Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

settlement, a predicament Clarissa soon finds out for
herself. Joan Schwarz argues forcefully regarding
Richardsonf s own knowledge of the law and his assumption
of the legal intelligence of his reading audience. She
cites numerous legal scholars to establish her audience
awareness of the law, and though one notes there are no
particular citations regarding her assertion that
Richardson knew the law, Schwarz's presents a powerful
case regarding his audience's understanding of
eighteenth-century law. Certainly, that audience
knowledge is vital to his plot. However, a twentieth-
century audience needs some reasonable explanation and
interpretation of those laws in order to appreciate the
novel in Richardson's original intent.
Richardson, like others cognizant of the power of
legal practices, was able to use the emergent novel genre
as a platform for critiquing strict settlement practice.
Richardsonf s didactic leanings were also at work, and he
would have been eager to reveal the downside of such a
rigid practice, using his work as a guidepost for
marriageable youth, warning them to be careful how they
plan for their futures.
Richardson's first title for Clarissa was The Lady's
Leqacy: or, the whole gay and serious compass of the