PAMELA

OR
VİRTUE REWARDED
Duygu ŞAHİN
Sena Nur DOĞRU
Süleyman ÖZCAN
SAMUEL RICHARDSON
 SAMUEL RICHARDSON
• Born in Derbyshire in 1689.
• A printer by trade, and rose to be master of the Stationers' Company.
• Also became a novelist was due to his skill as a letter writer.
• His first novel is Pamela or Virtue Rewarded.
• His other most popular works are Clarissa or History of Young Lady....
His last novel is the History of Sir Charles Grandison.
• Printed almost 500 different works, with magazines and journals.
• Died at London in 1761.
• 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.