Samuel Richardson's Feminist Portrayal of Men as Evil or Weak in Clarissa
The most obvious case of a negative male character in the novel is the antagonist, Robert Lovelace. Lovelace deceives Clarissa into leaving her home and subsequently rapes and defiles her, eventually leading to her death. The character of Lovelace does not have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. His role is solely that of the rake whose goal is to reduce Clarissa from her angelic state.
Lovelace is not portrayed as evil simply to fulfill an obligatory role. For Lovelace, Clarissa is an object. He must possess her, and as a result, after he commits the rape upon Clarissa, he does not feel satisfied. Clarissa does not submit to Lovelace, and he has not really gained possession of her. Lovelace compares Clarissa to a caged bird in his captivity, saying, “it beats and bruises again its pretty head and sides, bites the wires, and pecks at the fingers of its delighted tamer” (Richardson 557). Lovelace does not only hold Clarissa captive, he “delights” in it, as it is all part of Lovelace's plan to own Clarissa. “To Lovelace both seduction and rape are ways not of gratifying lust but of subduing the female will” (Hilliard 1090). Lovelace is described in the novel as bitter after being scorned at a young age by a woman he loved. The entire game of possession and evil for Lovelace is due to a childish retribution for the scorn received from a young lover.
Richardson is careful to detail Lovelace as purely evil so as not to confuse the reader as to his hero. Before Lovelace commits many of the heinous acts, the character could possibly be misconstrued. The reader is not privy to actual letters from Lovelace to his confidantes, such as Belford, until into the second volume. To assuage any confusion on the part of the reader as to the true intentions of Lovelace, Richardson makes it impossibly clear that the character is entirely evil. Any hint of caring and conscience is dashed when Lovelace confesses to Belford he has some hesitant feelings, “What’s the matter!—What a double—But the uproar abates!—What a double coward am I?—Or is it that I am taken in a cowardly minute” (Richardson 722). Any hint of virtue that may have existed within Lovelace is erased from the reader and Lovelace’s mind. Clarissa is merely a conquest for him.
Richardson is quite clear in his description of Clarissa’s brother, James Harlowe, Jr. and his involvement in Clarissa’s treatment and subsequent demise. James Jr. conspires with Clarissa’s older, less virtuous and attractive sister Annabella, to paint Clarissa in a negative light. Jealousy over Clarissa’s inheritance from her grandfather and her clear preference from within the Harlowe family are the reasons James Jr. conspires to bring about Clarissa’s disgrace in the eyes of all she cares for.
Richardson establishes the reasons for James' jealousy as pertaining primarily to the large inheritance Clarissa received from her grandfather, an inheritance that included a modest, however large, estate. James is already threatened by Clarissa’s favored role in the family, and does not like his patriarchal role threatened by the control his younger sister has over their parents. He is careful to exploit weaknesses within the elder members of the Harlowe family, as well as in Clarissa, to implement his plan. He easily sets up the supposed relationship between Clarissa and Lovelace after it is revealed that Lovelace injured James in a duel. Lovelace had already courted and denied Bella, and had turned his intentions upon Clarissa, when James returned with the disclosure of the duel. He deliberately exploited the financial aspirations of his parents by proposing Solmes as a suitor, a man who owned a large amount of property adjacent to the Harlowe property. James knew that Solmes was a repulsive man, particularly in the eyes of Clarissa. He was aware that by setting up the situation with a man as repulsive as Solmes, it would be easy to make it look like Clarissa was in love with Lovelace.
Lovelace is not portrayed as evil simply to fulfill an obligatory role. For Lovelace, Clarissa is an object. He must possess her, and as a result, after he commits the rape upon Clarissa, he does not feel satisfied. Clarissa does not submit to Lovelace, and he has not really gained possession of her. Lovelace compares Clarissa to a caged bird in his captivity, saying, “it beats and bruises again its pretty head and sides, bites the wires, and pecks at the fingers of its delighted tamer” (Richardson 557). Lovelace does not only hold Clarissa captive, he “delights” in it, as it is all part of Lovelace's plan to own Clarissa. “To Lovelace both seduction and rape are ways not of gratifying lust but of subduing the female will” (Hilliard 1090). Lovelace is described in the novel as bitter after being scorned at a young age by a woman he loved. The entire game of possession and evil for Lovelace is due to a childish retribution for the scorn received from a young lover.
Richardson is careful to detail Lovelace as purely evil so as not to confuse the reader as to his hero. Before Lovelace commits many of the heinous acts, the character could possibly be misconstrued. The reader is not privy to actual letters from Lovelace to his confidantes, such as Belford, until into the second volume. To assuage any confusion on the part of the reader as to the true intentions of Lovelace, Richardson makes it impossibly clear that the character is entirely evil. Any hint of caring and conscience is dashed when Lovelace confesses to Belford he has some hesitant feelings, “What’s the matter!—What a double—But the uproar abates!—What a double coward am I?—Or is it that I am taken in a cowardly minute” (Richardson 722). Any hint of virtue that may have existed within Lovelace is erased from the reader and Lovelace’s mind. Clarissa is merely a conquest for him.
Richardson is quite clear in his description of Clarissa’s brother, James Harlowe, Jr. and his involvement in Clarissa’s treatment and subsequent demise. James Jr. conspires with Clarissa’s older, less virtuous and attractive sister Annabella, to paint Clarissa in a negative light. Jealousy over Clarissa’s inheritance from her grandfather and her clear preference from within the Harlowe family are the reasons James Jr. conspires to bring about Clarissa’s disgrace in the eyes of all she cares for.
Richardson establishes the reasons for James' jealousy as pertaining primarily to the large inheritance Clarissa received from her grandfather, an inheritance that included a modest, however large, estate. James is already threatened by Clarissa’s favored role in the family, and does not like his patriarchal role threatened by the control his younger sister has over their parents. He is careful to exploit weaknesses within the elder members of the Harlowe family, as well as in Clarissa, to implement his plan. He easily sets up the supposed relationship between Clarissa and Lovelace after it is revealed that Lovelace injured James in a duel. Lovelace had already courted and denied Bella, and had turned his intentions upon Clarissa, when James returned with the disclosure of the duel. He deliberately exploited the financial aspirations of his parents by proposing Solmes as a suitor, a man who owned a large amount of property adjacent to the Harlowe property. James knew that Solmes was a repulsive man, particularly in the eyes of Clarissa. He was aware that by setting up the situation with a man as repulsive as Solmes, it would be easy to make it look like Clarissa was in love with Lovelace.
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