The Rape of Clarissa by Terry Eagleton

I found this study to improve as it went along. It begins by setting Clarissa in its cultural context, in an introduction almost as long as the book itself. Then the first part of the main text is a Freudian reading of the book, focusing on the sexual/textual metaphor. The second part of the main text (and the real reason to read this book) is a rollicking attack on previous readings of the rape. Eagleton certainly doesn't hold any punches here. He concludes with a coda on Sir Charles Grandison.