Mr. Lovelace is quite a character study. He professes his undying love for Clarissa, indeed his love for her is the reason he has done all the wicked things he has. He even wants to marry her. I believe he really does love her. While he knows the correct way to woo a woman, especially one of Clarissa’s reputation and family standing, he somehow cannot bring himself to do it. It is almost as though, fearing Clarissa would not love him for himself, he has to trick her into it. He is like the playground bully who turns all his fears and insecurities and self-loathing outwards onto other people so that he can pretend he is right as rain and it is everyone else that is the problem.
In her trials Clarissa has taken to writing the occasional meditation on Bible verses. She gave one, Poor mortals the cause of their own misery, to Mr. Belford who then gave a copy to Mr. Lovelace. Lovelace came down with a fever that was so bad his family was afraid for his life. The fever broke and he awoke, feeling much better, to the parson and Lord M by his bed praying for the sake of his soul. Lovelace happened to have Clarissa’s meditation in his pocket. He leapt up from bed and exclaimed that he had already had a change of heart and as proof he read Clarissa’s meditation as if it were his own. His family is now all reconciled to him and have forgiven him for all his wickedness because they believe he has repented. Lovelace, of course, has not repented, though he tells Belford he would if Clarissa would consent to being his wife. Right.
Behavior like the above is how Lovelace operates in everything. The only person he doesn’t intentionally lie to is his friend Belford. Belford, who used to be a happy accomplice in Lovelace’s schemes, has truly reformed and now attempts to relate to Lovelace as Clarissa does to her friend Anna Howe. But Belford is too much a novice at giving moral advice and Lovelace can’t believe he is really reformed anyway so just makes fun of him. Lovelace won’t or can’t understand why Clarissa won’t have him in spite of everything. He doesn’t understand why she won’t trust him and Belford’s attempts at explanation don’t get through to him either.
Not only is Lovelace like the bully on the playground, Lovelace still thinks he is on the playground. He is a man without maturity. He acts like a little boy, who, when caught with his hand in the cookie jar, says the cookie jar fell off the table and he was only picking it up and putting it back. He refuses to take responsibility for his actions nor does he think through to the consequences. Everything is a big game and he’s just out having fun. What a lark! Poo on all the spoilsports.
He is a rich and spoiled brat used to getting everything he wants. When what he wants most refuses to be possessed by him, he is beside himself. He is both thrilled and angered by Clarissa’s rejecting him; no one has ever told him no before. But he won’t take no for an answer. Having never been denied, he won’t be denied now either. He continues to make threats. He tells Belford he is going to dress up as a minister and lie his way into Clarissa’s presence. He writes Clarissa a letter and threatens to appear at her door and drag her to church and marry her. Both Belford and Clarissa are alarmed and beg him to leave her alone so she can die in peace.
Will he? The final 295 pages will tell.
The final 295 pages? So close to the end, so close! I loved your character analysis – such fun and reminded me I hadn’t done one in ages. But I have to confess to a slight problem which is, as soon as I hear the word ‘Lovelace’ I think – Sean Bean in the BBC production as Lovelace, Mmm-hmmm. And all rational thought is suspended.
At the beginning of your description, I was rather charmed by Lovelace — the story of pretending Clarissa’s meditation is his own is funny — but by the end of your post, I was not. Surely that’s part of why the book has lasted — Lovelace is not a simple one-sided villain.