For here, the letter being unfolded, I could not put it in my bosom without alarming her ears, as my sudden motion did her eyes—Up she flew in a moment: Traitor! Judas! her eyes flashing lightning, and a perturbation in her eager countenance, so charming!—What have you taken up?—and then, what for both my ears I durst not have done to her, she made no scruple to seize the stolen letter, though in my bosom.
What was to be done on so palpable a detection?—I clasped her hand, which had hold of the ravished paper, between mine: O my beloved creature! said I, can you think I have not some curiosity? Is it possible you can be thus for ever employed; and I, loving narrative letter-writing above every other species of writing, and admiring your talent that way, should not (thus upon the dawn of my happiness, as I presume to hope) burn with a desire to be admitted into so sweet a correspondence?
Let go my hand!—stamping with her pretty foot; How dare you, Sir!—At this rate, I see—too plainly I see—And more she could not say: but, gasping, was ready to faint with passion and affright; the devil a bit of her accustomed gentleness to be seen in her charming face, or to be heard in her musical voice.
Having gone thus far, loth, very loth, was I to lose my prize—once more I got hold of the rumpled-up letter!—Impudent man! were her words: stamping again. For God’s sake, then it was. I let go my prize, lest she should faint away: but had the pleasure first to find my hand within both hers, she trying to open my reluctant fingers. How near was my heart at that moment to my hand, throbbing to my fingers’ ends, to be thus familiarly, although angrily, treated by the charmer of my soul!
When she had got it in her possession, she flew to the door. I threw myself in her way, shut it, and, in the humblest manner, besought her to forgive me. And yet do you think the Harlowe-hearted charmer (notwithstanding the agreeable annunciation I came in with) would forgive me?—No, truly; but pushing me rudely from the door, as if I had been nothing, [yet do I love to try, so innocently to try, her strength too!] she gained that force through passion, which I had lost through fear, out she shot to her own apartment; [thank my stars she could fly no farther!] and as soon as she entered it, in a passion still, she double-locked and double-bolted herself in. This my comfort, on reflection, that, upon a greater offence, it cannot be worse.
I found this interaction between Lovelace and Clarissa very interesting. One of the only things Clarissa has for herself is her possession of her letters, and here, we see Lovelace attempting to invade Clarissa's privacy and take from Clarissa one of the only bits of hope and agency she has left. What were your thoughts on this episode? Both characters here seem afraid of losing something, which causes some interesting action to take place.
I found this interaction interesting as well. Lovelace, as usual, takes pleasure in noting his strength and power over Clarissa. We also see that he seems to enjoy watching Clarissa struggle against him. He appears more afraid of losing his prize while Clarissa appears more afraid of losing what little (if any) agency she has left. Her mind and correspondence with Anna are the only things that Lovelace has not yet invaded. What really struck me was how Lovelace is more physical and concerned with Clarissa's physical being and how internal and concerned Clarissa was for her intellect/emotions (i.e. her letters) that she fights back physically. Lovelace clasps her hands and takes great pleasure in her taking his hand in both of hers even though she did it in anger and to retrieve her letter. His description of how his hands felt is quite erotic and there seems to be a foreshadowing here to Clarissa's eventual rape — at least that's how I read this interaction. He even talks of trying Clarissa's strength, everything is physical for him. Clarissa, on the other hand, is upset to have the small amount of privacy and agency she has invaded upon by Lovelace. From Lovelace's perspective the power dichotomy between the two is very clear. She is weak and near to fainting while he is aware that he could easily overpower her. Interestingly enough, we also see that Lovelace is a bit upset that Clarissa keeps rejecting him as he notes how she pushes him away as if he "had been nothing." He adds that he likes to test Clarissa's physical strength too, but from what we've learned of Lovelace, we can see that this small act of defiance from Clarissa has hurt his pride and feelings — enough so for him to mention and comment upon it.
I think this is one of the moments of highest tension (so far), resulting from so much underlying tension(s) between the two. Finally, we see Lovelace do what he wants: grab for the letter. And Clarissa do what she wants: scold and chastise him while standing up for herself.This seems like a moment of victory for Clarissa—which is (to answer Keri’s question) then what she has to lose, a moment of power that may pass very quickly. And it’s a moment of weakness for Lovelace in which he realizes that he has not crushed her spirit yet—and, unfortunately, this forces him to renew his threats toward her, ‘upping his game,’ reminding himself of his original plan to have her one way or the other.This moment seems to remind Lovelace of his inability to control her correspondence, which lights a fire for him to continue on his course: “She must therefore choose to be mine for the sake of soldering up her reputation in the eye of that impudent world.”I like that Lovelace also mentions in this letter, “human nature is such a well-known rogue, that every man and woman judges by what each knows of themselves.” Here, Clarissa knows, albeit briefly, that she can stand up to Lovelace, but that she is still trapped afterward. And Lovelace knows that, though he may lose a battle, he intends to win the war he is waging against her.They can both react, yes–but then what comes afterward (retreat on her part, the promise of advancement on his) determines who maintains power still.
The "rape of the letterm" one might say, is so much a metaphor of Lovelace's attempted "rape" of Clarissa–his dream of taking her by force. The language is so suggestive. And the letter is, for Clarissa, a marker of the self. I love the last paragraph, especially Lovelace's remark that "his my comfort, on reflection, that, upon a greater offence, it cannot be worse"
I'm struck more and more by the man's utter blindness. He's known about Clarissa's heroic resistance to her family's violent treatment, which grew worse over a considerable time. He's been with her now for a month, and has seen her resistance to many of his wiles and demands. Even his ridiculous top-of-the-head defense of his behavior here ("Oh my beloved creature! can you think I have not SOME curiosity?") finds him coasting on his egotistical sense of his acting powers. Clarissa is clearly more powerful in character than he expected. His presumed charms turn out to be useless in the face of her character. And so it will grow on him more and more to console himself with the knowledge that (a) she is more in his power than she knows, and (b) he can–and will–in the end force her to what he wants. (Notice how often he now asserts to Belford that she is trapped, she is his, and he will eventually have his way.)
What fascinating responses this letter generated! I found Kendra's comment really insightful, especially when she noted, “[Clarissa's] mind and correspondence with Anna are the only things that Lovelace has not yet invaded.” The truth of this comment is, however, quite frightening as we see Lovelace making rather aggressive moves in this direction that indicate he will probably, as usual, get what he wants. And as we've noted numerous times, the letter certainly can represent Clarissa's mind and body, which Debra references with her description of the “rape” of the letter as a metaphor for the “rape” of Clarissa.
I was also really struck by Rachel's response here when she commented that we see Lovelace and Clarissa both “do what [they] wan[t].” Rachel's reference to the fleeting moment of victory for Clarissa was also really intriguing and sheds light on these moments where Clarissa is much stronger than we generally give her credit for. Unfortunately, though, these moments of agency pass too quickly and usually result in her being forced to submit to Lovelace once again, as Tony notes in his response.