Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Let's face it: Clarissa is one L-O-N-G book. Lots of editions slice out up to three-fourths of the plot to give us more time to catch up on the new season of Orange is the New Black. So what's crucial to keep in the plot? If you've got an abridged version (no judgment), what do you think you might be missing out on?
- At the beginning, it looks like Clarissa is on her way to being an independent woman; she's got an inheritance coming her way, after all. What gets in the way of Clarissa's independence? Is her family reacting to newfound independence, or something else?
- Speaking of family, hoo-wee do they seem to be out to wreck Clarissa's life. But do they have her best interests at heart, ultimately? Given the ending (no peeking), do you think the family had the right idea keeping Clarissa and Lovelace apart?
- Who is really on Clarissa's side? Which of the characters care the most about Clarissa, and which of them are trying to control her for other reasons? Is it always clear?
- Lovelace is definitely the bad boy of the book, but he's not meant to be entirely unlikeable. What are some of his redeeming qualities? Is there any way Lovelace and Clarissa could have been the perfect match?
- If you were going to rewrite Clarissa for a twenty-first century audience, how would our beloved heroine have to change? In what ways is she like today's typical teen? Or does the story totally fail to translate?
- Samuel Richardson was the king of the book-written-as-a-series-of-letters thing. The dude practically made it happen. How does this epistolary style move the plot along? What kind of details do letters provide that we might not get in a different kind of book?