Reason and Religion in Clarissa: Samuel Richardson and 'the Famous Mr. Norris, of Bemerton'

Departing from traditional Lockean readings of Clarissa, E. Derek Taylor offers a new interpretation informed by the writings of Locke's first critic, John Norris. Alluded to throughout Richardson's novel, Norris's philosophical and religious ideas provide the rhetorical grounding for Clarissa, while the arguments on behalf of women by early feminists like Mary Astell (an intellectual ally of Norris) supply the combination of progressive feminism and conservative theology that animate the text.