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Marriage a La Mode and Clarissa
Marriage a La Mode by John Dryden
The story begins with Palmyra and Leonidas, two youths raised by Hermogenes, not their birth father. Over the years, Palmyra and Leonidas fall deeply in love with each other but is soon cut short after Leonidas is declared the legitimate heir to the throne. After Polydamas, the King searches for the rightful heir who goes missing for years. Leonidas is prohibited from marrying Palmyra since a prince can never marry a peasant in light of these circumstances. Leonidas and Palmyra continue their relationship in secret but are soon found out, and Polydamas sentences Palmyra to execution. Hermogenes tries to save her by life, claiming that he lied and she is not a peasant’s daughter but the King’s daughter, making her royalty. The court hears Hermogenes’ confession despite the circumstances, and Leonidas overthrows Polydamas, ascends to the throne, and spares Polydamas after ordering Palmyra’s execution. In the second plot, two friends Rhodophil and Palamede, discover they are courting their partners (Kluge 2020). Palamede falls in love with Doralice, Rhodophil’s wife, while Rhodophile is courting Melantha, Plamede’s fiancé (332-339). Both couples continue with their illicit affairs until they decide it is better to stay with their preferred soul mates after accidentally bumping into each other in secret locations numerous times.
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
Clarissa revolves around a beautiful young woman who faces tragedy due to the evil engulfing her world. At eighteen years of age, virtuous Clarissa is adored and loved by everyone around her, including her family. Her exemplariness oozes admiration even though Harlowe’s family are wealthy. Her family does not bear any status in society, but other family members yearn to elevate their ranks, and Clarissa becomes a victim of their selfishness and greed. Trouble starts when Lovelace, a handsome young man asks for Arabella’s hand in marriage. Arabella is Clarissa’s sister, and once Lovelace spots Clarrisa, he gets immediately interested. It, in turn, spews hate and jealousy towards Clarissa from Arabella and their brother James who has a grudge against Lovelace from their college days (Purcaru 2018). Arabella and James set the family against Lovelace. In the turn of these events, a duel between James and Lovelace commences, and Lovelace wounds James but spares his life. Clarissa is forbidden from seeing Lovelace and is commanded to marry a horrible wealthy man named Roger Solmes.
Clarrisa, with the help of her best friend Anna Howe, corresponds to her seeing Lovelace in secret. Due to her being rebellious, she continuously rejects her marriage to Roger, which leads to her involuntary confinement in her room. Lovelace decides to incite her and tricks her into running away with him. Her family refuses to forgive her, and her reputation gets ruined. Being a manipulator, Lovelace maintains cohabitation with Clarissa because he hates the marriage ideology. Clarrisa does not see through Lovelace evil intentions as he intends to see if she will contradict her moral values. Unsuspected, Lovelace tricks Clarrisa into going with him to London and secures one of the lodgings. Unfortunately, Clarrisa discovers she is in a brothel where Lovelace frequents, and the women there being jealous of Clarissa encourage him to rape her. Unfortunately, Mr Sinclair, the lodging owner, drugs Clarissa and Lovelace, rapes her when unconscious (161-180). Lovelace regrets his actions as Clarissa manages to run away from him. She continuously tries to beg for forgiveness from her family, who are still adamant. Clarissa refuses Lovelace’s proposal as her health deteriorates, and she prepares for death by buying a coffin and appointing Belford as her executor. She finally dies after expressing her forgiveness to those who wronged her, and soon after, her parents die while her siblings marry wrong and after that live miserably. Lovelace is killed in a duel by Clarissa’s cousin.
Palamede Palamede is a long-time friend and courtier to Rhodophil. He is engaged to Melantha, although she is not a court member. Palamede is an untrustworthy friend because of his undeterred interest in his friend’s Rhodophil’s wife, Doralice. He is a betrayer, and his greed to live a double life depicts that no one is worthy of his friendship. He is an infidel considering he is already engaged to be married but still goes ahead and has an affair with a married woman. Despite his shortcomings, Palamede is a loving man, and his intentions are not to harm anyone, and he breaks up his engagement and marries rightfully and honestly.
Lovelace
Robert Lovelace is a wicked man who takes advantage of innocent, virtuous like Clarissa. He is a trickster who manipulates emotions projected his way. He is also a rapist after he defiled Clarrisa without consent. He is a villain who destroys everything in his path. Lovelace is an aristocrat as he ruins women’s lives wherever he goes and has malicious intentions in every decision he makes. He says, “I don’t know what all the fuss is about, each time I knock someone up I always provide a good midwife for the birth and make sure to provide enough to meagerly get by on until I can find a suitable spouse to pawn her off to… isn’t that the gentlemanly thing to do? “It clearly shows that he does not see any wrongdoing in destroying women’s lives. Apart from his negative attributes, he is a generous landlord and has a code of honour when settling issues and grudges through duels rather than courtrooms. Lovelace is an exceptional writer since he studied European Literature displaying great talent and skill in his life.
Similarities between Lovelace and Palamede Lovelace and Palamede share the same determination in settling for what they want. They both have women they are to marry in their lives, but their interests fall in different women. Both men display affection for the other women they desire and would go to any lengths to be with them despite rejection and any obstacles they face. Palamede and Lovelace share a common ground for expressing their love. They are both loving men, and they adore the women in their lives. Palamede and Lovelace also possess exceptional talents and are learned. In addition, they also believe that nothing can stand between them and their desires.
Infidelity
John Dryden portrays infidelity in Marriage a La Mode through Palamede and Rhodophil. Dryden reveals the wit of Doralice and her resilience as Palamede’s lover. They both skillfully try to hide from their spouses under the prayer notion, which miserably fails. Rhodophil, Palamede’s trusted friend, is also in an illicit affair with Palamede’s wife. This intertwined web cannot get any messier because of eyeing a friend’s partner despite jeopardizing their friendships. Palamede tries to put on a brave and calm face despite getting caught with Rhodophil’s wife on this particular day at the cave. The conflict and pressure in this scene depict the dire consequences of infidelity, especially in Plamede’s and Rhodophil’s situation. It took some time for Rhodophil to get the truth of the matter at the cave as he thought of lies to cover his deception.
Palamede’s suspicious comments throw him off course until he hears Doralice is calling for Palamede. The awkward situation before Doralice finds her husband with Melantha together leads to Rhodophil asking his counterparts, “I should know that voice? who’s within there, that calls you? PALA. Faith I can’t imagine; I believe the place is haunted.” (106-108). The repercussions of infidelity get revealed after Palamede insinuates that the voice is from a supernatural entity to cover up the truth. Rhodopsin is still clueless until Doralice, his wife, stumbles into the open, still calling out Palamede’s name. The awkwardness in this situation shows how infidelity is not always far-fetched and, at times, is always right in our faces.
Samuel Richardson brings out infidelity in Clarissa through Lovelace’s character. Lovelace is a wicked man who is destroying the lives of young women by impregnating them and not marrying them. He tricks women into hopes of matching them with the intention of cohabitation to satisfy his sexual desires. In one of his stints, he says, “I have boasted that I was once in love before: and indeed I thought I was. It was in my early manhood – with that quality-jilt, whose infidelity I have vowed to revenge upon as many of the sex as shall come into my power. I believe, in different climes, I have already sacrificed a hecatomb to my Nemesis in pursuance of this vow.” It shows a man who is hell-bent on avenging his heartbreak in any woman that crosses his path. Richardson shows us that infidelity does not necessarily have to be in marriage but any committal relationships. Once a man and a woman decide to love each other, loyalty and fidelity is expected. Lovelace further shows infidelity after he tricks Clarissa and takes her to a brothel that he frequents. The jealousy the prostitutes displayed is evidence enough that Lovelace cannot refrain from adultery since his first heartbreak, as he claims it is the reason for his infidelity.
Works Cited
Kluge, Walter. “Dryden, John: Marriage à-la-Mode.” Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL) (2020): 1-2.
Purcaru, Anca Raluca. “The Novelty of the Ethics of Samuel Richardson’s Novels through Wittgenstein’s Lenses.” Journal for Social Media Inquiry 1.1 (2018): 16-22.
Richardson, Samuel. Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady. Phoemixx Classics Ebooks, 2021.
