Pamela Summary

Introduction

English author Samuel Richardson first published his epistolary novel Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded in 1740. Richardson's interpretation of marriage conduct literature, it is regarded as one of the earliest authentic English novels. Richardson's moral goal is made clear by the book's full title, Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded.

Pamela was a bestseller at the time and was widely read, but it also drew criticism for what some saw as its licentiousness and contempt for social barriers. Pamela also challenged the dynamic boundary between male aggression and a modern understanding of love. It was an early statement on spousal abuse.

Major Characters

Pamela

After the passing of her previous employer, Lady B, 15-year-old Pamela Andrews, a servant girl from a modest upbringing, begins a new position working for Lady B's son, Mr. B. Pamela is an accomplished and prolific writer who tells her experience in her diary entries and the letters she writes to her parents. Pamela's "virtue"?she has a deep faith in God and believes that she must stay virginal till marriage?is another significant quality.

Since Mr. B lusts after Pamela yet initially has no desire to marry her, this puts them at odds all the time. When Pamela rejects Mr. B's overtures, he kidnaps and imprisons her, pushing Pamela's resolve to its breaking point. Pamela frequently lacks agency in her own narrative; she constantly fails to get away from Mr. B and is dependent on other characters, such Mrs. Jewkes and Mr. Williams, who make an effort to assist her. But she manages to pull off a remarkable feat: when the arrogant Mr. B eventually reads Pamela's journal entries about her confinement, he is so moved that he starts to treat her better.

Pamela ultimately receives her reward when Mr. B accepts to marry her after a protracted period of selfless suffering. Pamela takes her new position seriously and uses her husband's wealth as charitably as she can. Pamela is a role model for other characters in the novel as well as for the viewer, as the Editor explicitly notes in the epilogue. According to Pamela's life narrative, those who bear pain with grace will eventually gain from their good deeds.

Mr. B

Rich libertine Mr. B is the brother of Lady Davers and the son of Lady B. After Lady B's passing, Mr. B immediately begins exercising "liberties" with Pamela, holding her for extended periods of time and giving her unwelcome kisses. Pamela discovers later that Mr. B had a notorious background; when he was younger, he engaged in duels and even had a kid (Miss Goodwin) with the single Sally Godfrey.

The more time Mr. B spends with Pamela, the more aggressive his behavior becomes; at one point, he kidnaps her, holds her captive at his Lincolnshire country house, and then poses as a maid (Nan) to have sex with Pamela. However, Mr. B's capacity for change may be his most crucial quality. After reading numerous of Pamela's letters & journal entries, which increase his empathy for her predicament, Mr. B adjusts his plans to no longer try to mislead Pamela into a false marriage.

With the assistance of Pamela, he finally begins to live up to his image as a gentleman when he repents his previous behavior and marries her legally in his family chapel. Mr. B embodies the weaknesses and hypocrisies of the aristocratic in 18th-century Britain, though he also demonstrates the capacity of people to change, especially when exposed to a strong role model.

Mrs. Jervis

In her new position as a servant for Mr. B, Pamela's major supporter is Mrs. Jervis. She's an older woman who acts as a substitute parent figure by giving Pamela guidance as she is young and impressionable. Although Pamela, Pamela's mother, and Pamela's father have complete faith in Mrs. Jervis occasionally offers poor guidance.

Mrs. Jervis underestimates Mr. B's willingness to treat Pamela severely, especially when she is a newcomer. But in the end, when Pamela weds Mr. B, she reinstates Mrs. Jervis and pays her well for her labour. The moral of Mrs. Jervis' narrative is similar to Pamela's in that it demonstrates how virtue can eventually pay dividends.

Mr. Longman

The steward of Mr. B's Bedfordshire home is Mr. Longman. He is an older man and he likes Pamela right away. Pamela is imprisoned at Lincolnshire when Mr. Longman uses a fortune teller to warn her of Mr. B's intention to stage a fake wedding with her. Mr. B becomes enraged by this, and Longman is ultimately fired despite Pamela rehiring him and rewarding him at the book's conclusion.

Lady B

A generous and loving mother named Lady B suggests Pamela to her son Mr. B on her deathbed. The difference between Lady B's initially selfish behaviour and Mr. B's early selfish behaviour demonstrates how Mr. B fails to follow his mother's example.

John

In the early section of the book, Pamela's letters to her parents are mostly delivered by a footman named John. John is reading Pamela's letters and even abandoning some of them, which is making Mr. B snoop on her, even though Pamela is quite grateful to him for helping her stay in touch with her parents. Because John is an illustration of a good man who becomes corrupted by the influence of his master, after Pamela helps Mr. B get better, John too finds redemption.

Sally Godfrey

Despite never getting married, Sally Godfrey is the mother of Mr. B's first child, Miss Goodwin. According to Mr. B, Sally's family tried to coerce him into marrying her by using violence, and when he discovered Sally was complicit in the plot, he left her.

Sally soon left for Jamaica, leaving Lady Davers and eventually a boarding school in charge of Miss Goodwin. Any mention of Sally's name now makes Mr. B angry. Sally exemplifies the deceit that marriage may entail, and Mr. B's temperament and his free-wheeling history are better understood in light of her backstory.

Lady Davers

Lady Davers is Mr. B's sister and the daughter of Lady B. She initially doesn't appear in the book, but she stands in for an escape?a person Pamela might be able to turn to in order to get away from her abusive boss, Mr. B.

But by the book's conclusion, the roles have been reversed: Mr. B looks after his new wife Pamela, while Lady Davers rejects the marriage's legality. Poor treatment of Pamela by Lady Davers illustrates the upper class' prejudices against the lower class and how class issues dominated people's lives in 18th-century Britain.

Plot Summary

Young Pamela Andrews, 15, works as a virtuous but underpaid maid for the affluent Lady B at her Bedfordshire mansion. Lady B suggests to Pamela on her deathbed that she be employed by her son, Mr. B. Mr. B gives Pamela four guinea along with some silver from his mother's pocket because he sees how well she does in her new position. Pamela writes a letter to her parents outlining her new circumstances before sending the four guineas to help with their numerous obligations. Throughout the novel, she also corresponds with her parents by letter.

At first, Pamela is ecstatic to start working for Mr. B. She gets along well with the other housekeepers, especially Mrs. Jervis who looks over Pamela and offers her guidance. But when Pamela spends more time in the house, Mr. B approaches Pamela more and more forcefully. He repeatedly kisses her without her consent, and once he hides in her room's closet to watch her. Furthermore, despite Mr. B's repeated assurances that Pamela will take a new position working for his sister Lady Davers at her estate, Pamela's leaving date never materializ.

Pamela ultimately concludes that to avoid Mr. B's aggression and protect her "virtue" (virginity), she must return to her parents' home. Finally, Mr. B permits Pamela to board a coach going back to her parents so she can beg them for permission to marry Mr. Williams.

Mr. B claims to wish to marry Pamela off to his chaplain, Mr. Williams. Pamela is unaware that John, the person who delivers her letters to her parents, has been acting in accordance with Mr. B's directives by covertly giving him some of them and failing to deliver others. Mr. B also doesn't want to send Pamela back home. When Pamela boards the coach to travel home, it instead transports her to Mr. B's rural house in Lincolnshire, where she is imprisoned by Mr. B.

Pamela is subjected to the harsh Mrs. Jewkes at Lincolnshire, who constantly keeps an eye on her, even making her sleep in the exact same bed and closing her bedroom door at night. Pamela starts writing a notebook because she wants to leave and visit her parents but is unable to even write them letters. Pamela encounters Mr. Williams, the chaplain at Lincolnshire, who despite relying on Mr. B for a living, is eager to assist Pamela in escaping. They use a hiding spot in the garden that Mrs. Jewkes is unaware of to exchange letters covertly.

In the end, Mr. B becomes envious of Mr. Williams' close friendship with Pamela and arranges for Mr. Williams to be robbed on the road and then imprisoned. Mrs. Jewkes helps Mr. B get back into his Lincolnshire home where he assumes the identity of Nan, a maid who usually shares a bed with Pamela. Pamela is subsequently attacked, which causes her to lose consciousness.

Later that evening, Mr. B departs, but he keeps an eye on Pamela. He eventually comes upon some of Pamela's writing and asks to see the entire thing. Pamela is surprised to see that Mr. B doesn't appear all that upset by the journal pages, particularly those which are harshly critical of him; they might even influence him. He eventually gives in and permits Pamela to leave his estate in Lincolnshire so she can visit her folks.

Pamela boards a coach that starts transporting her to her parents' home. Along the way, she receives a letter from a Mr. B who appears to be contrite and who claims that he is ill with love for her. Pamela returns to see Mr. B after surprisingly realising that she doesn't despise him and might possibly find him attractive.

When Pamela returns, she discovers that Mr. B has been nicer to her and additionally appears sincere in his desire to marry her. Pamela worries that Mr. B might be coercing her into a fictitious marriage. To win Pamela over, Mr. B takes a few actions, such as freeing Mr. Williams from jail and inviting Pamela's father to stay at the estate. The two eventually decide to get married, and Pamela suggests that Mr. B organise his family's messy chapel so that they can hold the ceremony there.

For a while, Pamela and Mr. B keep their tiny wedding ceremony a secret. Although Mr. B treats Pamela better than before, some of the other local gentry, especially Lady Davers, find it difficult to believe that Mr. B has wed the working-class Pamela. However, after some early reluctance, Pamela utilises her purity and beauty to charm the gentry?even Lady Davers?and develop into a well-liked citizen of society.

After she marries Mr. B, Pamela makes a lot of money, much of which she donates to charity, paying back the servants who assisted her, helping the underprivileged in the area, and setting up her parents' annual income.

Finding out that Mr. B previously fathered a kid (Miss Goodwin) with a lady by the name of Sally Godfrey presents a problem for her happy marriage, but Pamela accepts this new information and even suggests suggesting taking the child as their own (as Sally now leads a new married life in Jamaica). Pamela is cited as an example for everyone to follow by the Editor in an epilogue, who also summarises some of the moral teachings taught in the book.