''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is an

epistolary Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to: * Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles * Epistolary novel * Epistolary po ...

novel first published in 1740 by English writer

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and ''The History of ...

. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardson's version of

conduct literature Conduct books or conduct literature is a genre of books that attempt to educate the reader on social norms and ideals. As a genre, they began in the mid-to-late Middle Ages, although antecedents such as ''The Maxims of Ptahhotep'' (c. 2350 BC) a ...

about marriage. ''Pamela'' tells the story of a fifteen-year-old maidservant named Pamela Andrews, whose employer, Mr. B, a wealthy landowner, makes unwanted and inappropriate advances towards her after the death of his mother. Pamela strives to reconcile her strong religious training with her desire for the approval of her employer in a series of letters and, later in the novel, journal entries all addressed to her impoverished parents. After various unsuccessful attempts at seduction, a series of sexual assaults, and an extended period of kidnapping, the rakish Mr. B eventually reforms and makes Pamela a sincere proposal of marriage. In the novel's second part Pamela marries Mr. B and tries to acclimatise to her new position in upper-class society. The full title, ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', makes plain Richardson's moral purpose. A best-seller of its time, ''Pamela'' was widely read but was also criticised for its perceived licentiousness and disregard for class barriers. Furthermore, ''Pamela'' was an early commentary on domestic violence and brought into question the dynamic line between male aggression and a contemporary view of love. Moreover, ''Pamela,'' despite the controversies, was able to shed light on social issues that transcended the novel for the time such as gender roles, early false-imprisonment, and class barriers present in the eighteenth century. The action of the novel is told through letters and journal entries from Pamela to her parents. Richardson highlights a theme of naivety, illustrated through the eyes of Pamela. Richardson paints Pamela herself as innocent and meek to further contribute to the theme of her being short-sighted to emphasize the ideas of childhood innocence and naivety. Two years after the publication of ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', Richardson published a sequel, '' Pamela in her Exalted Condition'' (1742). He revisited the theme of the rake in his ''

Clarissa ''Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady: Comprehending the Most Important Concerns of Private Life. And Particularly Shewing, the Distresses that May Attend the Misconduct Both of Parents and Children, In Relation to Marriage'' is an epist ...

'' (1748), and sought to create a "male Pamela" in ''Sir Charles Grandison'' (1753). Since

Ian Watt Ian Watt (9 March 1917 – 13 December 1999) was a literary critic, literary historian and professor of English at Stanford University. His ''The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding'' (1957) is an important work in the h ...

discussed it in ''The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding'' in 1957, literary critics and historians have generally agreed that ''Pamela'' played a critical role in the development of the novel in English.

Plot summary

Volume 1

Pamela Andrews is a pious, virtuous fifteen-year-old, the daughter of

impoverished Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

labourers, who works for Lady B as a

maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

in her

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

estate. Following Lady B's death, her son, Mr. B, inherits the estate, and begins to pay Pamela romantic attention: first gifting her his mother's fine clothes, and then attempting to seduce her. Pamela rejects Mr. B's advances multiple times, by fleeing and locking herself in her bedroom. In one instance, she faints, and finds the laces of her stays have been cut. When Mr. B attempts to pay her to keep his failed seduction secret, she confides in her best friend and housekeeper of the estate, Mrs. Jervis. Later, Mr. B hides in Pamela's closet and tries to kiss her when she undresses for bed, causing Pamela to consider leaving her position and returning to her parents to preserve her innocence. She is insistent on remaining at the estate to finish embroidering a waistcoat for Mr. B, hoping that by doing so he will let her leave on good terms. Angry at Pamela for telling Mrs. Jervis of his attempted seductions, Mr. B informs Pamela that he intends to marry her off to Mr. Williams, his

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, and gives money to her parents to persuade them to give consent. Pamela refuses the engagement and decides to leave the estate, but Mr. B intercepts her letters to her parents and tells them she is having an affair with a poor clergyman, and that he will send her to a safe place to preserve her chastity. Pamela is forcibly taken to Mr. B's Lincolnshire Estate by Mr. B's servant Monsieur Colbrand, where she begins a journal with the intention of sending it to her parents. The Lincolnshire housekeeper, Mrs. Jewkes, is "odious" and "unwomanly", devoted to Mr. B, and keeps Pamela as her bedfellow. Mr. B promises he won't approach Pamela without her leave, and stays away from the estate for some time. As Pamela is mistreated by Mrs. Jewkes, she begins communicating with Mr. Williams by letters, which they leave for one another in the gardens. After Mrs. Jewkes beats Pamela after she calls her a "

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

", Mr. Williams entreats the village

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

for help; though they pity Pamela, they too are loyal to Mr. B, and are convinced a seduction would either not occur or be inconsequential due to Pamela's low social standing. Mr. Williams proposes marriage to her to help her escape the estate and Mr. B's advances, but shortly after is attacked and beaten by robbers. Pamela attempts to flee home to her parents, but is terrified by two cows she mistakes for bulls. Mr. Williams accidentally reveals his correspondence with Pamela to Mrs. Jewkes, and so Mr. B has him arrested, announcing that he will marry Pamela to one of his servants. Desperate, Pamela attempts unsuccessfully to escape by climbing a wall, and, injured, gives up. Mr. B returns and offers Pamela a list of conditions he would meet, should she accept his hand in marriage, but she refuses, citing her reluctance to think above her social station to become his mistress. In league with Mrs. Jewkes, Mr. B molests Pamela while she is in bed, dressed as the housemaid Nan. Pamela is sent into hysteria and seems likely to die: Mr. B repents and is kinder in his seductions, but Pamela implores him to stop altogether. Mr. B implies he loves Pamela, but will not marry her due to her social status. Pamela has hidden a parcel of letters to her parents in the garden, but they are seized by Mrs. Jewkes, who gives them to Mr. B. He sympathises with Pamela on reading her account of their relationship, and once again proposes. Pamela, still doubtful of his intentions, begs him to let her return; though vexed, he does so, to her surprise.

Volume 2

On leaving for home, Pamela is strangely sad, and on her way home he sends her an apologetic letter that prompts her to realise she is, in fact, in love. When she hears that he is ill, she returns to him. The two reunite and become engaged, and Pamela explains that she rejected Mr. B's advances because she feared he would attempt to take advantage of her without marrying her. Mr. Williams is released from prison, and the neighbouring gentry come to the estate and admire Pamela. Pamela's father arrives at the estate, fearing that she accepted Mr. B's proposal by force, but is reassured when he sees her happy. Pamela and Mr. B wed. When Mr. B leaves to attend to a sick man, his sister, Lady Davers, arrives at the estate and threatens Pamela, calling her marriage a sham. Pamela escapes by the window and is taken by Colbrand to Mr. B. The following day, Lady Davers enters their bedroom without permission, revealing that Mr. B previously seduced a girl called Sally Godfrey and had a child with her. Pamela reconciles the furious siblings; they return to Bedfordshire. Pamela rewards her friends and servants with money and forgives her father for attempting to end her engagement. They visit a farmhouse where they meet Mr. B's daughter, and learn that her mother now lives, married, in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

; Pamela proposes taking the girl home with them. The neighbourhood gentry who once despised Pamela now praise her.

Characters

*Pamela Andrews: The novel's fifteen-year-old pious protagonist, who narrates the novel. She is passed on by her deceased employer to her son, Mr. B, who puts her through numerous sexual advances and even assault before she eventually concedes and marries him. Pamela originally came to the estate as a young servant looking to make money to send to her parents back home. Pamela is also noted to value her virtue before anything else. Her virtue and her moral beliefs become her controlling purpose which creates tension between her and her employer who was making multiple advances towards her. *John and Elizabeth Andrews: Pamela's father and mother, to whom Pamela's letters are addressed. Pamela hears only from her father, who alone of her parents appears in the novel. *Mr. Williams: A young clergyman who attempts to help Pamela escape Mr. B's estate, and delivers letters to her family. He offers to marry Pamela to secure her from Mr. B's unwanted advances, but she denies him. Mr. B has Williams taken away to debtors' prison. *Mr. B: Pamela's lascivious and abusive employer, who falls in love with and eventually marries her. *Lady B: Deceased; Mr. B's and Lady Daver's mother, Pamela's late employer. *Lady Davers: Mr. B's sister. She initially disapproves of Pamela's union with Mr. B for her lower class, but eventually warms to the modest girl. *Mrs. Jervis: The elderly housekeeper of Mr. B's Bedfordshire estate. She becomes one of Pamela's best friends, as stated in a letter to her parents. Despite her good intentions, she is nearly ineffectual in preventing Mr. B's unwanted advances on Pamela. *Mrs. Jewkes: The housekeeper of Mr. B's Lincolnshire estate. She holds Pamela at the estate according to Mr. B's wishes and is completely dutiful to him. She warms to Pamela once she marries Mr. B. *Sally Godfrey: Mr. B's mistress from his college days. Has a daughter by Mr. B, but removed to Jamaica and married another. *Monsieur Colbrand: Helps in keeping Pamela at the Lincolnshire estate but proves to be protecting her, and helps her escape from Lady Davers. *Miss Goodwin: The daughter of Mr. B and Sally Godfrey.

Genre

Conduct books and the novel

Richardson began writing ''Pamela'' after he was approached by two book sellers who requested that he make them a book of letter templates. Richardson accepted the request, but only if the letters had a moral purpose. As Richardson was writing the series of letters turned into a story. Writing in a new form, the novel, Richardson attempted to both instruct and entertain. Richardson wrote ''Pamela'' as a

conduct book Conduct books or conduct literature is a genre of books that attempt to educate the reader on social norms and ideals. As a genre, they began in the mid-to-late Middle Ages, although antecedents such as '' The Maxims of Ptahhotep'' (c. 2350 BC ...

, a sort of manual which codified social and domestic behavior of men, women, and servants, as well as a narrative in order to provide a more morally concerned literature option for young audiences. Ironically, some readers focused more upon the bawdy details of Richardson's novel, resulting in some negative reactions and even a slew of literature satirizing ''Pamela'', and so he published a clarification in the form of ''A Collection of the Moral and Instructive Sentiments, Maxims, Cautions, and Reflexions, Contained in the Histories of'' Pamela,

, ''and''

Sir Charles Grandison ''The History of Sir Charles Grandison'', commonly called ''Sir Charles Grandison'', is an epistolary novel by English writer Samuel Richardson first published in February 1753. The book was a response to Henry Fielding's ''The History of Tom ...

in 1755. Many novels, from the mid-18th century and well into the 19th, followed Richardson's lead and claimed legitimacy through the ability to teach as well as amuse.

Epistolary

Epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

s—novels written as series of letters—were popular in the eighteenth century, but sustained popularity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well. Fictional epistolary narratives originated in their early form in 16th-century England; however, they acquired wider renown with the publication of Richardson's ''Pamela''. 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. Eventually, Mr. B finds out about Pamela's letters to her parents and encroached upon her privacy by refusing to let her send them. The plot of ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is bound up in the back-and-forth between Pamela and Mr. B as the former eludes B's attempt and the latter, growing frustrated, continues in his attempts. According to Barbara Belyea, Pamela's “duty to resist him without compromise has become a duty to obey him without question” (411). In other words, readers of ''Pamela'' experience the trajectory of the plot, and the romance between the hero and heroine, as a back-and-forth, pendulum-like swing. Belyea claims this oscillation persists through readers' interpretations as ''Pamela'' sustains the formative action of the plot through the letters she writes to her parents detailing her ordeal: "Within the fictional situation, the parents' attitude to their child's letters is the closest to that of Richardson's reader. The parents' sympathy for the heroine and anxiety for a happy end anticipate the reader's attitude to the narrative" (413). Pamela's parents are the audience for her letters and their responses (as recipients of the letters) mimic what Belyea argues are readers’ responses to Richardson's novel. Arguably, Richardson's ''Pamela'' invokes an audience within an audience and " reful attention to comments and letters by other characters enables the reader to perceive that Pamela's passionate defence of her chastity is considered initially as exaggerated, fantastic--in a word, romantic" (412). ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' demonstrates morality and realism as bound up in individuals’ identities and social class because of its form as an epistolary novel.

Literary significance and criticism

Reception

Houghton EC7 R3961P 1741g - Pamela, xxxii

Considered by many literary experts as the first English novel, ''Pamela'' was the best-seller of its time. It was read by countless buyers of the novel and was also read in groups. An anecdote which has been repeated in varying forms since 1777 described the novel's reception in an English village: "The blacksmith of the village had got hold of Richardson's novel of ''Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded'', and used to read it aloud in the long summer evenings, seated on his anvil, and never failed to have a large and attentive audience.... At length, when the happy turn of fortune arrived, which brings the hero and heroine together, and sets them living long and happily... the congregation were so delighted as to raise a great shout, and procuring the church keys, actually set the parish bells ringing." The novel was also integrated into sermons as an exemplar. It was even an early "multimedia" event, producing ''Pamela''-themed cultural artefacts such as prints, paintings, waxworks, a fan, and a set of

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...

decorated with lines from Richardson's works. In 1742, "Pamela" became the first novel printed in America when

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

published it in Philadelphia. However, the novel did not sell well in America. Given the lax copyright laws at the time, many unofficial sequels were written and published without Richardson's consent, for example, ''Pamela's conduct in high life'', published 1741 and sometimes attributed to John Kelly (1680?–1751). There were also several satires, the most famous being '' An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews'' by

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

, published under the pseudonym "Mr. Conny Keyber". ''Shamela'' portrays the protagonist as an amoral social climber who attempts to seduce "Squire Booby" while feigning innocence to manipulate him into marrying her. In this version, the author works to invalidate Pamela by pointing out the incongruities between characters and the overall plot of the story. This version suggests that she was not really as virtuous as she may have seemed to be. Another important satire was ''

The Anti-Pamela; or Feign’d Innocence Detected ''The Anti-Pamela; or Feign'd Innocence Detected'' is a 1741 novel written by Eliza Haywood as a satire of the 1740 novel ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' by Samuel Richardson. It has also been presented with the subtitle "Mock-Modesty Display'd ...

'' (1741) by

Eliza Haywood Eliza Haywood (c. 1693 – 25 February 1756), born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. An increase in interest and recognition of Haywood's literary works began in the 1980s. Described as "prolific even by the standar ...

. Although not technically a satire, the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusati ...

's '' Justine'' is generally perceived as a critical response to ''Pamela'', due in part to its subtitle, "The Misfortunes of Virtue". At least one modern critic has stated that the rash of satires can be viewed as a conservative reaction to a novel that called class, social and gender roles into question by asserting that domestic order can be determined not only by socio-economic status but also by moral qualities of mind.

Richardson's revisions

The popularity of Richardson's novel led to much public debate over its message and style. Richardson was of the artisanal class, and among England's middle and upper classes, where the novel was popular, there was some displeasure over its at times plebeian style. Apparently certain ladies of distinction took exception to the ways in which their fictional counterparts were represented. Richardson responded to some of these criticisms by revising the novel for each new edition; he also created a "reading group" of such women to advise him. Some of the most significant changes he made were alterations to Pamela's vocabulary: in the first edition her diction is that of a labouring-class woman, but in later editions Richardson made her more linguistically middle-class by removing the working-class idioms from her speech. In this way, he made her

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

to Mr. B less scandalous as she appeared to be more his equal in education. The greatest change was to have her his equal too in birth—by revising the story to reveal her parents as reduced gentlefolks. In the end Richardson revised and released fourteen editions of ''Pamela'', the last of which was published in 1801 after his death. In consideration of authorial intent, some believe that ''Pamela'' was a latent fetishization of Richardson's own fantasies and beliefs regarding women in society. Even though Richardson did openly revise ''Pamela'' multiple times, the justification of male aggression in a "loving" domestic relationship, as evidenced between Pamela and Mr. B, remains controversial to this day.

Original sources

A publication, ''Memoirs of Lady H, the'' ''Celebrated Pamela (1741)'', claims that the inspiration for Richardson's ''Pamela'' was the marriage of a coachman's daughter, Hannah Sturges, to the baronet, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, in 1725. Samuel Richardson claimed that the story was based on a true incident related to him by a friend about 25 years before, but did not identify the principals. Prof Hubert McDermott has posited ''

Vertue Rewarded ''Vertue Rewarded; or, The Irish Princess'' is a 1693 novel. Published in London, it is one of the earliest examples of Irish prose fiction in the English language. Two original copies survive; one in the Bodleian Library and one in the Britis ...

'', a 1693 Irish novel by an unknown author, as a possible influence – the two books have similar plots: "a beautiful and virtuous young woman of little or no social status falls in love with a prince or libertine who is equally besotted but whose wealth, rank and ambition make him desire only to seduce and debauch the chaste heroine, without having to marry her." Also, the title "virtue rewarded" is not found in any other work of the period.

Shirin and ''Pamela''

''Pamela'' has significant similarities to the famous Persian tragic romance of Khosrow and Shirin by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. In both tales a rich, famous, and hedonistic man is trying to seduce the main female character of the story. Even though the female character is truly in love with the male counterpart, she resists his seductions and requests marriage. At the end the male character gives in to marrying the woman he loves and this love causes a gradual and positive change in the male character. The moral of both stories is the triumph of patience, virtue and modesty over despotism and hedonism.

Feminism in ''Pamela''

Some believe that Richardson was one of the first male writers to take a feminist view while writing a novel. ''Pamela'' has been described as being a feminist piece of literature because it rejects traditional views of women and supports the new and changing role of women in society. One of the ways in which feminism is shown in the text is through allowing readers to see the depths of women (i.e. their emotions, feelings, thoughts) rather than seeing women at surface level. However, the poor treatment of Pamela herself, and her intense consideration to her virtue- a societal construct founded in moral religion- might also suggest the opposite. Richardson himself was not a feminist, and ''Pamela'' consisted of the traditional lily-white heroine trope embellished with a sense of naivety (with Pamela being only fifteen years old.) With respect to authorial intent, Pamela was only driven by here intense fear of having her virtue compromised, and her motivation to keep her virtue intact provided a very narrow scope of womanhood and the sex as a whole. The controversy over the novel is present and ongoing. The epistolary form in which ''Pamela'' is written enables readers of the novel to see inside Pamela's mind and, in doing so, readers are able to better understand her identity and the ways her identity as a woman of lower socioeconomic status intersect and are bound up in that identity. Kacy Tillman compares the written "letter" to the body of the scribe (or "paper body" of which writers and readers of letters struggle to control. Tillman's writes, "...in early American novels, the letter served as a kind of paper body, a contested space where women writers and their readers vied for control over the female body, symbolizing the broader cultural struggle in which women were enmeshed during and shortly after the Revolution" (124), and in Tillman's article she posits that a relationship exists between “epistolarity and gender construction in early American novels: that women were expected to follow an epistolary code of ethics, which men could violate or manipulate as they saw fit: the control of a paper body was connected to the control of a physical one; and that women who failed (even despite trying to abide by the rules of epistolarity) risked ruin" (125). Within the first few chapters of ''Pamela, Virtue Rewarded'', Pamela is concerned because one of her letters has been lost. Also, in an instance when Mr. B notices Pamela writing a letter, he asks to read it and, because he's her master, she allows him to do so. Of course, Mr. B doesn't find anything written in the letter that he doesn't like, but Mr. B's encroachment on Pamela's privacy mirrors his encroachment on the privacy of her body as he attempts to seduce her over and over again. Tillman argues that, in early modern times when letter-writing was an important and popular method of communication, “male letter readers could intercept and interpret those representations in a way that could void female agency" (125) and, because “letters… rean extension of the self" (Tillman 126), Pamela's privacy is at risk in myriad ways. At the end of Tillman's article, she addresses the relationship between the experience of letter-writing and the experience of sharing the letters once written are bound up in the writers’ identities and social expectations: "Just as women must dress according to their station, so letters should adopt a tone and style that fits their situation. Just as women must protect their bodies from seduction, so missives must carefully regulate what they say to a suitor" (127). The letter is performative in that it forms “a paper body that had to be carefully crafted and regulated since every part of it--from the handwriting, to the paper, to the content--could be subject examination and judgment" (Tillman 126). In this way, the letter works to enact and sustain writers’ identities and the relationships cultivated between writers and readers of the letters. ''Pamela'' is strewn with contemporary themes that handle gender roles, male aggression, false imprisonment, classism, and the hierarchy of power evident through her forced stay at Mr. B’s estate and seen through her kidnapping. Pamela had little to no choice in the arrangement and was a victim of Mr. B’s sexual advances. Mr. B saw Pamela as an object of affection, and a pawn to his game.

Adaptations

Paintings

Around 1742

Francis Hayman Francis Hayman (1708 – 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and later its first librarian. Life and works Born in Exeter, Devon, Hayman begun his arti ...

also produced two paintings drawing on scenes and themes from the novel for supper boxes 12 and 16 at

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, bein ...

. The painting for Box 12 is now lost but showed the departure scene fro
Letter XXIX
whilst the one for Box 16 shows Pamela fleeing to Mr B.'s coach after revealing her marriage to Lady Davers and Mr B.'s servant Colbrand forcibly defending her from two of Lady Davers' servants. The latter was bought from the Gardens in 1841 by

William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, KG (29 December 175719 March 1844), also known as Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Little Preston, from 1788 to 1802, and William Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lowther, from 1802 to 1807, was a British Tory po ...

, whose heirs sold it in 1947 to Henry Hornyold-Strickland, who in turn donated it to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

as part of the house, collections and gardens of Sizergh Castle in 1950. Soon afterwards, in 1743,

Joseph Highmore Joseph Highmore (13 June 1692 – 3 March 1780) was an England, English painter of Portrait painting, portraits, conversation pieces and History painting, history subjects, illustrator and author. After retiring from his career as a painter ...

produced a series of twelve paintings as the basis for a set of engravings. They are a free adaptation of the novel, mainly focusing on the first book. They are now equally divided between

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

, the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

and the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th V ...

, each of which has four of the series.

Stage

Its success also led to several stage adaptations in France and Italy. In Italy, it was adapted by

Chiari Chiari may refer to: * Chiari (surname) *Chiari, Lombardy, a commune in Italy * The Chiari Institute, a medical institution in Great Neck, New York *Battle of Chiari (1701), part of the War of the Spanish Succession See also * Arnold–Chiari malf ...

and Goldoni. In France, Boissy put on a ''Paméla ou la Vertu mieux éprouvée'', a verse comedy in three acts ( Comédiens italiens ordinaires du Roi, 4 March 1743), followed Neufchâteau's five-act verse comedy ''Paméla ou la Vertu récompensée'' ( Comédiens Français, 1 August 1793). Appearing during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, Neufchâteau's adaptation was felt to be too Royalist in its sympathies by the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

, which imprisoned its author and cast (including Anne Françoise Elisabeth Lange and

Dazincourt Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Albouy (11 December 1747, in Marseille – 28 March 1809, in Paris), stage name Dazincourt, was a French actor. Life Educated by the Oratorians, Dazincourt entered the service of the maréchal de Richelieu in 1766 and h ...

) in the Madelonnettes and Sainte-Pélagie prisons. Mademoiselle Lange's straw hat from the play launched a trend for

Pamela hat The ''Chapeau à la Paméla'', Pamela hat or Pamela bonnet described a type of straw hat or bonnet popular during the 1790s and into the first three quarters of the 19th century. It was named after the heroine of Samuel Richardson's 1741 novel ''Pa ...

s and bonnets which were worn well into the second half of the nineteenth century. ''Pamela'' was also the basis for the libretto of

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly th ...

's comic opera '' La buona figliuola''. Playwright

Martin Crimp Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

uses the text as a "provocation" for his stage play ''When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other: 12 Variations on Samuel Richardson’s Pamela'', opening at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

in 2019 starring

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received n ...

and

Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film '' The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'', and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Ad ...

directed by

Katie Mitchell Katrina Jane Mitchell (born 23 September 1964) is an English theatre director. Life and career Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham, she went up to Ma ...

Novels

The success of ''Pamela'' soon led to its translation into other languages, most notably into French by abbé Prévost. It was also imitated by Robert-Martin Lesuire in his own novel ''la Paméla française, ou Lettres d’une jeune paysanne et d’un jeune ci-devant, contenant leurs aventures''. More recently, Bay Area author Pamela Lu's first book ''Pamela: A Novel'' evokes Richardson's title and also borrows from Richardson the conceit of single-letter names to create a very different type of "quasi-

bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...

," according to ''Publishers Weekly''.

Film and TV

* 1974 – UK movie by Jim O'Connolly: ''

Mistress Pamela ''Mistress Pamela'' is a 1973 British sex comedy drama film directed by Jim O'Connolly and starring Ann Michelle, Dudley Foster, Anna Quayle and Anthony Sharp. It was loosely based on the 1740 novel '' Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded'' by Samue ...

'' with Ann Michelle as Pamela Andrews and Julian Barnes as Lord Robert Devenish (Mr. B). * 2003 – Italian TV series by Cinzia TH Torrini: ''

Elisa di Rivombrosa ''Elisa di Rivombrosa'' is an Italian television series (partly inspired by the 1740 novel '' Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded'') about a love story in 18th century Italy between Fabrizio Ristori, a young Italian Count, and his mother's maid, Elisa. I ...

'' is loosely based on ''Pamela''. The story takes place in the second half of the 18th century in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

(Italy). The role of Pamela is that of Elisa Scalzi (played by

Vittoria Puccini Vittoria Puccini (born 18 November 1981) is an Italian film and television actress. Since her success as the lead actress in 2003-2005 costume drama television series ''Elisa di Rivombrosa'', she has continued to work in television and movie p ...

) in the series. The role of Mr. B is that of Count Fabrizio Ristori (played by

Alessandro Preziosi Alessandro Preziosi (born 19 April 1973) is an Italian actor. Biography Son of lawyers, Preziosi was born and raised in Avellino, Italy, later moving to nearby Vomero, Naples. He completed his classical studies at the Liceo Umberto I of Naple ...

Allusions/references from other works

* : Jane mentions Bessie's nursery stories and how some of them came from ''Pamela''. * : Amanda, attempting to pass herself off as a lady's maid, uses ''Pamela'' as inspiration to invent a story that she was fired from her previous position because her employer had made improper advances towards her. * : The character of Doctor Montague mentions several times that he is reading ''Pamela''. * : Some have viewed this novel to be a modern retelling of ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' as it shares many key elements with the novel, such as a young, beautiful woman being taken by an arrogant man. However, Amis claimed afterwards that he had little interest in classic fiction, which makes this proposition less likely. * : The character Captain York recommends the novel ''Pamela'' to his dinner guests. * , the third novel in the Outlander series: In the chapter "The Torremolinos Gambit", the characters Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey discuss Samuel Richardson's immense novel ''Pamela''. Another mention is made in ''The Fiery Cross'', Gabaldon's fifth novel in the series, wherein Roger Wakefield is perusing the Fraser library and comes across the "monstrous" "gigantic" novel with several bookmarks delineating where various readers gave up on the novel, either temporarily or permanently. * . On 9 January 2007, BBC Radio 4 broadcast ''The Long View'' which contrasted ''Pamela''s effect on 18th-century society with that of video games on 20th-century society. * : Both volumes of ''Pamela'' have been read by Elizabeth Bennet and she passes the books to one of the maids. The maid contemplates the behavior of the characters and wonders what her own conduct would be if put in the same position. *

Footnotes

References

* *

Bibliography

;Editions * Richardson, Samuel ''Pamela'' (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003) . Edited by Margaret Ann Doody and Peter Sabor. This edition takes as its copy-text the revised, posthumously published edition of 1801. * — (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) . Edited by Thomas Keymer and Alice Wakely. This edition takes as its copy-text the first edition of November 1740 (dated 1741). *Richardson, Samuel ''Pamela Or Virtue Rewarded'' (Lector House, 2019) .

Criticism

* Armstrong, Nancy. ''Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. * * * Doody, Margaret Anne. ''A Natural Passion: A Study of the Novels of Samuel Richardson''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974. * * * * * * McKeon, Michael. ''The Origins of the English Novel: 1600–1740''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. * * * Townsend, Alex, Autonomous Voices: An Exploration of Polyphony in the Novels of Samuel Richardson, 2003, Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt/M., New York, Wien, 2003, * * Watt, Ian. ''The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957.

External links

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Illustration History of Samuel Richardson's ''Pamela''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded 1740 novels 18th-century British novels British novels adapted into films British novels adapted into plays Novels by Samuel Richardson Epistolary novels Sentimental novels English novels Novels set in Lincolnshire British novels adapted into television shows tr:Pamela (roman)