More about Clarissa

      Richardson´s masterpiece, Clarissa is characterized by several aspects. First of all, as I said in the previous post, it is written in epistolary form. However, it is not only the main character who writes these letters. Apart from her other three characters take part in the action of the novel. These characters are Clarissa´s friend Anna Howe, Lovelace and his friend John Belford.

    Thanks to this, the reader has four different points of view throughout the story. 

        To get an idea of how popular this novel became, we just have to see that it was translated into several languages, only a few years after being published. First of all, it was translated into French in the year 1751 by Abbé Prévost. Later on, it was translated into German and Dutch. 

             The main themes of this novel are money, class and competition. 

   The impact of the story of this young lady can be seen throughout the years; it has been so important for English literature that it has been adapted to the big screen. A movie based on the novel was filmed in 2005. And next you will be able to see a short video of the movie.

           

Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford Hisotory of English Literature. 2nd Editon. New York: Oxford UP Inc., 2000.