Point of View

The novel is written in an epistolary style, using letters so the point of view used is first person limited, shifting between characters. The main characters whose point of view is used are Clarissa, Mr. Lovelace, John Belford and Miss Howe. Each character can only display their own feelings. Because the novel is written using letters, sometimes lying, misjudging and misinterpretations occur. The reader is conveyed along with the letters blindly, knowing as little as the characters at that point in the correspondence.

The letters are roughly chronological, but the replies are not always next to the original because other letters may be written in the intervening time period. Some letters, particularly toward the end with Clarissa's posthumous letters, appear completely out of sequence. It is also very common for one letter to include copies of several others.

Mr. Lovelace's letters often lie, especially when he...