Living Holy, Dying Holy: The Theological Influence of Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Holy Dying (1656) on Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady (1748)

Abstract

This article investigates some of the parallels between Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Holy Dying (1656), a work long acknowledged as intertextually influential over Richardson's fiction. Focussing on the religious and theological influence of Taylor's practical theological writing over both Clarissa's life and death, this article argues that Taylor's work is key to understanding the theology and religion espoused by Richardson through his heroine, who was designed as a moral exemplar for readers rather than a purely literary figure.