dal diario alle lettere…the epistolary form

Samuel Richardson,  unlike (= a differenza di )Defoe, paid attention to the psychology of his characters. In the novels Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1747-1748), deals with (= tratta) inner torment, manipulation in romance (love stories), and passion turned (= mutano in) to cruelty. The writer succeeded in (riesce a succeed in + ing form) giving more details about personality, thoughts and feelings, with the use of  the epistolary form.

This way of writing, based on an exchange of letters between different characters, permits to introduce  everyday events to the reader from the inside (= interno). In so doing (= così facendo), private experiences and emotions become often close to (similar to = simili a ) interior monologues. There is no intrusive narrator or author so the impression is verisimilar; several points of view are possible when different correspondents relate (tell) the same event.

Finally, even this narrative form obeyed a Puritan rule: it gave the possibility to edify (teach = edificare) people with moral values and to reach the didactic aim (= scopo didattico) of teaching young women  how to write letters.

Women at the time were approaching (= si avvicinavano a) literature because  they could read as they spent their time at home where they could find libraries and personal tutors.