PAMELA - SAMUEL RICHARDSON

Pamela is a novel written by Samuel Richardson, who borrowed the title name from Sidney's pastoral romance Arcadia. The novel is also known with another title: Virtue Rewarded.

It was published in 1740.

Pamela is an epistolary novel: it is arranged into letters that the protagonist writes to her parents.

Pamela is a young girl (15 years old) and she is a maid-servant at the house of a nobleman (Mr. B.). When the mother of Mr. B. died the nobleman tries to seduce the young girl. He is infatuated with her but at first she virtuously repells him. She is afraid of the situation, but she is also happy for Mr. B.'s attentions. As a matter of fact in the second part of the novel, Pamela, who is now falling in love with him, attempts to accomodate herself to upper-class society and to build a successful relationship with him.

I am going to discuss an extract from Pamela: the letter XXI.

It is a letter that Pamela, the protagonist of the novel, writes to her parents to explain them the difficult situation: she is afraid for her master's attentions and she is preparing to go back to home.

The letter is made up by different sequences.

Right from the start the reader can immediately understand the situation: Pamela is very afraid because of her master's behaviour. In the extract there is an important character: Mrs Jervis who is another servant. The two ladies are friends and there is a close relationship between them. The reader can also understand the deep interest of the master towards Pamela who feels afraid to loose her virtue.

The novel is an epistolary so that the narrator coincides with the protagonist, Pamela (there is a first person narrator). Pamela writes the letters telling the situation from her point of view speaking about her actions, feelings and emotions. The reader is free to believe in her or not.

Pamela's characterization is built through the language she uses and her actions. The reader can imagine the character especially through the language she uses which refers of emotions and feelings.

The message that Samuel Richardson wants to communicate is linked to the relationship between social classes at that time (the 18^th century). He speaks about the general attitude of nobleman towards young girl from lower classes. And he refers also to woman's behaviour in front of such situations.

The woman is happy for her master's attentions because of a possible better future but she does not admit it.