Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more



or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $1.75 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Samuel Richardson , Angus Ross
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)

List Price: $26.00
Price: $18.20 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $7.80 (30%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 13 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Tuesday, May 21? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

Amazon.com Textbooks Store
Shop the Amazon.com Textbooks Store and save up to 70% on textbook rentals, 90% on used textbooks and 60% on eTextbooks.

Book Description

February 4, 1986 0140432159 978-0140432152

‘Oh thou savage-hearted monster! What work hast thou made in one guilty hour, for a whole age of repentance!’

Pressured by her unscrupulous family to marry a wealthy man she detests, the young Clarissa Harlowe is tricked into fleeing with the witty and debonair Robert Lovelace and places herself under his protection. Lovelace, however, proves himself to be an untrustworthy rake whose vague promises of marriage are accompanied by unwelcome and increasingly brutal sexual advances. And yet, Clarissa finds his charm alluring, her scrupulous sense of virtue tinged with unconfessed desire. Told through a complex series of interweaving letters, Clarissa is a richly ambiguous study of a fatally attracted couple and a work of astonishing power and immediacy. A huge success when it first appeared in 1747, and translated into French and German, it remains one of the greatest of all European novels.

In his introduction, Angus Ross examines characterization, the epistolary style, the role of the family and the position of women in Clarissa. This edition also includes a chronology, suggestions for further reading, tables of letters, notes, a glossary and an appendix on the music for the ‘Ode to Wisdom’.


Frequently Bought Together

Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (Penguin Classics) + Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded (Oxford World's Classics) + Evelina (Oxford World's Classics)
Price for all three: $37.77

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

Review

Epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, published in 1747-48. Richardson first presents the heroine, Clarissa Harlowe, when she is discovering the barely masked motives of her family, who want to force her into a loveless marriage to improve their fortunes. When Lovelace, a romantic who holds the code of the Harlowes in contempt, offers her protection, she runs off with him. She is physically attracted by if not actually in love with Lovelace, but she is to discover that he wants her only on his own terms and she refuses to marry him. In Lovelace's letters to his friend Belford, Richardson shows that what is driving him to conquest and finally to rape is really revenge for her family's insults and his sense of Clarissa's moral superiority. For Clarissa, however, accepting marriage as a convenience is no better than accepting the opportunistic moral code of her family. As the novel comes to its long-drawn-out close, she is removed from the world of both the Harlowes and the Lovelaces, and she dies true to herself to the end. -- The Merriam-Webster Encylopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Samuel Richardson was born in Derbyshire in 1689, the son of a London joiner. He received little formal education and in 1707 was apprenticed to a printer in the capital. Thirteen years later he set up for himself as a stationer and printer and became one of the leading figures in the London trade. As a printer his output included political writing, such as the Tory periodical The True Briton, the newspapers, Daily Journal (1736-7) and Daily Gazeteer (1738), together with twenty-six volumes of the Journals of the House of Commons and general law printing. He was twice married and had twelve children.

His literary career began when two booksellers proposed that he should compile a volume of model letters for unskilled letter writers. While preparing this Richardson became fascinated by the project, and a small sequence of letters from a daughter in service, asking her father’s advice when threatened by her master’s advances, formed the germ of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740-41). Pamela was a huge success and became something of a cult novel. By May 1741 it reached a fourth edition and was dramatized in Italy by Goldoni, as well as in England. His masterpiece, Clarissa or, the History of a Young Lady, one of the greatest European novels, was published in 1747-8. Richardson’s last novel, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, appeared in 1753-4. His writings brought him great personal acclaim and a coterie of devoted admirers who liked to discuss with him the moral aspects of the action in the novels. Samuel Richardson died in 1761 and is buried in St Bride’s Church, London.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 1534 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 4, 1986)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140432159
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140432152
  • Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 2.3 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Again, overall it was a good story but a hard, long read. John Benintendi  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement
I like it though that this book gives me reason to want to scream at these folks. Mitzi  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
I haven't finished the book yet, but so far this is one of the best books ever. misterb1020  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
104 of 106 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Seminal Novels in English September 27, 2001
By mp
Format:Paperback
Samuel Richardson's massive 1747-8 novel, "Clarissa," is not only the longest novel I've ever read, but one of the best and most complex. Much like Richardson's first novel, "Pamela," "Clarissa" deals with the torments of a virtuous young lady abducted by a rake/libertine (in modern parlance, a rapist) who submits the heroine to a series of trials. Unlike Pamela, a lower class maiden, Clarissa is a member of an established and wealthy family. This change in social situation allows Richardson to explore a host of new issues, with the primary goal of moral didacticism remaining intact between the two.

Clarissa Harlowe, the most beautiful and exemplary of her sex, is being imposed upon by her implacable family to marry one Mr. Solmes, a man of no mean fortune, but whose ethics, especially with regard to his own family, are suspect. Simultaneously, Clarissa's sister, Arabella, has just rejected a proposal from one Robert Lovelace, the heir of a nobleman, educated and refined, but known for his libertinism - his tendency and enjoyment of seducing young women and then abandoning them. Lovelace falls in love, or in lust, with Clarissa, and after he and Clarissa's brother James, heir to the Harlowe fortune, engage in a near fatal duel, Clarissa's continued correspondence with Lovelace becomes a major thorn in the side of the Harlowes' plans for Clarissa. The Harlowes continue to urge the addresses of Mr. Solmes while vilifying Lovelace - Clarissa not approving of either - and when her family's insitence becomes insupportable to Clarissa, the utterly demonic Lovelace takes advantage, whisking her away from a seemingly inevitable union with Solmes. Thus begins an absolutely terrifying journey for Clarissa through the darkness of humanity, as Lovelace plots and executes his seduction of the 'divine' Clarissa.

An epistolary novel, "Clarissa" is written in the form of a series of letters spanning nine months, principally between Clarissa and her best friend and iconoclast, Anna Howe, and between Lovelace and a fellow libertine, John Belford. Richardson's 'to the moment' style of writing gives a minute account of everything that happens to the main characters almost as it happens, giving the novel a highly dramatic sense of urgency. The four major correspondents, as well as others, also give the novel a well-developed sense of perspective, as we get not only the events, but biased opinions and readings of all the other characters, making the events at times difficult to follow, but at the same time, marvelously rich and complex.

Some of the most interesting facets of this novel are its interactions with the law, primarily inheritance law, the contrast between history and story, and at the forefront, the debate over gender roles in marriage. Almost of a piece with the novel's legal issues, Richardson examines the vagueries of semantics - what do words mean? How are words regarded and used differently by men and women? Richardson also confronts the way we read and interpret 'truth' - in a book composed of letters, subjectively written and read, where can we look to for 'truth'?

Among the characters in the novel, by far the most captivating and challenging in "Clarissa" is the aforementioned Anna Howe. The ways she clashes with tradition and propriety throughout the novel are entertaining, and very much reminiscent of the eponymous heroine of Defoe's "Moll Flanders." An amazing and influential novel to say the least, anyone with a few weeks on their hands who is interested in the history of the novel in English should pick up and give "Clarissa" some serious attention, stat!

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
75 of 81 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Read the UNABRIDGED Clarissa! May 15, 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
The UNABRIDGED Clarissa (Penguin ed.) is a powerful, moving eighteenth-century English masterpiece, the first great psychological novel. Its length may seem daunting and it does take at least six weeks to read, but you will be rewarded by finding yourself immersed in the minds of Clarissa and Lovelace. You will feel as though you are living in their world, facing their moral dilemmas, deciding on courses of action, predicting consequences. However, if you accidentally pick up the Sherburn ABRIDGEMENT of Clarissa, you will NOT be able to savor Richardson's famous "writing to the moment." If you doubt me, take a look at Mary Anne Doody and Florian Stuber's article, "Clarissa Censored," in the journal Modern Language Studies (1988). The abridgement is a travesty of Richardson's greatest novel.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Not a book to be read in abridgement--be patient! March 7, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Once you've read this book, you can barely read anything written in England post-1750 without finding and feeling Richardson's influence. An English epic, a sometimes infuriatingly detailed exploration of men and women under pressure, a masterfully crafted depiction of bewilderment, betrayal, and the kind of religious ecstasy that's difficult to read. Don't miss Letter 246. Stay with this book, even if it takes you weeks (it took me 7)--it's well worth it, a one-of-a-kind reading experience.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book but Penguin version has too many typos.
An wonderful example of the early English novel. It is unfortunate for us however, that Penguin's is the only economical version of the unabridged text of Clarissa; as their... Read more
Published 12 days ago by EZSTP
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth all ten weeks it took to read!
Don't be put off by the length. This was really a wonderful book. Once I'd finished the book and knew the story, I wanted to start all over again to savor it's development. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Julie
5.0 out of 5 stars It's long, so you get your money's worth.
Well, it took me two years to read it, but Miss Harlowe did change my life for the better. The book can be quite psychological and gripping, but my favorite parts are the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. Johnson
2.0 out of 5 stars A Book Longing to be Read and Understood
Nancy McCall

I am so disappointed because I really was looking forward to reading this book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Nancy Mccall
5.0 out of 5 stars Supreme achievement of English literature
Discovering this book for me must have been what it was like for Livingston to come across Victoria Falls, or Schliemann with Troy. Read more
Published 6 months ago by augustan_man
5.0 out of 5 stars World Classic
This novel ought to be read by everyone, particularly by every girl reaching puberty and every woman who is still single. Read more
Published on March 31, 2011 by G. Charles Steiner
2.0 out of 5 stars A novel for its time, but maybe not for ours...
Clarissa / 0-140-43215-9

You've got to feel sorry for Richardson. After some careful soul-searching over the literary success of his earlier and similarly-themed (but... Read more
Published on November 4, 2008 by Ana Mardoll
5.0 out of 5 stars What a read!
I am reading this for my M.A. Thesis Project. I am quite pleased I chose this book. It has everything, courting, rape, virtue, sword fights/dueling, and death. Read more
Published on February 18, 2008 by J. Titak
5.0 out of 5 stars Stick with it & it'll stick with you.
What a group of despicable characters! By page 500, I was hoping every character would be put to the rack. By page 1000, I was hoping for a mass hanging. Read more
Published on July 6, 2007 by Dick Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars If Clarissa is too hard for you,,,,try Sir Charles Grandison
Clarissa besides being one of the longest novels out there is also a hard book to read. Written in a series of letters from the main characters, it is truly work of art. Read more
Published on March 3, 2007 by Mitzi
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 





Look for Similar Items by Category