Pamela : or Virtue Rewarded - Samuel Richardson
Brief introduction About author :-
Samuel Richardson (1689 -1761) was a well known writer of the 18 th century. But before being a writer he was a printer. In 1738 his work as a printer was successful and a year later his friends asked him to write "a little volume of letters, in a common style, on such subjects as might be of use to those country readers, who were unable to idite for themselves"; and it was when we was writing this book that he was inspired for his first and successfull novel "Pamela :Or, Virtue Rewarded". It took him five years to write his second and also successfull novel "Clarissa, or the story of a young Lady". Between this two books he would also continue printing, and five years later his last book he published another novel " The History of Sie Charles Grandison".
What is an Epistolary Novel ?
"Epistolary Novel, a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more than characters. Originating with Samuel Richardson's Pamela or Virtue Rewarded(1740), the story of servant girl's victorious struggle against her master's attempts to seduce her , it was one of the earliest forms of the novel to be developed and remained one of the most popular up to the 19th century. The epistolary novel's reliance on subjective point of view makes it the forerunner of the modern psychological novel."
Pamela : Or, Virtue Rewarded :
This lesson provides an overview and three important things of Pamela :or Virtue Rewarded, a novel published by Samuel Richardson in 1740. We'll begin with a quick overview of the novel, including information on way it was so important for the 18th century; we will then walk through a important things of the novel.
Overview :-
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.
There are three important things you should know about this novel.
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? We'll, letters give us insight into a characters interior world; if we read a characters Letters,we begin to see how their inner life develops over time. Epistolary novels create characters who are well rounded and complex rather than flate and one dimensional. Promoting psychological depth, epistolary novels became all the rage in the eighteenth century and contributed to the growth of novel as a literary form.
A Conduct Manual :-
The second thing you should know is that Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded was written in the style of a Conduct manual. Richardson was heavily influenced by nonfiction text written to improve a person's moral character. The result? Richardson's novel, especially the second volume, is didactic; the book attempts to teach it's reader. Pamela is offered to readers as an example of virtue because she is chaste and obedient to her family and God.
Social Change :-
The final thing you should know is that Pamela:or Virtue Rewarded reflects anxieties about society in eighteenth century England, namely the country's changing class structure just think about it. Pamela starts off as a regular nobody,and she ends up living in a fancy hours with a rich husband. This may not seem like a big deal to us, but the story was quite shoking for many eighteenth century readers who weren't used to social mobility. The novel argues that regardless of her rank, Pamela has innate value; this message appealed to growing numbers of middle class readers.
Theme of Pamela :-
Pamela covers a variety of social themes such as the social classes of English society,the importance of chastity, virtue and femininity religion,a bit of Feminism , and of course love and marriage. As a servant girl about to marry a nobleman , Pamela wishes to be accepted into the aristocracy.
Thank you...
Word count - 763
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