Clarissa faces further complications in Volume VII; see in particular Letter 333. Despite these troubles, Clarissa’s identity remains unchanged in many ways. In the discussion of Letter 359, Keri pointed to how Clarissa has continued to desire the single life, though she found it striking that “a distinct change” appears in the reasons she wants that life. Tony wrote that Clarissa’s identity is “deepening in ways consistent with her earlier self.” This volume doesn’t show a changed Clarissa, as much as an “evolved” Clarissa. Tony’s idea that her character is “deepening” seems consistent with her sense of self throughout the novel. The novel’s events do not necessarily change Clarissa’s deepest beliefs or sense of self, but do allow her to grow into these beliefs and into a stronger sense of who she is. Because of this growth, Clarissa asserts agency for herself more and more. In Letter 389, we begin to see Clarissa assert agency over her own death. She decides for herself the way she wants to die, and she begins this process by appointing Belford to be the executor of her will.

In comparison, we see several versions of Lovelace’s “self” throughout this volume. He swings between being in control and enjoying dramatic games (Letter 323) to begging for forgiveness from Anna (Letter 367) and from Belford (Letter 370). In Letter 323, Kendra referred to Lovelace as “a performer” who has a “role to keep up,” and Tony suggested that he remains “unchanged…the performer, provoker, manipulator he has always been.” Yet, we do see a somewhat different side of him in the later letters where he expresses regret and demands forgiveness. Though he is in some ways owning up to what he has done, most saw these expressions of regret as being yet another act, just another side of Lovelace’s constructed “self.” In Letter 367, Jessica noted that Lovelace’s “only goal is to make sure he’s done everything to reconcile with Clarissa,” and Kendra pointed out that “Lovelace’s words of grief and regret” were for show. Debra mentioned that it “takes brass” for Lovelace to compare himself to historical figures who suffered extensively, and Tony noted that Lovelace desires forgiveness as “a kind of token…which grants validation to his own picture of his behavior—that his ‘sins’ are not sins at all, the mere natural behavior of any man with the means and the power to take what the wants.” What we see in this volume are still just various sides of the self that Lovelace creates. The consensus amongst the group seems to be that even when Lovelace is expressing regret and asking for forgiveness, he is playing a part.