Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

of this, a father often left most of his estate in his
personal will for adjudication after his death (Habbakuk
5). Merchants and other wealthy individuals often
included stocks and government bonds in their estates
when their personal capital was not completely invested
in land (Chesterman 126). Because Grandfather Harlowe
was vested mostly in realty, contemporary readers would
have realized that the Harlowe family was at least one
generation out of a strictly merchant-class family. They
were ascending rapidly through the ranks of the landed
gentry.
The willing of land, such as the dairy house to
Clarissa, through common law, was liable to litigation
and problems often arose. The right of dower and barring
(getting rid of) dower in favor of jointure was a
particularly thorny issue. By the time Richardson wrote
Clarissa, most young female members of landed, wealthy
families had a jointure, which would then be given
outright to the survivor of the marriage without
stipulation to the estate.
Prospective brides usually brought a portion or a
fortune to marriage. Obviously, the bigger the portion,
the more sought after a young woman would be. Clarissars
portion, her dairy house, would have made her a fine