‘O Richardson! In spite of ourselves we play a role in your works, we take part in your conversations, we approve, we blame, we marvel…’ Denis Diderot I’m with Diderot. Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa is, without doubt, one of the great masterpieces of European culture. An enormous claim, I admit, but I’m going to do my bestContinue reading “Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa – one of the great masterpieces of European culture”
Tag Archives: Clarissa
Joseph Highmore’s ‘conversation piece’ of The Harlowe Family
Many editions of Clarissa have the Joseph Highmore painting on the front cover, and in this post I discuss the significance of the painting, and how it relates to the themes of family, kinship, power and control that the novel explores. Incidentally, for many years the painting was thought to be by William Hogarth, and was entitled simplyContinue reading “Joseph Highmore’s ‘conversation piece’ of The Harlowe Family”