Robert Lovelace vs. Ferdinand Count Fathom: Why One Libertine is Condemned and the Other Libertine Redeemed?
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This article analyzes Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa, or The History of A Young Lady (1748) and Tobias Smollett’s The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753) by contrasting the fates of both the libertine and the persecuted heroine in each novel. Although Richardson’s Clarissa Harlowe and Smollett’s Serafina Diego both serve as equally virtuous heroines, Clarissa dies to prove herself innocent whereas Serafina survives to have the last word. Much like the fates of their corresponding heroines, Richardson’s devious libertine, Robert Lovelace, also dies from a duel wound, abandoned in a foreign country, while Smollett’s villain, Ferdinand Count Fathom, remains in England and lives long enough to repent and begin a life of redemption. Serafina and Fathom experience the “therapeutic power” of “illness,” which enables both characters to seek new lives in the secular world, while Clarissa and Lovelace choose death as their “therapeutic power” to escape the secular world. During the course of each heroines’ struggle to withstand the deceptive schemes and lies of seduction, Clarissa and Serafina are forced to choose between life and death in the end, and each heroine’s decision determines the contrasting fates of the libertines. This article analyzes how and why Richardson’s heroine and libertine consequently die whereas Smollett’s heroine and libertine are allowed to continue to fulfill their separate lives. It is the purpose of this study to examine what differences enable one heroine and libertine to co-exist and mature, while the fates for another heroine and libertine are destined to die.
Abstract
This article analyzes Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa, or The History of A Young Lady (1748) and Tobias Smollett’s The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753) by contrasting the fates of both the libertine and the persecuted heroine in each novel. Although Richardson’s Clarissa Harlowe and Smollett’s Serafina Diego both serve as equally virtuous heroines, Clarissa dies to prove herself innocent whereas Serafina survives to have the last word. Much like the fates of their corresponding heroines, Richardson’s devious libertine, Robert Lovelace, also dies from a duel wound, abandoned in a foreign country, while Smollett’s villain, Ferdinand Count Fathom, remains in England and lives long enough to repent and begin a life of redemption. Serafina and Fathom experience the “therapeutic power” of “illness,” which enables both characters to seek new lives in the secular world, while Clarissa and Lovelace choose death as their “therapeutic power” to escape the secular world. During the course of each heroines’ struggle to withstand the deceptive schemes and lies of seduction, Clarissa and Serafina are forced to choose between life and death in the end, and each heroine’s decision determines the contrasting fates of the libertines. This article analyzes how and why Richardson’s heroine and libertine consequently die whereas Smollett’s heroine and libertine are allowed to continue to fulfill their separate lives. It is the purpose of this study to examine what differences enable one heroine and libertine to co-exist and mature, while the fates for another heroine and libertine are destined to die.
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