That Clarissa exalts one young lady in her symbolic defeat of her violator seems to place moral authority in women rather than in men; but the reason for her spiritual prestige seems to be that she is ultimately to hand it over to men, not just any man, but enlightened, godly men, such as Belford and Clarissa‘s grandfather. Michael F. Suarez‘s contention that Clarissa‘s
―nay-saying‖ is ―an attempt to assert her own autonomy, to secure her right to
26 Despite Clarissa‘s saintly virtues such as spirituality, sensibility, and charity, her exemplarity is not without drawbacks. Clarissa‘s adherence to moral absolutes, as shown in her non-compliance, attests to her failure to perceive the world as less than perfect while the precepts she tries to put into practice may reflect her naiveté. That is, Clarissa‘s high moral standards make her a Quixote, rendering her incompatible with the sordid reality she finds in the world. This suggests that she ―might be said to live in the imagination‖ (Doody 104). The discrepancy between principle and secular practice might again frustrate readers in their world, especially those whom Clarissa persuades of her virtue. For a discussion on the theme of virtue in distress, see Virtue in Distress: Studies in the Novel of Sentiment from Richardson to Sade (Brissenden 77).
a will of her own‖ seems to belie the importance that Clarissa places on having a father who can guide her (69). When Lovelace asks Clarissa about when to settle ―the happy day‖ of marriage so as to request Lord M. ―to be her father,‖ Clarissa reflects: ―Father had a sweet and venerable sound with it . . . I should be glad to have a father who would own me!‖ (II: 310). Clarissa‘s feeling unworthy of her father later turns into her father‘s unworthiness of her, although her wish for her father‘s guidance remains steadfast. As the postscript tells us, Clarissa‘s parents ―saw that it was entirely owing to the avarice, the ambition, the envy of her implacable brother and sister, and to the senseless confederacy entered into by the whole family‖ that Clarissa is compelled to leave her father‘s house‖ (IV: 533). The physical separation between Clarissa and her family is merely part of the reason why Clarissa relies on God as her sole guide. That none of the patriarchs in Clarissa‘s family—James Harlowe Sr., Uncle Harlowe, and Uncle Antony—can match Clarissa‘s high moral caliber sufficiently to give her instruction is another perhaps more significant reason why Clarissa relies on God. Clarissa‘s final wish to have ―her remains . . . placed at the feet of my dear grandfather‖
symbolizes her ultimate alliance with patriarchy, the kind of sentimentalized patriarchy that appreciates her virtue rather than treating her as an asset the way her brother, father, and uncles do (IV: 301).
That Clarissa entrusts Belford with the task of editing her didactic history also subsumes her moral authority under Belford‘s enlightened patriarchy.
With Belford, Clarissa can expect ―all I wish should be done‖ (IV: 62). On the other hand, Belford gets to set the final edifying tone to her story, functioning as ―custodian of a newly rationalized order‖ of ―probity, self-possession, [and]
familial integrity‖ that shape ―the heroine‘s plot‖ (London 61). Clarissa‘s figurative submission to Belford, however, is not without disturbance in that Belford‘s emergence as a reformed rake contradicts his own instruction to the reader. Belford‘s denigration of the maxim ―that a reformed rake makes the best husband‖ as a ―false and inconsiderate notion, raised and propagated, no doubt, by the author of all delusion‖ enables Richardson to satirize himself regarding the richly-rewarded heroine in Pamela (IV: 389). While urging that
―it behoves persons of true honour of that sex to discountenance, by rejecting the address of every man whose character will not stand the test of that virtue‖
Belford inadvertently reminds us that he himself used to have the kind of character that deserved to be rejected but is now trustworthy to Clarissa (IV:
389). Given Belford‘s commendable sensibility, his reforming influence on Lovelace, Mowbray, and Tourville, and his appointment of executorship by Clarissa, it probably would not be surprising if the reader should suspect that Belford will make a good husband if he marries. Clarissa‘s text seems to repudiate and believe in the possibility of a rake‘s reformation at the same time.
Clarissa‘s advice for Anna to marry Hickman also illustrates Clarissa‘s alliance with patriarchy, strengthening the ideal of sentimentalized patriarchal guidance. Clarissa‘s severance from her family demonstrates her rebellion against her un-Christian father and uncles, not her disapproval of patriarchy, because when she sees patriarchy enlightened by sensibility and spirituality she encourages it. Hickman‘s gentle concern for Clarissa and his grief upon seeing her bespeaks his probity in Clarissa‘s terms, differentiating him from the money-minded Harlowe males and misogynistic Lovelace. Visiting Clarissa at the Smiths‘ and seeing how ill she is, Hickman turns away ―his face with visible grief in it,‖ probably to conceal his tears (IV: 11). Hickman‘s sentimentality in this scene ranks him together with Belford, who is ―convinced that a capacity of being moved by the distresses of our fellow-creatures is far from being disgraceful to a manly heart‖ (III: 446). Richardson combines
―advocacy of a more feminine male with the reassurance‖ that it is ―manly‖ to be sentimental (Barker-Benfield 341).
The tremendous difficulties created for Clarissa seem to protest more against the injury done to women under degenerate patriarchy than against women‘s bad treatment in general. Clarissa‘s sufferings at the hands of her family and Lovelace are symptomatic of greed and perversity at the core of degenerate patriarchy. It is Clarissa‘s refusal to acquiesce to the values of corrupt patriarchy that makes her a non-conformist when most people around her are ready to descend to lower moral standards. Rejecting both, Clarissa perseveres in adversity with dignity, hoping that the corrupt patriarchs will comprehend her virtue and reform somewhere along the way: ―when my story is known I shall be entitled to more compassion than blame‖ (III: 337).
Clarissa‘s approval of Hickman and Belford, together with her wish to return to her grandfather‘s side, suggests that a virtuous woman like Clarissa could have enjoyed happiness under enlightened patriarchs such as these.
Richardson‘s placement of moral superiority in Clarissa elevates women to finally subject them to the moral authority of reformed men like Belford. To a certain extent, Clarissa in the end repeats Pamela though far more subtly, and
Clarissa‘s man is of course God the Father.
Clarissa embodies virtue via advice not taken. Refusing to acquiesce to her friends‘ and family‘s counter advice of marriage or litigation, Clarissa consolidates her moral authority and exemplifies stringent consistency between precepts and practice. Clarissa‘s separation from her friends and family does not suggest her rebellion against patriarchy so much as it does her resistance to immorality and opportunism. The dramatization of Clarissa‘s rejection of ill-considered counsel allows Richardson to reap much entertainment value from depictions of the villainous Lovelace encroaching upon her as the novelist capitalizes on this seductive appeal that most maxim-cataloguing conduct manuals popular at the time did not have. Aiming to reform with Clarissa, Richardson seeks to inculcate spirituality in the money-grubbing middle class and conquest-craving aristocracy, bringing about a modification of both social classes toward genuine Christianity.
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