Pamela or Virtue Rewarded

Pamela or Virtue Rewarded

Pamela or Virtue Rewarded is written by English writer is Samuel Richardson. Pamela or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel. Novel published in 1740. The full title in novel is Pamela or Virtue Rewarded, makes  Richardson’s moral purpose.

Samuel Richardson

Samuel Richardson was an English writer and printer best known for three epistolary novels: Pamela or Virtue Rewarded, Clarissa: or the history of a young lady and The History of sir Charles Grandison. He was born in 19 August 1689, Mackworth, United Kingdom and he died in 4 July 1761, Parsons Green, London, United.

 Many character in the novel. But central and important character is Pamela. Pamela is fifteen year old girl. She belong a poor and she is a servant. She wrote a letter his father and mother his condition. In novel two volumes. Samuel Richardson's Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded gives us one of the eighteenth century's most famous love stories, though the novel may not sound very romantic to modern readers. In it, a rich gentleman named Mr. B relentlessly pursues the virginity of a beautiful and chaste serving girl named Pamela. An unscrupulous rake, Mr. B, wishes for nothing more than to have his way with the young girl. He repeatedly tries to rape and assault her. Unfortunately for Mr. B, Pamela is a paragon of virtue, and she always manages to escape his attacks. Eventually, Pamela's innate goodness reforms Mr. B, and he gives up his pursuit, instead offering her his hand in marriage. In a surprising twist, Pamela eventually accepts Mr. B's proposal and becomes the wife of her would-be rapist.

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. 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 rest of the novel deals with Pamela’s efforts to defend herself and her virtue from Mr. B.’s advances towards her, as well as her internal debate between love Mr. B and keep providing to her family, or holding true to her morals and losing her chance of a better life.

At the end, she agrees to marry him instead of simply let him taking advantage of her. Probably, because in this way, she retains her virtue and she also gains social status.

A Novel of Letters

Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel; that is, a piece of fiction comprised of letters. Why is this important? Well, letters give us insight into a character's interior world; if we read a character's letters, we begin to see how their inner life develops over time. Epistolary novels create characters who are well-rounded and complex rather than flat and one-dimensional. Promoting psychological depth, epistolary novels became all the rage in the eighteenth century and contributed to the growth of the novel as a literary form.

Is Pamela a reliable narrator ?if no, then why?

Reading the literary criticism which has been written almost 250 years after the first publication of Richardson’s Pamela 1 it is surprising to see how emotionally charged the Pamela-debate still is. Its central question, whether Pamela’s narration is reliable, is still able to initiate a heated discussion. The reason for this is that Pamela’s story is far more than the narration of the experience of a servant-girl. It always was and obviously still is a matter of politics and political correctness, almost comparable to the alleged sexual affairs of President Clinton. In Pamela’s case, however, we do not ask whether he really did it. Nobody wants to spare Mr. B. the embarrassment of being guilty of sexual harassment. Mr. B., clearly, is not the point of interest. Instead, we ask whether Pamela is really telling the truth about herself. This aspect of her reliability turns out to be the most important one. What is at stake is Pamela’s virtue, and this is the fate she shares with Mr. Clinton. Both have been elected to hold a powerful public position, with the difference that Pamela has not been elected by the people but by her author Samuel Richardson. I want to argue that Pamela’s problems apart.

Yes, then way reason is?

Pamela is a Richardson uses in Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded was meant to give Pamela’s voice more believability and reliability. Pamela depends on the in  virtue, and morality as exemplified by Pamela. Pamela is a reliable voice. On this note, whether Pamela is to be believed depends on not just how she tells her story.