Remarks on Clarissa

Fielding, Sarah, 1710-1768Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 95K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Remarks on Clarissa (1749) by Sarah FieldingAuthor: Fielding, Sarah, 1710-1768,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 8, 2009

Editor's review

Remarks on Clarissa is a critical work published in 1749 by the eighteenth-century English writer Sarah Fielding, offering an assessment of the contemporary novel Clarissa. Sarah Fielding was herself a novelist and the sister of Henry Fielding, and her commentary reflects a writer's sensitivity to characterization and narrative ethics. Though brief, this text provides firsthand material on eighteenth-century English literary criticism and reading culture, and is valuable for understanding the rise of the novel, moral debate, and the situation of women readers at the time. It is not suited to casual reading but is better used as supplementary material for literary history and criticism, read alongside the original Clarissa or related coursework. For readers studying the eighteenth-century English novel, women's writing, and epistolary literature, this is a minor document worth noting.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students researching the history of the eighteenth-century English novel and literary criticism
Readers interested in the tradition of women's writing who wish to learn about Sarah Fielding
Those currently reading or teaching Clarissa who need contemporary critical material
Literature enthusiasts interested in epistolary fiction and eighteenth-century reading culture

Not a good fit for

General readers who have not encountered the original Clarissa and are looking for a standalone story
Readers who prefer the pace of modern fiction and lack patience for eighteenth-century critical prose
Beginners who need a Chinese translation or an introductory guide

Reading tips

First learn the basic plot and character relationships of Clarissa; the commentary will then be easier to follow
Read it alongside other eighteenth-century texts of English novel criticism to observe the evaluative standards of the time
Note the author's stance, as a woman writer, on character and moral questions, and take brief notes
The text is short; read one complete argument at a time, then return to the corresponding passages in the original to verify

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this commentary without having read Clarissa?

You can, but your understanding will suffer. This commentary discusses the characters and plot of Clarissa, and without knowing the basic story and main characters of the original, it is easy to lose track of the author's arguments. It is advisable to read a summary of the original or a related introduction first.

Is this book connected to Henry Fielding?

The author, Sarah Fielding, was Henry Fielding's sister and a novelist in her own right. This book is her commentary on Clarissa and has no direct textual connection to Henry Fielding's work, but it can serve as corroborating material for understanding the literary activities of the Fielding family.

How difficult is this book to read?

The text is in the eighteenth-century English essay style, with long sentences and a mode of argument different from contemporary criticism, posing a certain barrier for readers accustomed to modern English. Those with a foundation in English literary history or who are taking related courses will find it smoother; reading with annotations and background material is recommended.

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About the author

Fielding, Sarah, 1710-1768 Author · British · 1710–1768

Sarah Fielding (1710–1768) was an English novelist and the sister of Henry Fielding. Her work spanned fiction and literary criticism, with representative titles including The Governess Or, The Little Female Academy and Remarks on Clarissa. The former is often regarded as one of the early children's novels centred on female education, while the latter shows her sustained attention to the fiction writing and characterisation of her contemporaries; the library also holds material related to The Adventures of David Simple. Public information about the details of her life is limited, and existing accounts rest mainly on the subjects and style of her works. Her narratives tend to be plain in tone and attentive to her characters' psychology and moral situations, giving her a place in the transition of the eighteenth-century English novel from epistolary and didactic writing toward more fully developed fictional narrative, and offering valuable texts for later study of women's writing and educational questions.