Editing Samuel Richardson (section)

==Epistolary novel==
Richardson was a skilled letter writer and his talent traces back to his childhood.<ref name="Dobson"/>{{rp |5}} Throughout his whole life, he would constantly write to his various associates.<ref name="Dobson"/>{{rp |178}} Richardson had a "faith" in the act of letter writing, and believed that letters could be used to accurately portray character traits.<ref name="Flynn"/>{{rp |235}} He quickly adopted the [[epistolary novel]] form, which granted him "the tools, the space, and the freedom to develop distinctly different characters speaking directly to the reader".<ref name="Flynn"/>{{rp |235}} The epistolary form gave Richardson, as well as others, the means to impact his audience more effectively as readers were able to get a more intimate insight into a novel's characters. This allowed a stronger sense of engagement with the text to develop. Richardson structured his epistolary work to offer multiple perspectives so readers could interpret the text in varied ways. However, Richardson "hoped he would eventually convince his audience to read in the ways that he chose—ways that he hoped would lead to moral regeneration."<ref name=":1">Whyman, Susan E. "Letter Writing and the Rise of the Novel: The Epistolary Literacy of [[Jane Johnson (18th-century writer)|Jane Johnson]] and Samuel Richardson." ''The Huntington Library Quarterly'', vol. 70, no. 4, 2007, pp. 577-VII''. ProQuest.''</ref>{{rp|583}} These epistolary novels were a "moral project" as well as a literary one; Susan Whyman writes that Richardson's "goal was not only to reform reading practices but to reform lives as well."<ref name=":1" />{{rp|584}}

In his first novel, ''Pamela'', he explored the various complexities of the title character's life, and the letters allow the reader to witness her develop and progress over time.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |237}} The novel was an experiment, but it allowed Richardson to create a complex heroine through a series of her letters.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |239}} When Richardson wrote ''Clarissa'', he had more experience in the form and expanded the letter writing to four different correspondents, which created a complex system of characters encouraging each other to grow and develop over time.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |243}} However, the villain of the story, Lovelace, is also involved in the letter writing, and this leads to tragedy.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |245}} Leo Braudy described the benefits of the epistolary form of ''Clarissa'' as, "Language can work: letters can be ways to communicate and justify".<ref name="Braudy">{{Citation |title=New Approaches to Eighteenth-Century Literature |last=Braudy}}.</ref>{{rp |203}} By the time Richardson writes ''Grandison'', he transforms the letter writing from telling of personal insights and explaining feelings into a means for people to communicate their thoughts on the actions of others and for the public to celebrate virtue.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |258}} The letters are no longer written for a few people, but are passed along in order for all to see.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |259}} The characters of ''Pamela'', ''Clarissa'', and ''Grandison'' are revealed in a personal way, with the first two using the epistolary form for "dramatic" purposes, and the last for "celebratory" purposes.<ref name="Flynn" />{{rp |236}}