Clarissa

Novel (1747-48) by Samuel Richardson in the form of letters between the characters. The heroine is pursued by the attractive but unprincipled Lovelace. He rapes her and the consequent loss of autonomy and identity leads to her tragic decline and eventual death. The book's length (originally eight volumes) helps to explain its current lack of popularity, but Richardson's psychological subtlety and inexhaustible sympathy for his women characters ensure a place for the book in the development of the novel form.