An Epistolary Novel Revisited: Alice Walker’s Womanist Parody of Richardson’s Clarissa

Abstract

Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple use the epistolary form to directly tap into the psychology of the characters without the intervention of society’s restrictions on voicing taboo events, feelings or thoughts. Richardson’s use of this ‘bourgeois’ novel portrayed the inhibited desires of lovers to each other or to their confidants. Traditionally, the epistolary novel served to educate women on proper behavior. However, Walker’s The Color Purple can be established as a feminist and racial parody of Richardson’s Clarissa. Walker’s novel is a womanist parody of Clarissa; Walker used the epistolary novel to emancipate women both sexually and culturally. She uses letter-writing to give voice to the double oppression of the African-American female and her personal and emotional emancipation. The basic idea of feminism has been discussed in both Richardson’s and Walker’s novels. Additionally, racial oppression and the challenges faced by the African American women has been evaluated through these novels. A thorough reading of both texts as well as extensive research was done for the purpose of data collection and analysis.