I am finally able to write in my blog after a busy week. My cousin and I started working on our class presentation and excited to see how it turns out. This week’s reading comes from the 1740 published novel, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson. I was excited to give this a read after last weeks read and our professor also seemed excited for the class to pick up the book. Although it was a little easier to get through than Fantomina, it did not have the excitement I was looking for.
Pamela is about a young girl of the same name who is innocent and sweet. She works as a servant for Lady and Mr B. From the early points of the story, Mr.B makes advances towards Pamela, but as the title of the novel suggests, Pamela is full of virtue, and resists. Pamela is torn between the idea of returning home to her poor parents, but changes her mind back and forth. Her mind is made up after Mr.B tries to marry her to his chaplain. Pamela starts writing letters to her parents but they are intercepted by Mr.B who makes up a different story for them. Even though these are lies, Pamela becomes a prisoner, and starts writing in a journal.
To make a not so long story, not so longer, Pamela’s story continues and ends with her being married to Mr.B, and as the title suggests, is rewarded and praised for her virtue. I have to say that this story made sence to me more than the other ones that we have read. I try and take each story and examine it as if I were reading it in the timeframe it was released. This, more than the others, appeared to be a modern story. As I pre-mentioned, however, this did not necessarily make the story any more interesting. The characters, such as Mr.B and Mrs. Jewkes, were extremely annoying and frustrating and couldn’t help but think that if I were in Pamela’s place, the rampage that would ensue.
At the same, however, I appreciated the moral that the story portrays, that “good works” are not left unseen. This is a moral that everyone can benefit from. Fantomina used almost the complete opposite methodology as Fantomina made wrong choices until she finally hit the brick wall. Pamela, making good choices throughout the entire story, is rewarded, instead of punished, in the end. This is a story that everyone can learn from.
One Comment
You talk about her virtue being rewarded, but is there not an inconsistency here? Virtue is by definition outside the material realm, yet her “reward” is completely material.