curtsied—I trembled and put my chair nearer the wretch, and sat down; my face I could feel all in a glow. (L16, 87)

In this passage, words like “odious”, “sitting a squat”, “the bent and broad-shouldered creature”, “ugly weight”, and “the wretch” show us clearly how despicable Solmes appears to Clarissa! To marry such a wretch would be worse than death for her.

In addition to Solmes' unbearable physical ugliness, the virtuous Clarissa finds Solmes' willingness to betray his own relatives' interests for her family's sake most distasteful. He promises in his marriage arrangements to return the estate if they do not have a child and he has none by another marriage, which deprives the right of Solmes' relatives to inherit the property. All this is only for the purpose of a wealthy family's aggrandizing hope. Here we can see Clarissa's implied accusation of her family's greed and selfishness. She thinks that “the world is but one great family” and wonders, “what then is this narrow selfishness that reigns in us, but relationship remembered against relationship forgot?” (L8, 62) Clarissa hates both Solmes who makes the offer and her family who are going to accept that offer. This shows that Clarissa is even generous and sympathetic to those distant relatives of Solmes'.

III. Family Pressure vs. Lovelace's Help

Clarissa's attitude towards Lovelace is ambiguous: on the one hand, she resists the pursuit of Lovelace; on the other, she secretly desires him. Before Clarissa comes back from the Howes, Lovelace has already cultivated a friendship with the Harlowe family. Cleverly ridding himself of Arabella, Lovelace soon fixes his attention on Clarissa. The Harlowes all express their support for the alliance of Lovelace with Clarissa except for his faulty morals, but he can be reformed by Clarissa as her Uncle Harlowe comments. Everybody says Clarissa has “made a conquest” (L3, 46). But Clarissa's answer is that she does not like the man at all, for Lovelace seems to have too good an opinion of himself.

During Lovelace's visits, Clarissa does not give him any opportunity to speak to her in private, but the Harlowes take a delight in the conversation with him due to his respectful behavior. Clarissa considers him “only as a common guest when he came,” and thinks herself “no more concerned in his visits, nor at his entrance or departure, than any other of the family” (L3, 47). But her indifference gradually disappears after she starts a correspondence with Lovelace, who is asked by Clarissa's Uncle Hervey to write about his travels to the Harlowe family. He demands that Clarissa should be the addressee of the letters. Since the family believes every letter from Lovelace should be read in public, they agree to the arrangement. Thus the correspondence begins. However, apart from the letter to the whole family, Lovelace encloses a particular letter more than once to Clarissa, expressing his passionate love for her and complaining her indifference. Still Clarissa does not show any notice of them, which disappoints him and hurts his pride.

Anna is the first to discover her friend's subtle feeling towards Lovelace, as she rallies Clarissa in Letter 10, “Yet, my dear, don't you find at your heart somewhat unusual make it go throb, throb, throb, as you read just here?” (71). But Clarissa denies it in the answer to this letter and enumerates three reasons why she does not love Lovelace, namely, his faulty morals, vanity and haughtiness. In Letter 13, Clarissa denies once again her feelings towards Lovelace, “I had no throbs, no glows upon it—upon my word I had not” (L13, 79). However the following remarks betray her appreciation for him: “Nevertheless I own to you that I could not help saying to myself on the occasion, ‘Were it ever to be my lot to have this man, he would not hinder me from pursuing the methods I so much delight to take’—with ‘a pity that such a man were not uniformly good!’ ” (79). Here the meaning is very clear: if Lovelace were a good man, Clarissa would have him. She expresses this after learning about Lovelace's benevolence to his tenants, and it is obvious that Clarissa likes him. The harder she tries to deny this fact, the more she is detected by the clever Anna that she is in love with Lovelace.

In one letter Miss Anna Howe points out the problem of the Harlowes very pungently:

You are all too rich to be happy, child. For must not each of you, by the constitutions of your family marry to be still richer? People who know in what their main excellence consists are not to be blamed (are they?) for cultivating and improving what they think most valuable? Is true happiness any part of your family-view?—So far from it, that none of your family but yourself could be happy were they not rich. So let them fret on, grumble and grudge, and accumulate; and wondering what ails them that they have not happiness when they have riches, think the cause is want of more; and so go on heaping up till Death, as greedy an accumulator as themselves, gathers them into his garner! (L10, 68)

Anna is direct to the point when she analyzes the problem in the Harlowe family. Except Clarissa, the entire Harlowe family consider riches as the essential thing to make them happy. Therefore, they keep on accumulating wealth, as they blindly believe that more wealth will bring about more happiness. Yet none of them is aware of the fact that riches are not equal to happiness. Jacqueline Elaine Lawson maintains, “This emphasis on materialism, social aspiration and economic necessity subsumes affective impulses within the family.” (93) The Harlowe family is obsessed with gaining more wealth in order to aggrandize the family with both a noble title and property. Miss Howe detects the difference between Clarissa and her family. What the Harlowes arrange for Clarissa is a property marriage which is advantageous to their plan of family aggrandizement. However, it is rejected absolutely by Clarissa who will not sacrifice her happiness for the family ambition.

Clearly Clarissa is a person not of the same kind as her family whose obsession with wealth accumulation and social promotion surpasses their concern for real happiness and personal integrity. Here lies the irony: she is chosen by her grandfather to inherit the estate which is fiercely sought after by the rest of her family. She would choose happiness rather than wealth, but this view cannot be accepted by her relatives. Therefore, in this sense, she is a displaced person within the Harlowe family. Clarissa is not blind to the Harlowe family psychology. She reviews, “Hatred to Lovelace, family aggrandizement, and this great motive paternal authority!—What a force united!—when, singly, each consideration is sufficient to carry all before it!” (L13, 82) She is fully aware of the family motives of forcing upon her the property marriage since family aggrandizement is always at the core of the Harlowe males to whose paternal authority she is demanded to surrender. But she resolutely refuses their arrangement. Michael F. Suarez observes, “Her incessant nay-saying is a response to the patterns of infantilization she encounters at almost every turn, patterns that are made evident in the forms of address directed at her and the perceptions that underlie them.” (69) Suarez implies that Clarissa's continuous no-saying is her revolt against being constantly treated as a child by the patriarch in her family. Unlike her family members, she cares less for money than for love and relationship.

The conflict between Clarissa and her family is actually that between two sharply different ideas of marriage: one is based on love and the other on property. Lawrence Stone argues that the eighteenth century was the period when companionate marriage was gradually replacing the traditional parents-ordered property marriage. In a sense, Clarissa's conflict with her family is symbolic of such change. For the other Harlowes, Clarissa is only regarded as a bargaining chip in this property marriage. This conflict cannot be conciliated because neither of the two parties—the stubborn Harlowes and the strong-willed Clarissa—will give in. We may even speculate that Clarissa's tragedy is doomed almost from her very existence in this world. Although a member of such a family, she possesses an indomitable will and independent thinking abilities. The difference in ideas concerning marriage and happiness is the essential cause of Clarissa's departure from the family.

Then Clarissa's tragic life of domestic imprisonment begins. First comes her brother with the prohibition that Clarissa “must not for a month to come or till licence obtained correspond with anybody out of the house” (L8, 63). Clarissa is not even allowed to correspond with Miss Howe, which is her best way to pass time. At the family tea time, Clarissa is deprived of the right to make tea for the family, which is her usual work. No matter how hard she protests, Clarissa's father will not change his mind. Her father sternly says, “I will be obeyed” and “I have no child—I will have no child, but an obedient one” (L8, 64). Then Clarissa's uncles, aunt, Mrs. Norton and her own mother talk or write to her one after another in order to make her accept the arranged marriage. Her faithful servant Hannah who often helps in her secret correspondence is dismissed, and the pert Betty Barnes, her sister's maid, takes over the place and becomes an actual spy on Clarissa's actions. She is forbidden to meet her relatives face to face unless she asks for permission in advance. Gradually Clarissa is forced by her family into a prisoner in her own house. She is torn between family loyalty and her strong dislike for the arranged property marriage.

In a letter to her Uncle John Harlowe, Clarissa makes a stark and comprehensive indictment of property marriage:

To be given up to a strange man; to be engrafted into a strange family; to give up her very name, as a mark of her becoming his absolute and dependent property; to be obliged to prefer this strange man to father, mother—to everybody; and his humours to all her own—Or to contend, perhaps, in breach of a vowed duty for every innocent instance of freewill; to go no-whither; to make acquaintance; to give up acquaintance—to renounce even the strictest friendships perhaps; all at his pleasure, whether she thinks it reasonable to do so or not. Surely, sir, a young creature ought not to be obliged to make all these sacrifices but for such a man as she can approve. (L32.1, 148-149)

Here Clarissa points out the dreadful situation that the property marriage will bring about to the woman in her time: giving up her own name as if being regarded as a piece of property, being expected to become dependent on her husband, relinquishing her own free will to obey the husband's orders whether reasonable or not and so on. Unlike her money-conscious family members, Clarissa regards love as the necessary foundation of a marriage, for she finds the belief “marry first and love will come after” to be “a shocking assertion” (L32.1, 149). Whether to marry for money or not to marry at all is the underlying question put forward in the novel, which is regarded by the social-historian Christopher Hill as “the supreme criticism of property marriage” (115).

Clarissa, as a freedom-loving girl, cannot bear the prospect of being restrained by the fetters of property marriage. No matter how hard the Harlowes try with joint efforts to force the marriage with Solmes upon her, Clarissa tries whatever means possible to escape from it. The Harlowes think as Arabella says, “It is good to be related to an estate.” (L13, 81) Property seems to be the major concern of the Harlowes, whereas it is not the case with Clarissa. Anna tells Clarissa, “I am fitter for this world than you, you for the next than me—that's the difference.” (L10, 69) Clarissa is more concerned with the spiritual world than the material world, while Anna is more realistic than Clarissa. Anna further observes: “WHAT can I advise you, my noble creature? Your merit is your crime. You can no more change your nature, than your persecutors can theirs. Your distress is owing to the vast disparity between you and them. What would you have of them? Do they not act in character?—and to whom? To an alien. You are not one of them.” (L56, 237) Clarissa is an outsider in her own home, which is perhaps the root cause of her tragedy. Her merit is the concern for personal integrity instead of material gain, whereas her family members are just the opposite. Neither she nor her family will succumb to each other. With continuous suffering from such high pressure, it is only a matter of time that Clarissa is forced to leave the family.

Why are the Harlowes so preoccupied with aggrandizing the family? The answer is actually clear. Most newly-rich merchants are eager to purchase land, which is a means of achieving equality with their social superiors. They are no longer satisfied with accumulated wealth alone. Instead, their claim to respectability drives them to climb up the social ladder either by land purchasing or intermarriage with aristocratic families. Lovelace is a suitable suitor to the daughters of the Harlowe family because of his aristocratic background, but things change after James is humiliated from the duel with Lovelace. With new humiliation adding to old grudge, James strongly protests against any possible connection between Lovelace and either of his two sisters. Therefore, in order to revenge on Lovelace, James pilots the Harlowes' opinions in first banishing his presence and then in forcing Clarissa to marry Solmes so that Lovelace will never have Clarissa.

Jacqueline Elaine Lawson maintains that “she [Clarissa] fails to fulfill their [her bourgeois relations] hollow expectations is one of the tragic ironies in the novel” (78). By this remark Lawson means that according to the Harlowes' understanding, since Clarissa is a Harlowe, she should share all the Harlowes' view and do as they demand her to do, but in fact Clarissa's view, as we note earlier, is not the same at all. Lawson further argues, “Clarissa, then, is a novel as much about class warfare as family warfare. Clarissa is caught in a conflict of class which pits parent against child, sibling against sibling, family against family, and ultimately, the individual against society.” (79) The Harlowes represent the newly rich merchants of the rising bourgeois, who have accumulated much capital and are eager to get the social prestige that their aristocratic superiors have. That is why they are so attracted by the terms Solmes offers since they make the hope of family aggrandizement possible after all. Yet, Clarissa does not want to sacrifice her lifelong happiness for her family's ambitions. Thus rises the war between Clarissa and her family. Besides, the confrontation between Lovelace and the Harlowes is indicative of the class war between the rising middle-class and the old aristocratic class.

In order to secure his plot of seducing her, Lovelace asks Clarissa to keep a clandestine correspondence with him; otherwise he will threaten danger to the Harlowes. At first, it is for her family's safety that she follows his requirement, which, however, provides the necessary foundation for all his later intrigues. By means of the correspondence, Lovelace gets to know well the feelings and anxieties of Clarissa so that he can successfully pilot Clarissa's reactions to the family pressure to his advantage. Gradually as the family pressure heightens on her, corresponding with Lovelace brings a light of hope to her predicament at home. Unconsciously, Clarissa's feeling towards him changes from indifference to love. The more pressingly her family urges Clarissa to marry Solmes, the more dependent Clarissa grows on Lovelace.

During her confinement at home, Lovelace writes to Clarissa about his relatives' favorable impressions of her, which make her feel rather glad because Lovelace's relations are all from aristocratic families of good reputation. In Letter 26, Clarissa expresses her delight in being “thought well of” by “the worthy” (127). She feels flattered by the good comments from noble families, but this is exactly what Lovelace wants her to see. As Victor J. Lams remarks, “He uses it [the correspondence] to flatter her, to misinform her and to offer specious comfort after she becomes entangled in the web of deceit which he weaves.” (43) Lovelace's letters delude Clarissa into believing his proposals of love are sincere, in finding him a ready confidante of her persecution at home and an emotional outlet worth relying on. In this way, he gains her trust step by step. There is an increasing emotional intimacy Clarissa feels towards him until she falls in love with him without her own awareness.

Just through the exchanges of letters, Lovelace is able to learn about Clarissa's thoughts and the predicaments she is in, which is of great use to his plot. But this is not the only way he can get information, for he has bought off a servant named Joseph Leman of the Harlowe family. In this way, he has access to first-hand information of whatever happens in the family, which helps a lot in his designing the schemes of “kidnapping” Clarissa. Besides, through the agent, Lovelace gets to know whether Clarissa has real affection for him or not. With all the precise knowledge of the happenings inside the Harlowe family, Lovelace makes use of Clarissa's fear of disturbance and threat of danger, and finally succeeds in manipulating her actions.

At the same time, Clarissa is trying to resist her family's pressure. She pleads with her mother to allow her to live single, but her mother answers sternly, “If I [Clarissa] meant to show my duty and my obedience, I must show it in their way, not my own.” (L17, 95) Mrs. Harlowe's meaning is clear that if Clarissa wants to be called obedient and dutiful, she must accept the marriage to Solmes. Clarissa's strong resistance against marrying Solmes is regarded as having “extraordinary prepossessions in another's favor” (L17, 98). In order to put an end to Lovelace's hopes, the Harlowe family urges a quick marriage which causes extreme anxieties in Clarissa. Mr. Harlowe even banishes his daughter's presence unless she agrees to the marriage.

Clarissa is always struggling between filial duty and the pursuit of individual happiness. As we know from the novel, Clarissa is regarded as an exemplary figure with natural excellence of both body and mind that everybody admires. Up till the time of her being courted, Clarissa has always been an obedient child to her parents and is loved by all in the family (though one may wonder whether James and Arabella really love her or not). After the duel, James suffers from a great loss in his self-esteem. Afraid of the imminent prospect of losing both power and money, James introduces several suitors to Clarissa. “The intermediate proposals of Mr Symmes and Mr Mullins, both (in turn) encouraged by my brother” (L4, 51) and finally Mr. Solmes after the previous suitors being all refused. James who gets the authority from Mr. Harlowe now controls the family opinion. They try to force on Clarissa the marriage with Mr. Solmes and the sooner the better.

Before the family forces her to marry Solmes, Clarissa has been very dutiful and obedient to her parents. Though the grandfather's legacy has afforded her the possibility of asserting independence, Clarissa refuses to do so and transfers the management of the estate to her father instead. She is also a good helper in keeping house for her mother. The virtuous Clarissa is a gentle and docile girl in everybody's eyes. In this stage, Clarissa is compliant to patriarchy with the premise that it does not endanger her lifelong happiness. For some time, she even wishes to have a marriage approved by both her parents. She may submit to her parents' authority, but will not obey her brother's commands, as she says to James, “I am your sister, and not your servant.” (L29. 1, 137)

During the conflict with her family, Clarissa is not always passive. Strongly resistant to this arranged marriage, she writes once and again to her father, mother, uncles and others, which all end in vain. What she can only do is to write to Anna about her deteriorating condition, but she never accepts Anna's suggestions, some of which (to take back the management of the estate, for example) are feasible, though. Compared with Clarissa, Anna is more realistic and worldly. Anna often ignores her mother's authority and even argues with her mother. Furthermore, she constantly ridicules her suitor Mr. Hickman. In Anna's opinion, Clarissa's merits are also her impediments. As an always dutiful child, Clarissa finds it inappropriate to take back the management of her estate from her father, and does not allow Anna to criticize her family members. From this we can find Clarissa also pays great attention to family honor and dignity. Despite this, her situation at home continually worsens. She is not allowed to go outside, go to church, or have dinner together with the family, being constantly on watch by the servant, and searched for letters, pens and ink. Clarissa has become virtually a prisoner in her own home.

At such a critical moment, Lovelace has become the only person, though an outsider, for Clarissa to rely on. To Clarissa, Lovelace plays the role of protector for the time being, for he can help her out of the predicament. The family members' continuous urging and the many family meetings finally decide a date for Clarissa to marry Solmes, that is, a certain Wednesday in a fortnight. Clarissa gets more and more anxious, so she loses her normally good judgment temporarily.

Moreover, her feelings towards Lovelace have undergone some changes gradually, even without her own knowledge. Clarissa denies the fact even after Anna has found it out between the lines in her letters, and she even invents a term “a conditional kind of liking” to name her feeling for Lovelace (L28, 135). There is much evidence in the novel to show the development of her love for Lovelace. For example, when she learns about the generosity Lovelace shows for his tenants, Clarissa comments that a generous man should not be that bad. Another instance is related to a girl named by Lovelace as Rosebud. Clarissa asks Miss Howe to make investigations about Lovelace's behaviors at his lodging place, for she begins to evaluate him seriously as the potential husband. At first, she gets Anna's accounts about Lovelace's taking delight in the innkeeper's girl—Rosebud who is only seventeen. Anna fears that the girl is undone, and so does Clarissa. Besides, from Letter 71, we can detect Clarissa's anger and jealousy at hearing Lovelace's calling the girl as “a sweet pretty girl” (286). The two words “sweet” and “pretty” appear many times on a single page. Lovelace's behaviors make her so angry that she refuses to open his letter, saying “I think I hate him worse than I do Solmes himself” (L71, 286). If she felt indifferent towards Lovelace, Clarissa would not have reacted so strongly over the account about Rosebud. We can infer from her reaction that she loves Lovelace and feels jealous towards Rosebud who attracts his attention. And the hatred arising in her towards Lovelace is due to his seeking fun elsewhere while he professes love to Clarissa. When the following letter clarifies the information—Lovelace has not only spared the girl but also provided for Rosebud's marriage with her lover—Clarissa feels rather relieved since she believes Lovelace is reforming under her influence. Her feelings for him incline more to the positive side. Clarissa does not know that her gradual love for him is just the outcome that Lovelace wishes to attain. From the very beginning, Lovelace fixes his attention on her as a game that he is sure to capture. And the sly and notorious Lovelace is quite good at attracting and seducing women.

Though the duel is provoked by James, Lovelace lets go of James who is inferior in the exercise. Later, he shows great patience in attending the wounded James, helps him off with his coat and waistcoat and binds up his arm until the surgeon arrives (L1, 39). After that Lovelace goes in person to inquire about James' health and expresses his concern for what has happened. In this way, Lovelace successfully makes people believe that he is not only innocent of the incident (because James is the aggressor), but also very generous and kind in treating his opponent. People do not like James owing to “his natural imperiousness and fierce and uncontrollable temper” (L1, 39). So after this accident, some people do not have good opinion of James, which makes him feel greatly humiliated. What Lovelace has done only intensifies James' hatred for him. With the new hatred adding to the old grudge at college, it is no wonder that James is so eager to control the whole family's opinion against Lovelace. He spares no effort in trying to prevent Lovelace from getting access to the members of the Harlowe family. Ironically, what happens later proves that James is actually the one who helps Lovelace a lot to succeed in his scheme of seducing Clarissa. That is because the more pressingly the Harlowe family headed by James force Clarissa to marry Solmes, the more possibly Clarissa is inclined to seek help from Lovelace.

Once Lovelace writes about his illness, which moves Clarissa a great deal and thus betrays her true feelings towards him. In this way, Lovelace keeps declaring love for her and even asks Clarissa to promise not to marry Solmes as if he has some kind of ownership of her. The innocent Clarissa does not know Lovelace's true intention, but still she agrees because she has never thought of marrying Solmes. Then she gradually falls into the trap set by Lovelace. Clarissa once has the idea of running away and even asks help from Anna, hoping she can get protection from Anna's mother, but it ends in vain. She has even made preparations, sending a package of money, letters and necessary linen to Anna in case of emergency.

Lovelace prepares Clarissa's running away from home on purpose. He once asks to see Clarissa in person, but Clarissa is hesitant whether to meet him or not. Finally, she writes a letter of refusal to Lovelace. However, she worries that her letter does not reach Lovelace, so she goes to the meeting place as appointed, hoping to make herself clear to Lovelace in person. This proves that Clarissa actually cares much about Lovelace's reactions. Being anxious of hurting Lovelace's feelings, Clarissa is eager to explain her change of mind. What happens next is single-handedly directed by Lovelace. He orders Joseph beforehand to make sounds once Clarissa comes to meet him in the garden so as to make her believe that her family has found out what she is doing. In extreme fear and panic, Clarissa follows him out of the door. She does not understand that all this is plotted beforehand until too late when she cannot undo what has happened. At this stage, Clarissa regards Lovelace as a good listener to her undue miseries at home besides Anna. The cruel treatment from her own family members only intensifies her feelings for Lovelace who plays the role of a protector. After leaving home, Clarissa feels temporarily relieved, for at least she has escaped from the terrible marriage with Solmes. What she fails to realize at that time is that she has actually fallen into a big snare set by Lovelace.

Clarissa, who used to make good judgments, now commits a fatal error by running away with Lovelace, though unwillingly. What is the reason then? Clarissa grows up in a comparatively simple environment and she does not have much social experience in spite of her brilliance of mind and great virtue. But Lovelace is a sly experienced plotting rake from an aristocratic family, with good manners and elegance in talking. Moreover, he is a good writer of letters, which helps him win much favor from Clarissa because writing is her primary interest and engagement in life. We may notice that before she runs away from home, there are only a few meetings between her and Lovelace, and most of their communication is through correspondence. Nobody denies Lovelace's great gift for writing which is even admitted by the bad-tempered Arabella. The young and innocent Clarissa fails to make right judgment about what Lovelace tells her in the letters because he is such a good director and actor. Although Clarissa has heard about his immoralities, Lovelace successfully makes a more and more favorable impression on her. This liking increases even without her own notice.

That is why Clarissa denies the fact when Anna and even her mother find out her feelings for Lovelace. It is indeed not easy for Clarissa to keep a clear mind with all the feelings involved. Some critics think that Clarissa does not love Lovelace at all (Eagleton 69) to which I could not agree. The reason why Solmes is so hateful to Clarissa is partly that she already has a predominant good impression of Lovelace. No comparison, no difference. Solmes appears all the more disgusting and dreadful with Lovelace as his foil. This is a decisive factor in her rejection of the family's decision to force an arranged property marriage on her. How can she waste her whole life's happiness on such a wretched illiterate man like Solmes?

1. In the eighteenth century, as in previous centuries, the eldest son of the family was supposed to inherit the family property, which is called primogeniture.
2. See Samuel Richardson, Pamela, or, Virtue Rewarded, ed. by Peter Sabor with an Introduction by Margaret A. Doody (London: Penguin, 1985).
3. In Greek mythology, Siren is a sea-nymph which is half woman and half bird whose songs would lure sailors to death.
4. For a well-known example, Henry Fielding had four sisters, but none of them got married because they could not have proper dowry to support their gentry status. See Martin C. Battestin, Henry Fielding: A Life, pp. 445-446, 507-510.
5. For an authoritative study of the marriage situation in the eighteenth century, see Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex, Marriage in England 1500-1800, abridged ed. (New York: Harper and Row, 1979).
6. In Tom Jones, Sophia's mother is noted as “a faithful upper servant” to her father because “she had been married against her will by a fond father, the match having been rather advantageous on her side” (VII, iv, 284-285). This presentation seems to be more believable than Richardson's portrayal of Mrs. Harlowe.
7. See Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500—1800, Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.
8. Though Clarissa's father and Sophia's father are very different in many ways, they are similar in demanding absolute obedience. In arguing with Allworthy about controlling his daughter, Squire Western reasons that since he has begot his daughter, bred her up and governed her in other matters, “surely I am to govern her in this, which concerns her most” (Tom Jones, XVIII, iii, 762).
9. See Paul Langford, A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727-1783 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), especially Chapter 3.