Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice
Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice
James, Jr . ' s empowerment through his inheritance, represent Richardson's conclusions about the reality of inheritance practice. Exemplifying Johnson's claim in Rambler No. 4 that novels tell stories about what is real or realistic and are about "real" people, Clarissa is able to provide lessons about expectations and events that "one can reasonably expect to happen in these circumstancesff (Thompson 11) . Constructing Clarissa Inheritance novels generate characters and plots rich in the language of inheritance practice and marriage settlements. Inheritance language finds its way into the language of characters and, in turn, characters often become so glib with it they are able to manipulate the language to their own ends. Crucial to the plot of Clarissa, Clarissa's legal acumen intrudes into the first lines of the novel. Both she and her confidante, Anna Howe, speak easily and knowledgeably about the will's content and the events subsequent to Grandfather Harlowe's directives. The will opens the novel and sets events in motion that will eventually lead Clarissa to tragedy. At the end of her story, Richardson closes with
Clarissa's own will, framing the plot with legal and civil documents. Both wills are subjective texts, privately written and subject to interpretation by a court. Unlike strict settlement, whose rules are public and binding once set in motion, individuals, through a last will and testament, were able to exercise personal prerogatives in secret regarding, among many things, who should inherit what of their estates. While the body of the novel deals with strict settlement and the impersonal transition of property through a strictly regulated set of rules, individuality and personal preference frame the novel. Richardson makes clear a distinction between the two. In the process, then, "will" becomes one of the novel's pivotal, slippery words, for its multiplicity of meanings superimpose themselves in nearly every instance of their use, confusing the reader and resisting any one interpretations. Further, words such as "mother, " "father, If and "friend" take on extra meanings. Clarissa confuses Lovelace as she lies dying, telling him she will be reconciled with her "father." Lovelace concludes she is speaking of her real father, while she really is speaking of her Father in Heaven. "Mother" also becomes resistant to one definition, for Clarissa's real mother is silenced, as is her surrogate mother, Mrs. Norton.
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- Page 47 and 48: Chapter Two Unhappy Transactions: R
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- Page 65 and 66: Grandfather Harlowe was one of many
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James, Jr . ' s empowerment through his inheritance,<br />
represent Richardson's conclusions about the reality of<br />
inheritance practice. Exemplifying Johnson's claim in<br />
Rambler No. 4 that novels tell stories about what is real<br />
or realistic and are about "real" people, <strong>Clarissa</strong> is<br />
able to provide lessons about expectations and events<br />
that "one can reasonably expect to happen in these<br />
circumstancesff (Thompson 11) .<br />
Constructing <strong>Clarissa</strong><br />
<strong>In</strong>heritance novels generate characters and plots<br />
rich in the language of inheritance practice and marriage<br />
settlements. <strong>In</strong>heritance language finds its way into the<br />
language of characters and, in turn, characters often<br />
become so glib with it they are able to manipulate the<br />
language to their own ends. Crucial to the plot of<br />
<strong>Clarissa</strong>, <strong>Clarissa</strong>'s legal acumen intrudes into the first<br />
lines of the novel. Both she and her confidante, Anna<br />
Howe, speak easily and knowledgeably about the will's<br />
content and the events subsequent to Grandfather<br />
Harlowe's directives. The will opens the novel and sets<br />
events in motion that will eventually lead <strong>Clarissa</strong> to<br />
tragedy. At the end of her story, Richardson closes with
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