'Pamela' : Journey of Endurance to Contentment of a 15 Yeared Maid

“Be sure don’t let people’s telling you, you are pretty, puff you up; for you did not make yourself, and so can have no praise due to you for it. It is virtue and goodness only, that make the true beauty”.
Samuel Richardson, Pamela

Pamela | Inclined Scorpio — Cover Page of *Pamela* by Samuel Richardson

Pamela is an epistolary novel ✉️ written by Samuel Richardson published in the year 1740. The novel is categorised under conduct literature 👨‍⚖️ as it discussed the social norms and other conditions that existed during the period. This work is also considered as the first true novel 📔 in English for its realistic depiction of class difference.

Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded

Pamela subtitled ‘Or, Virtue Rewarded’ narrates the story of a 15 year old maid 👩‍🦰 and her refusal 🙅‍♀️ to the land owner’s 👨‍⚖️ sexual advancements. It consists of two volumes. In the first volume, the novel 📖 paints the helplessness of the heroine and how she rejects ✋ to Mr. B’s attempts to seduce her. Volume II depicts how the virtuousness of Pamela raised her social position 👩‍⚖️.

The Young Maiden: Pamela

Pamela comes from a very poor family and she works as a servant in the Bedfordshire estate under Lady B, the landowner. Lady B was soft and polite towards her but unfortunately she died ⚰️. She is confused 😕 if she would lose her job 😢 and where she would go if she is left unemployed 🤔.

Mr. B: The Landowner

Mr. B, the son of Lady B takes the position but he was kind 🤗 and let them know that they won’t be dismissed 🙂. But the kind Mr. B doesn’t appear so kind to poor Pamela 😣 as he makes verbal sexual advancements to her. She writes a letter ✍️ to her parents reporting this and promises 🤝 to protect herself from him.

Evilness × Virtuousness

“O Sir! My Soul is of equal Importance with the Soul of a Princess; though my Quality is inferior to that of the meanest Slave”.
Pamela

Mr. B tries to seduce her multiple times to which she refuses. Her parents 👨‍👩‍👧 supports 😚her through their 📝 letters. They tell her to leave the job and return home despite their poverty 😶 if Mr. B tries to harm her physically. Despite her refusals, Mr. B makes a physical advancement 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 which she refuses. Mr. B offers her money 💰 to keep it as a secret.

Will money shut Pamela’s mouth 🤫? Will money make her go blind 😑?

Back to Home? 🏡

“I will bear any thing you can inflict upon me with Patience, even to the laying down of my Life, to shew my Obedience to you in other Cases; but I cannot be patient, I cannot be passive, when my Virtue is at Stake!”
Pamela

Firstly she reveals the villainous😡 trait of Mr. B to her friend and co-worker👱‍♀️, Mrs. Jervis. Mr. B continues to persuade her to have sex with him. Mr. B hides in her cupboard🚪 while she changes her dress👗 in the evening 🌃 and tries to kiss 😘 her. She is shocked 😲 and faints 🥴 which stops Mr. B.

Mr. B offers Pamela a huge amount 💴 of money as well as he promises to marry 👰 her to Mr. Williams, the clergyman of Lincolnshire. She refuses 😩 all these and packs her bag 🛄 to return home.

Deceived 😨

Pamela | Mr. B | Inclined Scorpio — Pamela returns home

Mr. B deceives her saying that he’ll take her home but instead she is sent to his estate in Lincolnshire. Mr. B also writes ✒️ a letter to her parents informing them that she had an affair with a clergyman and he has sent her away to preserve her virtue. But her parents refuse 🙅‍♀️🙅‍♂️ to believe this and strived to reclaim her at Bedfordshire but her absence scared 😞 them.

The Journal 📑

Pamela | Journal | Inclined Scorpio — Pamela is caught writing journals

The poor girl is held captive 😣 in the Lincolnshire estate under the watch 🧐 of Mrs. Jewkes. Mrs. Jewkes was an obedient and trustworthy 😌 servant of Mr. B. She receives a letter from Mr. B suggesting 👉 her to be his mistress which she refuses. She searches ways to escape from the estate. Later, begins to write ✒️ a journal 📑 so that her parents would understand 😑 what happened to her anyday.

Pamela Seeks The Help Mr. Williams

Inclined Scorpio | Samuel Richardson — Their place of exchanging letters

Pamela asks Mr. Williams, the clergyman of Lincolnshire to help her. They exchange 🔄 letters 📨 secretly in the sunflower garden🌻. He tries to help her and asks the help 🙁 of the local gentry to rescue her from the estate 🏘️. But they refuse 😏 to confirm the news 📰 because of the high social status 👨‍⚖️ of Mr. B.

Mr. Williams puts forward 💁‍♂️ the idea 💡 of marrying him inorder to escape 🤦‍♀️ from the estate. The proposal is rejected 🙅‍♀️. Mr. B also robs Pamela’s letters 🗃️ from Williams. She, terrified 😰 tries to escape but fails hurting herself.

Will Pamela Get Raped? 😨

Mr. B visits Pamela in the Lincolnshire estate for the same matter. Mr. Jewkes says to use force 💪 to make love with her. Mr. B plans ot disguises🗿 as Nan, another servant in the estate enters into her room pretending to be drunk 🍻. The whole scenario changes when she recognises this and she experiences seizure 🥴.

Mr. B Confesses His Love 😍

Mr. B | Samuel Richardson — Mr. B’s proposal of marriage

Mr. B feels regrets ☹️ for doing so. He then confesses that he loves her but is not ready to marry her because of her lower 👇 class in the society and poverty. He leaves 🚶‍♂️ the estate while She softens her attitude towards Mr. B. But a fortune teller 🧝‍♀️ passes by the estate and warns her about Mr. B who will trap her in a sham marriage.

Mr. B 💍 Pamela?

Mr. B returns to the estate and get hold of her letters 🗂️ from Mrs. Jewkes. His love for Pamela deepened 💕 upon reading those letters. He decides to marry her. But Pamela, being suspicious, rejects 😔 and asks him to leave her home. Mr. B gets upset 😑 but permits her to return home.

The Decision To Marry Mr. B

Pamela receives Mr. B’s letter ✉️ on her way home requesting her to return to him and marry him. She believes him and goes back to him 🙂. She reveals that she had rejected his proposal as she was suspicious 🙁 of a sham marriage. Mr.B confesses that he had planned for it but later changed his mind.

They Get Married

👰 🤵

“Let us talk of nothing henceforth but Equality.”
Pamela, 350

They get married 😊. But Mr. B’s sister Lady Davers dislikes 😏 her due to her social class. She reveals that Mr. B has a daughter from another woman 😦. Mr. B then introduces this daughter named Miss Goodwin to Pamela. She believes that Mr. B is her uncle while her mother lives a happy married life in Jamaica 🇯🇲.

“Her Person made me her Lover; but her Mind made her my Wife.”
Pamela, 474

The Happy End 😊

Pamela with the happy family narrating nursery rhymes to her children.

Pamela asks him to bring the daughter to their house. She takes care of her 👩🏼. They live happily with many children 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦. The novel ends on a happy note where she recites nursery rhymes 📖 for her little ones. Her virtuousness is also realised by Lady Davers who finally accepts her 😌. Virtuousness and tolerance has gifted her forever happiness 😚.

Virtuousness is depicted as the key 🗝 to happiness. The preserverance of her virtue and tolerance gave her eternal happiness and acceptance in the society as an aristocrat 😊. Love and virtue can break the boundaries of class that men themselves have build.

‘Pamela‘ , Not Just A Fiction

The novel Pamela was accepted by the readers 🙇‍♀️ because he was the one who took an initiative to sketch the secrets 🤫 that happened in the aristocratic families and the difficulties 😣 sufferings of the servants or the entire lower strata of the society. Pamela here stands for virtuousness 🙂. The author tries to convey a moral message 🗣️ that virtuousness leads to upliftment 👆.