Volume V presents a change in Clarissa’s self, as she realizes that Lovelace is a villain and that he has been controlling and orchestrating the events around her. She then escapes from him using cunning and Lovelace-like techniques. In Letter 230, Clarissa shows great awareness of her plight and is aware that Lovelace sees her as nothing more than property. Debra commented that Clarissa is moving “beyond her personal sense of her situation and the social perception of her plight,” and Rachel wondered if Clarissa is “writing herself into vilifying him to authorize her to have these feelings.” Both Debra and Rachel noted a change in Clarissa’s diction, using words such as vile, fiend, specious, and so on to describe Lovelace. In Letter 218, we are reminded of Clarissa’s identity as a physical body when Lovelace divulges the terms of the settlement, which speaks of children borne upon the body of Clarissa Harlowe. We also see that Lovelace rather enjoys thinking of begetting children upon Clarissa. He talks about her as a piece of property for him to use as he sees fit should he become her husband. Rachel also commented on the juxtaposition of legality and morality, and wrote that this letter “seems to suggest that lawyers—not rakes—are the source of such immoral thoughts.” In addition, Debra found a Bakhtinian moment and parody in this letter pertaining to Lovelace’s use of verbal play regarding unlawful children and the difference between law and gospel.