This document provides background information and a summary of Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. Some key details: - Pamela is an epistolary novel told through letters written by the character Pamela Andrews, a servant struggling against her master's attempts to seduce her. - The novel established the epistolary form and dealt with themes of class, gender, and morality. It follows Pamela's efforts to defend her virtue from her master Mr. B's advances. - By the end of the novel, Pamela agrees to marry Mr. B, retaining her virtue while gaining social status and acceptance into the upper class. The work was influential and popularized

1. Pamela or Virtue Rewarded
Samuel Richardson
Vaidehi Hariyani
(Research Scholar)
Department of English,
MKBU

2. What is Epistolary Novel?
• A novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of
the characters.
• Originating with Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded
(1740), the story of a servant girl’s victorious struggle against her
master’s attempts to seduce her, it was one of the earliest forms of
novel to be developed and remained one of the most popular up to
the 19th century.
• The epistolary novel’s reliance on subjective points of view makes it
the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.

3. The advantages of the novel in letter form
• It presents an intimate view of the character’s thoughts and feelings
without interference from the author.
• It conveys the shape of events to come with dramatic immediacy.
• The presentation of events from several points of view lends the story
dimension and verisimilitude.

4. Background of this novel
• Samuel Richardson, a printer for much of his life, had not intended to be a
novelist.
• He agreed with booksellers to write a book of lightly fictionalized model
letters, offering examples of a suitable letter in various circumstances, such
as requests for a loan, or condolences.
• He produced a sample letter from a girl suffering from the sexual
attentions of her employer, followed by the father’s reply.
• Coming up with this exchange sparked his imagination.
• Richardson set the ‘letter-writer’ aside and began to write what became
one of the world’s most influential best sellers: Pamela, or Virtue
Rewarded.

5. Pamela Mr.B

6. General Summary
The novel starts showing us the situation of Pamela Andrews, an
educated and polite fifteen years-old maid, whose Lady has just died.
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.

7. • 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.

8. The Psychological Changes in Pamela
• Some people believe that deep down in Pamela’s heart, she is very
hypocritical, scheming, calculating and skilled at manipulating other
people. Through the novel, Pamela seems to be humble and faithful
to her religion and have great respect for her family. These traits fit
for the traditional definition of virtue. Historically speaking, it was the
value of virginity that contributes to a marriage, it also affects on
male-female and dominate-submissive relations.

9. • on one hand, Pamela is the representation of a middle class girl who
resists the corruption of the upper class, on the other hand, she is in
the progress of reconciliation with the upper class, she compromises
her principles and becomes a part of her opposite sides. The victory
of Pamela’s virtue, in fact, is the progress of the middle class
establishing its own position in the social life. Her success marks the
success of the middle class, her story predicts the necessary of the
rising of the bourgeoisie. Richardson’s pragmatic moral values in
shaping the characterization of the heroine are an outcry for his class.

10. • Pamela is a maid who has been in service to a good lady, Mrs.B for
many years.
• On her deathbed, Mrs.B introduced Pamela to her son Mr.B and this
was the first time Pamela met her young master,
• Mr.B said “ I will take care of you all, my Lasses...I will be a friend to
you, and you shall take care of my Linen.”
• Also, Mr.B gave Pamela four Guineas for her comfort.

11. • Pamela’s first impression of her new master Mr.B is not bad, because
later Pamela wrote to her parents: “In deed he is the best of
Gentlemen, I think!”
• Pamela noticed the ominous intimacy from his behavior. Here, the
readers could easily find out that Pamela is a little confused but
overall she believes in her master.

12. • Then, after reading her parents letters, she became a little annoyed and
troubled because of her parents accused Mr.B is suspicious and fearful.
• However, she still did not believe that her master will act unworthy of his
character.
• In the sixth letter, Pamela said that she always thought her young master is
a fine gentleman as everybody says he is, he gives these good things to all
the servants with such graciousness and he looks like an angel.
• So far, all the evidences suggest that Pamela is lucky enough to have a
decent new master. However, things take a sudden turn and developed
rapidly which neither Pamela nor her parents would expect.

13. • In the tenth and eleventh letter that Pamela wrote to her parents, she
claimed that she was sexually harassed by her master Mr.B and that
all her parents’ worries were well-grounded.
• Because of her master’s attempted to kiss her and hug her, Pamela
wrote: “He has now showed himself in his true colors and to me,
nothing appears so black and so frightful.”
• Pamela’s mood is like a roller coaster, from heaven to hell, it only took
few minutes. However, Mr.B seems took this issue as harmless
flirtation.

14. • After the first insult of Mr.B, Pamela became depressed, frustrated,
insecure and anxious not to mention how shocked she was when she found
out that her master, the fine gentleman was only a imagination of her
naivety.
• Pamela felt that she was betrayed, confused and powerless. But this is only
a beginning of her nightmare.
• Pamela is a dignified girl who has an independent consciousness. She
declared since her master forgot what belongs to a master well she may
forgot that she was his servant and there was nothing could change her
mind not even gold or a prince. Pamela’s determination to defend her
chastity only made things worse and aroused further malicious intentions
from Mr.B.

15. • In Pamela’s eyes, Mr.B is a master of confusing right and wrong, confounding
black and white.
• In the fifteenth and sixteenth letter, Pamela wrote to her parents that Mr.B
slandered her as an artful, hypocritic liar: “She has all the arts of her sex; they’re
born with her...She makes herself an angel of light, and me, her kind Master and
Benefactor, a devil incarnate!”
• Here, speaking of the “arts” of female gender the readers have to understand
that in the Restoration and the 18th century England, accusation of feminine
duplicity were quite common.
• Duplicity is one of the cardinal sins in the traditional model of femininity that he
both employs and questions; it recurs as a basis for attacks on women throughout
history.
• During the process of Mr.B’s second harassment, he mentioned Lucretia, a
virtuous Roman matron, raped by a son of a tyrant. Pamela believes that the real
intention of Mr.B mentioning this historical figure is devious for he said: “Who
ever blamed Lucretia, but the Ravisher only? And I am content to take all the
blame upon me; as I have already born too great a share for what I have
deserved.” Then, after a horrible scene that all the readers could imagine,
fortunately our heroine Pamela managed to escape and later passed out.

16. • When she woke up, she felt so embarrassed and ashamed. Although
deep down, she knew that what happened was not her fault but she
could not help blaming herself for causing so many troubles.
• Now, we could say that Pamela was completely distraught due to her
master’s disgraceful actions, though, it is not wise to say that Pamela
was suffering a mental breakdown.
• But how would Pamela reciprocate his feelings? In her journal she
wrote: “he was charmingly dress’d. To be sure, he is a handsome fine
gentleman! What pity his heart is not as good as his appearance! Why
can’t I hate him?”
• It is clearly for readers that Pamela was already fell in love with her
evil master simply because she who denies all confesses all and the
more one tries to hide, the more one is exposed.

17. • Total 105 chapters
• In the novel, Pamela writes two kinds of letters. At the beginning,
while she decides how long to stay on at Mr. B's after his mother's
death, she tells her parents about her various moral dilemmas and
asks for their advice. After Mr. B. abducts her and imprisons her in his
country house, she continues to write to her parents, but since she
does not know if they will ever receive her letters, the writings are
also considered a diary.

18. Themes
• Class
• Ethics/Principles
• Literature and Writing
• Gender
• Pride
• Religion
• Violence
• Marriage

19. Narrator Point of View
• Third Person Objective (Editor) and First Person (Pamela)
• The fictional editor who presents Pamela's letters to us comments on
Pamela's life and fate from a position outside the situations he
describes, so he's definitely a third person (objective) narrator. He is
careful to emphasize his own objectivity in the preface, when he says,
"an Editor may reasonably be supposed to judge with an Impartiality
which is rarely to be met with in an Author towards his own Works“.

20. • The editor is not really a frame narrator, since we don't really learn
anything about him or his life.
• However, the conceit that Pamela's letters have been collected and
vetted by an objective third party is important for at least two
reasons:
• (1) it adds to the illusion that Pamela's letters are real, thereby
increasing the story's verisimilitude and
• (2) it gives Richardson a venue for presenting some the novel's moral
messages.

21. Difference
Mrs. Jevris
• The elderly housekeeper of Mr. B.’s
Bedfordshire estate, one of the
virtuous servants who applies to Lady
Davers on behalf of Pamela.
• She has a genteel background and is
an able manager, presumably the
linchpin of the well-ordered
Bedfordshire household.
• Despite her good nature and her
motherly concern for Pamela,
however, she is nearly useless in
defending her young friend from their
Master’s lecherous advances.
Mrs.Jewkes
• The housekeeper at Mr. B.’s
Lincolnshire estate and Pamela’s
primary warder during the period of
her captivity.
• Pamela represents her as a brazen
villain, physically hideous and sexually
ambiguous, though the hyperbolic
attributions of depravity may be
Pamela’s way of deflecting blame
from Mr. B., about whom her feelings
are more conflicted.
• Mrs. Jewkes is devoted to her Master,
to a fault: she is as ready to commit a
wrong in his service, not excluding
assisting in an attempted rape of
Pamela, as she is to wait loyally on
that same Pamela once Mr. B. has
decided to elevate and marry her.