Dublin's Joyce

Notes and news

“…Consequently, in the second and third editions of Clarissa, Richardson inserted modifications and footnotes to blacken Lovelace's character and to remove any ambiguities concerning the heroine. 8 Johnson's commentary, then, is far more than merely an epitaph to a friend but is really an affirmation of Richardson's avowed principles; and since the Belford letter had clearly outlined the comparison between Calista and Clarissa, it remained for the great critic to draw the parallel between the male protagonists of the tragedy and novel, respectively.…”

“…104, 113, 161, and 162. 8 As far as I have been able to discover, the only other instance of the descriptive order used in Philisides' poem exists in William Basse's 'Elegie II', published in 1602. See The Poetical Works of William Basse, ed.…”

“…5 Johnson made a remarkably similar observation on the same play in his life of Otway. 8 When considering the character of Lothario, Johnson's chief purpose is to note the parallel to Lovelace and to emphasize the superior moral effect of Richardson's adaptation, arguing that Rowe's hero is too gay and brave to be properly despised: 'It was in the power of Richardson alone to teach us at once esteem and detestation, to make virtuous resentment overpower all the benevolence which wit, elegance, and courage, naturally excite; and to lose at last the hero in the villain.' T Nothing would have pleased Richardson more than this particular encomium on the didactic success of his character, for the novelist had been plagued by 'inattentive readers' who misinterpreted Lovelace's bravado and even argued that Clarissa was prudish to refuse his marriage offers.…”

“…The 'sacred bud' of the poem is called Maria. Is it relevant that Melville's sister Helen Maria Griggs died on December 14, 1888, 'after many long years of suffering something like internal cancer in the stomach & liver', 8 and that 3 The Poetical Works of Andrew Marvell, p. 38. 4 Bitty Budd.…”

“…Moreover, both poems, instead of following the customary order of frontal descent from crown to toe and leaving nothing but pudenda to the imagination, proceed first from head to foot in the feminine trunk and thence to her back, arms, hands, and fingers. 8 Excerpts from these two poems are quoted here to demonstrate how -occasionally in phrase, often in thought, and always in the arrangement of subject matter -they resemble one another: 7 See pp. 104, 113, 161, and 162.…”