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192631040

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PAMELA
OR
VİRTUE REWARDED
Samuel Richardson
Richardson was born on August 19, 1689, in Derbyshire, England, into a large family. The
country was in the throes of the Glorious Revolution at the time. Richardson was apprenticed
to John Wilde, a printer who specialized in almanacs, humor books, and popular fiction, when
he was 17 years old. Richardson was an eager reader and, more surprisingly, a skilled letter
writer as a child. Richardson opened his own print shop after a seven-year apprenticeship.
Richardson only became interested in literary creativity after he had established himself as a
printer. His first project was a collection of conduct letters, which included style advice on
how to put ideas and sentiments into words. This artistic work is thought to be the inspiration
for Richardson's first novel, Pamela (1740), which he began at the same time. Richardson's
epistolary work, unusually for the time, focused on a protagonist's inner life and moral values.

Richardson is widely considered to be the inventor of the epistolary novel—that is, a novel
written in the form of a collection of letters and other correspondence between the principal
characters and all three of his novels utilize the epistolary form. Richardson's style and rather
stoical, moralizing tone would become hallmarks of eighteenth century fiction; he is
undoubtedly the most influential novelist of his generation, and literally hundreds of writers
would imitate his writings. Richardson is one of the most important authors of his period; his
influence on subsequent novelists such as Jane Austen was immense, and virtually no author
of fiction in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century could escape Richardson's lengthy
shadow.

John Robert Moore states the following for Defoe and Richardson in his article "Precursor of
Samuel Richardson" Richardson discovered at the beginning of his literary career that his
strength lay in the minute development of scenes and characters. Defoe never did learn this,
and he continued to promise his readers a "strange variety of incidents." (351)
Defoe paints his canvas with broad strokes, presenting political, social or economic ideas,
while Richardson employs a fine pen to recount the minutiae of a young girl's thoughts.For
example, consider the similarity between Defoe's Moll and Richardson's Pamela. Both young
girls are domestic servants, educated beyond their stations and exposed to the advances of a
social and economic superior. Defoe concentrates into a few pages what Richardson takes a
volume or two to explore. While the reader is privy to every nuance of Pamela's response,
Moll simply says: "I made no more resistance to him, but let him do just what he pleased and
as often as he pleased." Defoe presents Moll's dilemma in a few concise scenes while
Richardson allows Pamela's lamentations and deliberations to occupy page after page.
Whatever the difference in style, however, both authors proclaim their desire to provide
readers with a moral tale, a story from which the readers may learn something not only about
the hero or heroine and his or her particular situation, but also about themselves and their
individual lives. Both authors proclaim their intention that the works be put to "good moral
use" and promote that usage by grounding their novels in "truth." Defoe and Richardson did,
by their own words, hope to provide role-models for women through their novels.

Epistolary Novel
The term "epistolary novel" refers to the works of fiction that are written in the form of letters
or other documents. The letter as a written genre, of course, predates the novel itself. And so
as novels emerged in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was not uncommon for authors
to include letters as part of their overall narrative. These gave readers a chance to hear from
characters in their own voices, adding realism and psychological insight, and they usually
advance the plot as well. The first novel in English to be composed entirely of letters is
usually considered to be "Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister," published in
1684 and attributed to the versatile playwright and author Aphra Behn but the epistolary novel
really came into its own with the immensely popular novels of Samuel Richardson in the mid-
18th century: Pamela in 1740 and the even more massive Clarissa of 1748.

Pamela
Samuel Richardson started writing Pamela in November 1739 and completed and published in
1740. Richardson was 50 years old when he wrote Pamela. “Pamela or virtue rewarded” is an
epistolary novel. Most of the story is told by the heroine herself and the story is in the form of
letters. One of the most particularly interesting of this novel, is that is based in a real story of a
maid that resist the loved declarations of her master. The story mainly deals with the events
between 15-year-old Pamela, a virtuous maid, and Mr.B. Pamela’s lady dies shortly before the
beginning of the story, and the household management is consequently left to her son Mr. B.
The wealthy young lord sexually harasses Pamela, and when she refuses his advances, he
abducts her and keeps her prisoner in a mansion. Although Mr.B appears as a bad character at
first, he turns into a good man because he falls in love with Pamela. In the end, Pamela ends
up falling in love with Mr. B and marries him despite the social class difference. There was a
sharp class discrimination at that time, and it was not welcomed for a noble to be with
someone from the lower class. So, essentially, it’s about a victim of sexual harassment and
abduction falling in love with the perpetrator.
Virtue and chastity were features that people, especially women, tried to protect at that time.
There are many conflicts in the story, such as the lower class - upper class, servant - master,
poor - rich, woman - man, weak - strong, oppressed - cruel, innocent - criminal, pure -
cunning. There can be no doubt that Samuel Richardson intended Pamela to be an example of
virtue, a role-model for every woman’s behaviour, an instrument to teach proper conduct.
Pamela is a didactic representation of virtue. Her unwillingness to comply with Mr.B’s
desire, with or without payment, is motivated by her determination that she “will die a
thousand deaths, rather than be dishonest in any way” (P 47). She is “resolved to be virtuous”
(P 54) and remains virtuous through all the temptations Mr B. creates for her. In the end he is
not only convinced that she means what she says but is also ashamed of his own behaviour.
Pamela’s exemplary virtue succeeds in converting Mr B. to a virtuous life and exerts the same
influence over her growing audience in the novel.

Why is chastity important?

Chastity is sexual purity and involves being morally clean in thoughts, words, and actions.
The most valuable thing of women had at that time was their virginity. Because if you are
broke and there is no one to take care of you, all you have is your chastity.Sexual intimacy is
ordained of God for the creation of children and for the expression of love between husband
and wife. God has commanded that sexual intimacy be reserved for marriage. When we are
sexually pure, we qualify for the companionship of the God, are protected from the emotional
and spiritual damage of sexual sin.At that time, there was a thought that a woman's virginity
was her dowry. Also, a woman’s virtue was her virginity and the reward of staying a virgin
was marriage.

Christianity in Pamela
Although Pamela's escape from her master's sexual approaches until marriage actually
portrays her as a good Christian for some, but today has interpreted her as cunning. She
climbed the social class ladder by persuading her master to marry her without yielding to his
sexual desires. While Pamela reveals her middle-class values with her moral approaches, she
also reveals her Christianity. Pamela says “my soul is of equal importance with the the soul of
a princess” she is stating a Christian principle but she is especially asserting her right to be

respected, apart from her social condition.

Social Statue in Pamela

Pamela is of a working class, which is looked down upon by many. She is not rich or
powerful by her society's standards, so that is why she must protect her virtue with such zeal.
Her virtue is all that she has. Mr B differs from Pamela in many ways. For one thing, he is
very well educated. He is a lawyer and he is also a Member of Parliament. With this comes a
lot of power. Mr B is also a very wealthy man. His position in society is one of high
standards.Her relationship with Mr.B also reflects her combination of aristocracy and the
middle class. Being with someone you didn't belong to was the norm in the 18th century.
That's why, Mr.B's sister Lady Davers doesn't want to accept Pamela into her family. Because
they are a deep-rooted family, she does not want a lower class person like Pamela in her
family. But Mr.B challenges his period for the woman he loves and marries her despite the
obstacle.
Pamela is quite aware of the fact that she will not be accepted fully into the upper class but
she does not accept being treated badly. By marrying Mr B, she has become a member of the
upper class and she will not be treated as an inferior. Mr B introduces Pamela to some of his
neighbouring friends.These have a different view of Pamela. They are taken by her beauty
and grace, and welcome her to their company. She is included in their games and
conversations, and they seem quite interested in her story. They take Pamela under their
wings. But the real question is, if Pamela wasn't so smart and her physique and face were
ugly, would the upper class accept her so easily?
Feminism in Pamela
In the 18. century period, there were norms, values, and rules, which bound, and controlled
women's movements in every part of life. Women were forced to be only as men's servants
and slaves who were obliged to be submissive and servile. Through his novel, Pamela,
Samuel Richardson introduces his main character. Pamela is a controversially different
character. She changes the meaning of servitude, in which women do not have to be men's
property for being servile. Unlike most women, she introduces herself as a being who is able
to use her intelligence in defending her rights in front of men's patriarchal society while at the
same time she still gives her respect to them.

Realism in Pamela
In the novel, Pamela, Or Virtue Rewared, the heroine is pressured by her master to give in to
his sexual advances. She does not and through as series of letters we see the story unfold. The
realism comes into play with the use of the language in the letters. These letters offer a
realistic portrayal of a woman's emotional upheaval, uses everyday laungage and shows the
reader how very prone to mistakes and self deception Pamela really is. In fact it is realistic in
the fact that it has that combination of truth and doubt that exist in the real world.

Why Pamela was the bestseller?

The plain language of the story,the epistolary technique,moral nature of the story and the way
the story was told by the main protagonist made the story easier and more acceptable to the
middle class,so the story became a bestseller of the period.Pamela was first published
anonymously in two volumes in November 1740.A revised edition with a lengthy introduction
was published in February 1741,and three further revised editions were published that same
year.In December 1741 a two-volume sequel was published,written in response to numerous
criticisms,parodies and spurious continuations of the original work that interfered with
Richardson’s literary and ethical mission.