I thought it was now high time to turn my whole mind to my beloved; who had had full leisure to weigh the contents of the letters I had left with her.
I therefore requested Mrs. Moore to step in, and desire to know whether she would be pleased to admit me to attend her in her apartment, on occasion of the letters I had left with her; or whether she would favour me with her company in the dining-room?
Mrs. Moore desired Miss Rawlins to accompany her in to the lady. They tapped at the door, and were both admitted.
I cannot but stop here for one minute to remark, though against myself, upon that security which innocence gives, that nevertheless had better have in it a greater mixture of the serpent with the dove. For here, heedless of all I could say behind her back, because she was satisfied with her own worthiness, she permitted me to go on with my own story, without interruption, to persons as great strangers to her as me; and who, as strangers to both, might be supposed to lean to the side most injured; and that, as I managed it, was to mine. A dear, silly soul, thought I, at the time, to depend upon the goodness of her own heart, when the heart cannot be seen into but by its actions; and she, to appearance, a runaway, an eloper, from a tender, a most indulgent husband!—To neglect to cultivate the opinion of individuals, when the whole world is governed by appearance!
Yet what can be expected of an angel under twenty?—She has a world of knowledge:—knowledge speculative, as I may say, but no experience.—How should she?—Knowledge by theory only is a vague, uncertain light: a Will o’ the Wisp, which as often misleads the doubting mind, as puts it right.
There are many things in the world, could a moralizer say, that would afford inexpressible pleasure to a reflecting mind, were it not for the mixture they come to us with. To be graver still, I have seen parents, [perhaps my own did so], who delighted in those very qualities in their children while young, the natural consequences of which, (too much indulged and encouraged), made them, as they grew up, the plague of their hearts.—To bring this home to my present purpose, I must tell thee, that I adore this charming creature for her vigilant prudence; but yet I would not, methinks, wish her, by virtue of that prudence, which is, however, necessary to carry her above the devices of all the rest of the world, to be too wise for mine.
My revenge, my sworn revenge, is, nevertheless, (adore her as I will), uppermost in my heart.—Miss Howe says that my love is a Herodian love: by my soul, that girl’s a witch! I am half sorry to say, that I find a pleasure in playing the tyrant over what I love. Call it an ungenerous pleasure, if thou wilt: softer hearts than mine know it. The women, to a woman, know it, and show it too, whenever they are trusted with power. And why should it be thought strange, that I, who love them so dearly, and study them so much, should catch the infection of them?
6 thoughts on “What can be expected of an angel under twenty? (L234)”
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This letter highlights just how different Clarissa and Lovelace are. Lovelace notes that the "world is governed by appearance" but Clarissa mistakenly thinks that she will gain help although she looks like a guilty wife. He even seems to pity her because he notes that while she has knowledge, she does not have experience. We know that Lovelace has traveled, experienced the world, and has knowledge of things that Clarissa does not. Would you say that it is Lovelace's experience that allows him to control, charm, and deceive people? Is innocence and naivete, once Clarissa's charm, now her enemy?
Nicely put–her lack of experience and her naivete have indeed become her "enemy." Lovelace's wider knowledge of the world and of human nature certainly gives him power over Clarissa, but it is the exercise of that power that I find the most revealing of Lovelace's base character, and its exercise in service to a base end. And, as always, he's ready to defend himself, admitting that he takes pleasure in "playing the tyrant over what I love" (an instance of his constant self-excusing "honesty") and following that admission with the line "Call it an ungenerous pleasure, IF THOU WILT" (and note his casual, almost indifferent tone here).
"Yet what can be expected of an angel under twenty?" Pure Lovelace. It is funny ( or it was to me), it is parody that demeans, and it is a way of performing to Belford the power he has over her.
"I must tell thee, that I adore this charming creature for her vigilant prudence; but yet I would not, methinks, wish her, by virtue of that prudence, which is, however, necessary to carry her above the devices of all the rest of the world, to be too wise for mine." This was very Lovelace as well. I want her to be just cautious enough so she doesn't fall for the traps set for her by other people, but not so cautious that she doesn't fall for mine! It's interesting that he does admire certain traits in Clarissa, but he doesn't want her to have them in excess because they might give her what she needs to keep him from controlling her.
“The women, to a woman, know it, and show it too, whenever they are trusted with power. And why should it be thought strange, that I, who love them so dearly, and study them so much, should catch the infection of them?”
The ending quote from Lovelace here reminds me of much of the first few volumes, where we do get to see the power plays between the women in the Harlowe house, including the middle class family and the working class servants. Clarissa has ways of showing power over Betty, but is also subject to her own exercise of the power(s) Betty possesses because of Arabella.
I love thinking of this last phrase after reading the Turner article and thinking about the ways that Lovelace can be read as demonstrating some typically “feminine” behaviors, that women have “infected” him with their cattiness, their cruelty to other women. Highly dubious–but an interesting move of self-justification to watch him try to make.
Thinking about Lovelace demonstrating some “feminine” behaviors is interesting because in a later letter he will tell Belford that women's words are filling his mind.