Introduction to

Samuel
Richardson

By Kavisha Alagiya
Department of English
M K Bhavnagar University
 Samuel Richardson
• Samuel Richardson was born in 1689
• Richardson described people’s thoughts and feelings
as accurately as if he could see them.
• He is one of the acutest students of human heart
that ever lived. He was an artist of character, an
analyzer of human motives and emotions, with no
rivals before him since.
• A printer by trade; rose to be master of the
Stationers’ Company.
• Also became a novelist (his skill as a letter- writer)
• His first novel is Pamela or Virtue Rewarded.
 Richardson was a prosperous London printer, who
discovered his talent as a novelist at the age of fifty-one
when he was in the process of compiling a volume of letters
designed to serve as models for humble people not
sufficiently educated to be able to write easily and
confidently on those occasions when letters might be called
for. (Daiches)
 As he explained to his friend Aaron Hill in a famous letter,
his goal was to divert young readers from vapid romances
by creating “a new Species of Writing that might possibly
turn young People into a Course of Reading different from
the Pomp and Parade of Romance-writing, and dismissing
the improbable and marvelous, with which Novels generally
abound, might tend to promote the Cause of Religion and
Virtue.”
 Moral instructions

Cause of religion and virtue

“New Humanly imperfect and realistic presentation, exemplary

characters
Species of
Writing” Moral utility of art

“writing to the moment”

Psychological realism
 Pamela
Virtue Rewarded
• An epistolary novel published in
1740 .
• It is one of the most famous stories
ever written of male stratagems
thwarted by female prudence.
Pamela by Samuel Richardson

“Indeed I am
Pamela, her
 Samuel Richardson may have based his first novel on the story of a
real-life affair between Hannah Sturges, the sixteen-year-old
daughter of a coachman, and Sir Arthur Hesilrige, Baronet of
Northampton, whom she married in 1725.

3/1/20XX
The plot
 The novel begins with the introduction of Pamela Andrews, an educated and polite fifteen years-old
maid. She is a servant girl in a rich household, and she is writing about her trials and tribulations.
 The novel is narrated primarily through the letters she writes to her parents and a journal she keeps.
 Before her death, this Lady recommends her servants and particularly Pamela to the Lady’s son- Mr. B.
 So, he takes her into his service. Pamela thinks of Mr. B as the best of gentlemen. (Letter – appreciation)
 However, Pamela begins to feel uncomfortable with him, as Mr. B becomes obsessed with Pamela.
 In the novel we can see Pamela’s efforts to keep her virtue. This is reflected when she speaks to her
housekeeper, Mrs. Jervis, as well as in the great amount of letters Pamela writes to her parents, where,
once again, she always emphasizes her virtue.
The plot
 “Shewould rather cause self harm than sacrifice chastity.
She will not let her chastity be stolen from her.”

 Pamela receives praise from Mr. B's sister, O Squire B's

sister. She is lady Davers. She complements fabulous looks
and character.
The plot
 And she advises her to keep the fellows at a distance, keep
the men at a distance.
 Again,
she suggests that Pamela should come and live at the
Davos household.

 Master agrees and “he must be a good man”

‘Mr. B. Finds Pamela
Writing.’

Oil on canvas, 1743-

44, the first of a series
of twelve paintings by
Joseph Highmore
The plot
 Mr.
B then degrade himself by behaving inappropriately to Pamela. Mr. B. kisses
Pamela – covers it “to test her virtue”
 He also promised to make her a gentle woman if she stays in his household. If you
are staying in this household, I will make you upper class. This is Mr. B's promise.
 The house has now become for Pamela, a place of anguish and terror.
 Mr B steals her letters and also is trying to prevent Pamela from writing.
 Pamela tells about the kiss incident to her parents and Mrs. Jervis and thinks to
leave the house.
The plot
 In
spite of Mr. B.’s continued harassment, Pamela does not manage to make the
departure that she so frequently threatens.
 Variousimpediments, among them her obligation to finish embroidering one of
Mr. B.’s waistcoats, prevent her return to her parents.
 Finally,
she resolves to go and, having resisted a final effort of Mr. B. to tempt
her with money for her parents and marriage to a clergyman, packs her bags to
leave.
 Unfortunately,her driver is the coachman from Mr. B.’s estate in Lincolnshire,
and her destination turns out not to be the one she intended.
The plot
 Mr.
B comes to Lincolnshire, and again asks Pamela to become his
mistress. She refuses again so he hatches a plan with Mrs. Jewkes but
does not succeed.
 Afterwards, Mr. B’s behavior changes, and he eventually confides to
Pamela that he is in love with her. He is hesitant, however, to marry her
because he does not like the idea of marriage and is worried about the
difference in their respective social positions. Pamela is touched by the
idea that Mr. B might genuinely love her, rather than just regard her as a
sexual conquest.
The plot
 Mr. B leaves the estate, and Pamela begins to worry that he might be
trying to further deceive her with his talk of marriage. When Mr. B
returns, he reads through the many journal entries and writings that
Pamela has composed. Moved by what he reads, he apologizes to
her for the way he has treated her. Still unsure of whether or not to
trust him, Pamela insists on going home to her parents. While she is
en route, she receives a letter from Mr. B imploring her to return and
to marry him. Pamela decides to trust him and returns willingly to
Lincolnshire.
The plot
 Pamela and Mr. B both know that their impending marriage will be
controversial. However, Mr. B’s wealthy and well-born friends are charmed
by Pamela’s beauty and kindness. Pamela’s father arrives at the estate,
having finally tracked down his missing daughter, and is delighted to see
that she is now safe and happy. However, Mr. B’s sister, Lady Davers, is
very angry that her brother has married a former servant. Lady Davers
forces Mr. B to confess to Pamela that, when he was younger, he had an
affair with a young woman named Sally Godfrey, and that they had a child
together. Eventually, however, Lady Davers accepts her new sister-in-law.
The plot
 Pamela and Mr. B return to Bedfordshire, where everyone
celebrates their marriage. Pamela’s father is given a new job
and a good income, while Pamela is given lavish gifts.
Pamela also meets Miss Godwin, Mr. B’s illegitimate
daughter with Sally Godfrey, and shows kindness to the
young girl. Pamela and Mr. B go on to have a very happy life
together, in which Pamela continues to be unfailingly kind
and generous to everyone around her. 
Richardson’s paradigm of female virtue in
the figure of Pamela
 Brian Corman observes,
 “Eighteenth-century critics who placed a premium on the moral
function of literature valued Richardson. His friend Samuel
Johnson’s praise of him for having ‘taught the passions to move
at the command of virtue’ succinctly captures their position”
(64).
 Obviously,however, such positive reception did not characterize
all responses
 Mr. B had no personal relationship so it was not his right to kiss her anytime he wanted.
 Furthermore, Mr. Also tried to rape her by hiding in her closet and waiting the opportunity to rape her (p. 59) or even almost raped
her (p. 212-14) though he was stopped by Pamela’s pale face. From those treatments, it could be clearly concluded that Pamela
was considered as Mr. B’s sexual object.
 .First, Pamela was brave enough to admonish her master when he did something wrong. Women in this novel era tend to be afraid
when they had to face people who had higher social class since they could do anything they wanted by their power and money.
However, Pamela who was a woman and even maid showed her bravery in admonishing her master. This action could be
regarded to be successful to gain Mr. B’s respect. By admonishing, Pamela had taught values of life, especially about the
relationship of man and woman. She said that if he wanted her completely, he had to marry her not by raping.
 Secondly, Pamela showed her high self-esteem so Mr. B could not treat her anything he wanted.
 During the process of composing Pamela, Richardson wanted to explore human psychology in ways that no other writer had.
Critics recognized that Pamela is the most profound psychological portrait which arises from the depiction, in the heat of the
moment and of spontaneous and unfiltered thoughts. Richardson was famous for his “mastery in the literary delineation of the
female heart.” (Levin, 1978, p61) For which many contemporary readers and scholars celebrated him, that Richardson possessed
insight into the female psyche. Pamela instinctively resists her employer’s attempts to expose her private thoughts, as she wrote
“Indeed I am Pamela, her own self!” (Freud, 2013, p46)Pamela makes this announcement of her identity during the early time in
which he pretends not to know her in her country clothes and uses his excuse of confusion to be close to her. The incident and her
reaction emphasize the fact that the battle to decide whom she will sleep with is also the battle to decide who she is.