![]() ![]() I Just Can’t with the whole “look-how-special-and-superior-this-protagonist-is” Festival of Praise that, by the way, only ever seems to follow female characters. One of the quickest ways to make me hate a protagonist is for the writer to tell me how much I should love them (see: Isabel Archer, Rory Gilmore). In easily the most satisfying moment of the novel, Lovelace is killed in a duel by Clarissa’s cousin, Colonel Morden. This last indignity is too much for Clarissa, who, after her release, fades out in a slow death. Lovelace, a practiced sociopath, calls most of the shots-and although Clarissa manages one final getaway worthy of Lovelace himself, his London minions call for her arrest on false charges and see her thrown in jail. ![]() In an apartment above a brothel, lost in the unholy streets of London, Lovelace schemes, manipulates, and harasses Clarissa into marrying him or sleeping with him-whichever comes first.Ĭlarissa, more than a little resentful at all these affronts to her reputation and integrity, plots her escape(s) with occasional success but too little haste. Clarissa’s crush, Robert Lovelace-a well-known rake hated by her entire family-tricks her into running away with him. Her family wants her to marry the un-marriable likes of Roger Solmes and, when she refuses, locks her up in her own bedroom. When the story kicks off, Clarissa is already knee-deep in a sea of drama. ![]()
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