Left and right: Clarissa defends herself to her family for having received visits from Lovelace during her stay with her friend Anna Howe (different renderings of same scene).
(All illustrations: Clarisse Harlowe, trans. M. Le Tourneur, 14 vols. [Geneva, Paris 1785–87] [Chodowiecki plates 521–27 and 550–57]; and Clarissa, trans. Ludwig Theobul Kosegarten, 8 vols. [Leipzig 1796] [Chodowiecki plates 797–820]. Source: Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.)
Left: Clarissa, left alone after breakfast with her repugnant wooer Solmes, quickly exits before he can speak.
Right: Returning from the garden, Clarissa is surprised in the wood stall by a man in a riding cloak who identifies himself as Lovelace. She leans against a post out of sheer fright.
Left: Anna Howe takes leave of her shy wooer Hikman, who bows deeply.
Right: Clarissa’s aunt and uncle force her to listen once again to Mr. Solmes, who sits at her right; Solmes is about to read aloud a letter concerning Lovelace’s bad character.
Left: Lovelace flatters the two daughters of widow Sorling.
Right: Clarissa kneels, leaning on a chair, and gazes at her mother, who bends over and asks that she marry Solmes.
Left: Clarissa speaks hard truths to her sister Arabella, who threatens to strike her.
Right: Lovelace, Hikman, and Solmes as young boys; Solmes holds a whip and scatches Hikman in the face: thus do Anna Howe and her friend imagine their lovers as young boys.
Left: Clarissa, her uncle, brother, and Solmes: the final assault on Clarissa to force her to marry Solmes; James has grabbed her so vehemently that she reaches for her shoulder in pain.
Right: Clarissa at the garden gate, the key at her feet; Lovelace convinces her to acquiesce in the abduction.
Left: Clarissa, frightened and confused by the noise made at the garden gate by the servant whom Lovelace has bribed, is led away by Lovelace to the waiting carriage.
Right: Clarissa, now regretting her flight, reproaches Lovelace for his behavior; he in turn tries to calm her, pressing her hand to his lips.
Left: Clarissa at the house of Widow Sorling. Clarissa has just received a letter from her sister announcing her father’s curse on Clarissa. Lovelace enters.
Right: Clarissa, frightened by her brother’s plan to abduct her, breaks down in tears at Lovelace’s offer of marriage, tears away from his embrace, and flees out the door.
Left: Clarissa sits at the right alongside Lovelace at a dining table with his friends.
Right: Lovelace at Clarissa’s feet, assaulting her with his offers.
Left: Lovelace, simulating a fit of coughing blood, gratefully seizes Clarissa’s hand, who asks how he is doing.
Right: Clarissa, awakened and frightened by the false fire alarm at night, is surprised by Lovelace in her bedroom . On her knees, she begs that he spare her virtue and honor.
Left: (Different rendering of preceding) Clarissa, awakened and frightened by the false fire alarm at night, is surprised by Lovelace in her bedroom . On her knees, she begs that he spare her virtue and honor.
Right: Clarissa, who has escaped from the brothel and sought refuge with Mrs. Moore, is surprised by Lovelace, who has found out her hiding place and made it into her room in disguise. When he throws off the disguise, she recognizes him and faints.
Left: (Different rendering of preceding) Clarissa, who has escaped from the brothel and sought refuge with Mrs. Moore, is surprised by Lovelace, who has found out her hiding place and made it into her room in disguise. When he throws off the disguise, she recognizes him and faints. He kneels next to her, her head on his knee.
Right: Clarissa, whom Lovelace has returned to the house of Sinclair, where she is being held under pretenses, has received a letter from her cousin Dolly informing her that she cannot pick her up; Clarissa perceives the betrayal and runs into the room with the letter to confront Lovelace.
Left: Clarissa, whom Lovelace (at left) has violated, holds up his fraudulent marriage certificate; hovering between madness and clarity, she sinks into a chair. Drugged by opiates, she has succumbed to Lovelace’s lust.
Right: Clarissa, to prevent her imminent violation by Lovelace, threatens to stab herself with a penknife.
Left: Clarissa seeks out Lovelace in his room, accuses him of dishonoring her and robbing her of all virtue and peace of mind, rejects his offer of compensation through marriage, and insists on her freedom.
Right: Clarissa is arrested just as she leaves the church. A refined gentleman is shown the arrest warrant — which Lovelace has forged — accusing her of fleeing debts.
Left: Clarissa in prison, drinking tea. She speaks with the guard, remarking that even the elements themselves weep for Clarissa.
Right: Belford seeks Clarissa out in prison and finds her in the dark and dirty dungeon of the scoundrel Rowland, her head on the table, next to her a bible.
Left: Lovelace and Hickman in conversation; Hickman demands to know what Lovelace’s intentions with Clarissa are.
Right: Morden visits Clarissa, who is now seriously ill; her head rests on the breast of Mrs. Lorik.
Left: Clarissa lies dying; Morden kneels and kisses her hand. Belford enters.
Right: Sinclair’s deathbed. He curses, shouts, and whimpers in the creaking bed, surrounded by prostitutes.
Left: Clarissa in her coffin, back in her maternal home. Anna Howe and Morden view her corpse and vow to avenge her.
Right: Lovelace and Morden’s duel; Lovelace lies mortally wounded.