THINKING ACTIVITY ON PAMELA VIRTUE REWARDED

Samuel Richardson, (baptized Aug. 19, 1689, Mackworth, near Derby, Derbyshire, Eng.—died July 4, 1761, Parson’s Green, near London), English novelist who expanded the dramatic possibilities of the novel by his invention and use of the letter form (“epistolary novel”). His major novels were Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1747–48).

About novel

Pamela, in full Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, novel in epistolary style by Samuel Richardson, published in 1740 and based on a story about a servant and the man who, failing to seduce her, marries her.

Pamela Andrews is a 15-year-old servant. On the death of her mistress, her mistress’s son, “Mr. B,” begins a series of stratagems designed to seduce her. These failing, he abducts her and ultimately threatens to rape her. Pamela resists, and soon afterward Mr. B offers marriage—an outcome that Richardson presents as a reward for her virtue. The second half of the novel shows Pamela winning over those who had disapproved of the misalliance.

Pamela is often credited with being the first English novel. Although the validity of this claim depends on the definition of the term novel, Richardson was clearly innovative in his concentration on a single action.

Characters in pamela:

Pamela

Mr B.

Lady B

Mrs Jewkes

Mr. Williams

Symbols in pamela:

Sexuality 

is used in the novel as a symbol for sexuality. She is not shy and chaste as Pamela is described to be and uses her sexuality as a weapon against men and as a device to get what she wants from life. She doesn’t wait around for faith to provide her with what she needs and rather choses to take matters into her own hand. She admits her sexual desires and this makes her have more power over Squire Bobby than he has over her.

Manipulation

The idea of manipulation appears as a recurrent motif in the novel. It is clear from the beginning that everyone tries to get something from another person and in order to do this they manipulate one another. There is no limit regarding the lengths to which some characters are willing to go in order to get what they want and it is clear that the world that the characters inhabit is a cruel world where everyone has to look out for 

Themes in pamela

Gender :is one of the main themes in this novel, and Pamela's own gender in particular plays a key role in this tale. Pamela's gender was not as significant when her master had been a woman, Mr. B's mother. ... Gender also plays a key role not only because Pamela is female, but because of the incident when Mr B. tries to seduce her.