Samuel Richardson

A tale of seduction and "Virtue Rewarded", this early epistolary novel tells of the maidservant Pamela, abducted and abusesd by her master before she eventually falls in love with him.Although Pamela was a bestseller and became hugely influential, it caused a scandal on its publication in 1740; not for the plotline of kidnap and attempted rape, but for Richardson''s idea that social and class roles could be overcome by morality and love.

Fifteen-year-old Pamela Andrews, alone and unprotected, is relentlessly pursued by her dead mistress's son. Although she is attracted to young Mr B., she holds out against his demands and threats of abduction and rape, determined to defend her virginity and abide by her own moral standards. Psychologically acute in its investigations of sex, freedom and power, Richardson's first novel caused a sensation when it was first published, with its depiction of a servant heroine who dares to assert herself. Richly comic and full of lively scenes and descriptions, Pamela contains a diverse cast of characters, ranging from the vulgar and malevolent Mrs Jewkes to the aggressive but awkward country squire who serves this unusual love story as both its villain and its hero.

"Pamela under the Notion of being a Virtuous Modest Girl will be introduced into all Familes,and when she gets there, what Scenes does she represent? Why a fine young Gentleman endeavouring to debauch a beautiful young Girl of Sixteen."Pamela Censured, 1741.One of the most spectacular successes of the burgeoning literary marketplace of eighteeent-century London, Pamela also marked a defining moment in the emergence of the modern novel. In the words of one contemporary, it divided the world ''into two different Parties, Pamelists and Antipamelists'', even eclipsing the sensational factional politics of the day.Preached up for its morality, and denounced as pornography in disguise, it vividly describes a young servant''s long resistance to the attempts of her predatory master to seduce her.Written in the voice of its low-born heroine, but by a printer who fifteen years earlier had narrowly escaped imprisonment for the seditious output of his press, Pamela is not only a work of pioneering psychological complexity, but also a compelling and provocative study of power and its abuse.Based on the original text of 1740, from which Richardson later retreated in a series of defensive revisions, this edition makes available the version of Pamela that aroused such widespread controversy on its first appearance.

Editor: Sheridan W. Baker, Jr.

Pamela" usci tra 1740 e 1741 e ottenne subito uno straordinario successo di pubblico in Inghilterra e nei paesi europei nei quali nel giro di un paio d'anni fu rapidamente tradotto: persino Goldoni ne trasse l'argomento per una fortunata commedia. Cuore del romanzo sono le vicende di una cameriera sedicenne, di grande bellezza e ancora piu grande virtu, che resiste ai tentativi di seduzione del proprio padrone, del quale pure e sinceramente innamorata, fino a riuscire a condurlo al matrimonio. Una trama di sconvolgente novita per l'epoca, con una protagonista donna, di umile condizione sociale, e per di piu impegnata in una battaglia per affermare la parita dei sessi in materia di etica sessuale. Un romanzo che appare ancora oggi di interesse per la narrazione avvincente e ricca di suspense, per la minuziosa descrizione della vita quotidiana settecentesca, ma soprattutto per la finezza dell'analisi psicologica. Richardson rappresenta infatti con vivacita e sottigliezza rare le emozioni della protagonista e trova nella nuova forma del romanzo epistolare il veicolo piu adatto per l'espressione di quel "sentimento" che il Settecento, il Secolo dei Lumi, andava proprio allora scoprendo.

"The genius of Richardsons narration is not simply the innovative use of epistolary fiction but also the subtlety with which he unfolds the dark tragedy of Clarissas fatal attraction to Lovelace." Robert McCrum"O Richardson! In spite of ourselves we play a role in your works, we take part in your conversations, we approve, we blame, we marvel" Denis Diderot"No one, in any language, has ever written a novel that equals or even approaches Clarissa". Jean-Jacques RousseauPressured by her unscrupulous family to marry a wealthy man she detests, the young Clarissa Harlowe is tricked into fleeing with the witty and debonair Robert Lovelace and places herself under his protection. Lovelace, however, proves himself to be an untrustworthy rake whose vague promises of marriage are accompanied by unwelcome and increasingly brutal sexual advances. And yet, Clarissa finds his charm alluring, her scrupulous sense of virtue tinged with unconfessed desire.Told through a complex series of interweaving letters, Clarissa is a richly ambiguous study of a fatally attracted couple and a work of astonishing power and immediacy. A huge success when it first appeared in 1747, and translated into French and German, it remains one of the greatest of all European novels. Its rich ambiguities our sense of Clarissas scrupulous virtue tinged with intimations of her capacity for self-deception in matters of sex; the wicked and amusing faces of Lovelace, who must be easily the most charming villain in English literature give the story extraordinary psychological momentum.

Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel first published in 1740 by English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardsons version of conduct literature 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 novels 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 Richardsons 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.

"Pamela" es una novela compuesta de cartas y diarios en la que Richardson se presenta como el editor de ese material. La novela es la historia de una joven bella, virtuosa y orgullosa que defiende su dignidad y su castidad de los constantes asedios de un caballero de buena posicion que valiendose de su superioridad social pretende conseguir a la joven tanto por la fuerza como proponiendole matrimonio. Su inicial y constante rechazo termina finalmente en boda con el caballero y hacen de Pamela un modelo de virtud.

Editor: R. F. Brissenden

(See also: #6124)