Letter 47 Commentary

In Letter 47, Miss Howe mocks on Clarissa’s family.  This brings up a question of whether or not Clarissa should stick up for her family, or rebel against them.  Miss Howe is trying to sway her, and make her see that she should have a choice in marriage.  She tells Clarissa that she feels as if they are “babies in matrimony: perverse fools…creeping slaves when treated harshly.”  She knows that she is being “saucy” when she writes the letter to Clarissa, but Miss Howe always has a hard time keeping her thoughts to herself.