CLARISSA, by M (oh and S.Richardson)

Clarissa was a pretty fabulous epic and Aimee with a fabulous titled blog "C'est Vrai"... asked my thoughts. In no particular order:

1. I loved it!
   
2. I think that, like Proust, one has to be up for a little literary archeology to fully enjoy it.
3. Skim factor: only 5%... my friend Cathy skimmed over 1/2 which is a disservice to the pure beauty of literate language- beautifully wonderfully written-WORDS, though at a certain point, you're like holycrap Clarissa- we GET it. Move On. Which is why I enjoyed the novel so much more when Lovelace and Belford take over. I think Miss Howe got the shaft. (so not cool)
   
4. Lovelace is one of the greatest villains in literary history. The ways in which his character is fashioned I feel has influenced the too hot to touch seductive male- a classic vampire in fact in the way he almost hesitates to consume what he loves and thrills in the chase even more. And of course, a modern day Psychopath- to the T. It's all right there down to his torturing of animals as a child and his inability to form emotional attachments. And even better that Richardson choses never to reform him!
   
5. Clarissa herself is a difficult character. I think Richardson's greatest flaw here is that he kept her "infallible"... in that like Oliver Twist she became a pure moral force in order to juxtapose a man who constantly choses evil. After a certain point it's hard to excuse Clarissa her actions and her inability to break from her family despite everything- down to her unwillingness to accept help (christian charity) or to be a burden on anybody. Sure have her struggle but come on! Richardson, as discussed in the back of my book- erred to closely to that Horation "delight and instruct" model I think in sacrificing story and character to "making a POINT"... and does so to the determent of his female characters. Since they didn't gain property rights nearly 100yrs after the novel-- i think we appropriately have issues with him having Miss Howe marry even though the way he himself formed the character in such a way that she is absolutely contrary to it and that Clarissa constantly refuses her help and would only use it as a "last resort".
   
6. Also her view of God is very enlightenment oriented? Maybe... I haven't researched but my gut reaction to her faith is slightly on the pious side- and her instance that anyone can be redeemed is true but only if they claim Jesus esp. if you're going to quote the Bible all the time and attend church- her inability to reform Lovelace for instance is true because he doesn't have the true character of a Christian ie. belief in jesus- and it seems a lot of people in the novel put that on as a cultural ideal and not an actual internal value, which was probably culturally true of the time as it is now- anyway i'm just musing about this one. Though perhaps its a more post/post modern thought that Christianity is more about the relationship to Jesus than it is to a set of rules... which is, I think, a common misinterpretation. But I digress.
7. I liked how we got an update on all the characters after the fact.
   
8. Wished Belford had ended up with Clarissa in the end. Though that seemed more realistic than her wasting away- or him miraculously ending up with Miss Montague. Though I understand you know- there has to be "consequences"...
   
9. Made me love love love letter writing all ALL all over again!
10. Loved Morton taking his revenge as only a man of honor can. I imagine he was totally hot.
    
11. Did I mention I loved "Belford"... and that Clarissa was so right to say, well if you thought what he was doing wrong why didn't you save me? OUCH!
    
12. Clarissa herself I think fell into fits way too much. Though I recognize she was only 18/19- if she'd only eat and stop wearing corsets I think she would've faired much better. And that girl was beezzzy for a teenager. Manger of the house and with a poor fund, then again they didn't have cable so maybe.
    
13. OMG. the Prostitutes! WOH! And how in England at the time it was endemic- and that Lovelace deliberately chose virgins so that he wouldn't get Syphilis. Scandalous... then the whole death scene of that one lady and basically that Lovelace consigned at least 2 of them to prostitution.
    
14. Ok. And the rape! WOH! Tess of the D'ubervilles has nothing on Richardson in terms of scandal- though both of the heroines suffer for not only being raped, they don't get to prosecute and are ripped to shreds by the times they live in. That bummed me out man.
    
15. Alright I'll stop! But it was a long novel- there's so much more! It's the one downfall of reading these epics outside a seminar class. . . so I will say au revoir for now-- (did i also mention that i loved trying to figure out the french! I totally failed at latin.) Just making me think about the book made me love it all over again. Sigh.
    

Aimee: points, counter points??