Clicking and Clacking with Miss Clack: Collins and the Depiction of Hypocrisy Anonymous College

Annoying, hypocritical, obsessive, sanctimonious; these are just some of the many ways to describe Drusilla Clack in The Moonstone. An irritating distant relative of the Verinders with a holier-than-thou attitude, she provides her own narrative amid sudden bursts of false piety: “We must not judge others. My Christian friends, indeed, indeed, indeed, we must not judge others!” (Collins 214). Through her superficiality, self-righteousness, countless conversion attempts, and parallels with other characters, Miss Clack not only serves as comic relief in a rather serious plot but also exposes the cultural and religious hypocrisy of the Victorian era.

The use of humor throughout the novel demonstrates the ridiculousness of Miss Clack’s piety. For instance, Miss Clack displays her supposed self-righteousness to the reader by suddenly sending a warning, “Oh, my young friends and fellow-sinner! Beware of presuming to exercise your poor carnal reason. Oh, be morally tidy” (Collins 204), only to apologize later for “[falling] insensibly into [her] Sunday-school style” (Collins 205). The use of the word “young” does not necessarily indicate that Miss Clack believes that her reader is younger than her in age. Rather, she believes that her...