"Clarissa: Preface, Hints of Prefaces, and Postscript" by Samuel Richardson is an 18th-century novel told through letters which tells a powerful story about morality and the mind. Readers learn about Clarissa Harlowe's difficult journey when she stands up to what society expects of her, which touches on larger ideas about being good, being honorable, and what happens when people make bad choices. The beginning parts, like the preface, give important background information to the reader and informs them of what Richardson wants to do through the book. The reader sees the story through letters between two good young women and two wild men, foreshadowing the struggles to come. Clarissa is shown as an example of goodness being attacked, as the reader is informed she does what her family wants and is being courted by Lovelace, a man who has bad intentions. The book also touches on important things like being honest and moral, and the potential damage in choosing love based on looks rather than true goodness. Richardson's tale then becomes a warning about living life in pursuit of good ethics.
Clarissa: Preface, Hints of Prefaces, and Postscript
By Samuel Richardson
Told through revealing letters, a young woman of virtue navigates family pressure, unwanted advances, and the perils of superficial love.
Summary
About the AuthorSamuel Richardson was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753). He printed almost 500 works, including journals and magazines, working periodically with the London bookseller Andrew Millar. Richardson had been apprenticed to a printer, whose daughter he eventually married. He lost her along with their six children, but remarried and had six more children, of whom four daughters reached adulthood, leaving no male heirs to continue the print shop. As it ran down, he wrote his first novel at the age of 51 and joined the admired writers of his day. Leading acquaintances included Samuel Johnson and Sarah Fielding, the physician and Behmenist George Cheyne, and the theologian and writer William Law, whose books he printed. At Law's request, Richardson printed some poems by John Byrom. In literature, he rivalled Henry Fielding; the two responded to each other's literary styles.
Samuel Richardson was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753). He printed almost 500 works, including journals and magazines, working periodically with the London bookseller Andrew Millar. Richardson had been apprenticed to a printer, whose daughter he eventually married. He lost her along with their six children, but remarried and had six more children, of whom four daughters reached adulthood, leaving no male heirs to continue the print shop. As it ran down, he wrote his first novel at the age of 51 and joined the admired writers of his day. Leading acquaintances included Samuel Johnson and Sarah Fielding, the physician and Behmenist George Cheyne, and the theologian and writer William Law, whose books he printed. At Law's request, Richardson printed some poems by John Byrom. In literature, he rivalled Henry Fielding; the two responded to each other's literary styles.
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