Pamela by Samual Richardson
Samuel Richardson writes in the Preface of Pamela; Or Virtue Rewarded that the novel's main purpose lies in its ability "to give practical examples, worthy to be followed in the most critical and affecting cases, by the virgin, the bride, and the wife" (Richardson, 31). I would argue that underneath Richardson's seemingly innocent novel of moral instruction lies a political instruction book for advancing the middle class. As a member of the middle class, Richardson wants to reduce the rights of the aristocracy and to advance the rights of the middle class. In order to advocate the promotion of the middle class, Richardson writes Pamela. In Pamela, Richardson portrays the middle class as pure virtue and the aristocracy as the epitome of amoral. Pamela, representing the middle class, proves through her virtue and mettle that she deserves the privileges of the upper class more than Mr. B., who only obtained the aristocratic rights through birth. Pamela instructs her readers on how to rise in social status by describing her perso
In the novel Pamela, Richardson equates the middle class with honor and virtue and the aristocrats with wickedness and immorality in order to pursue his political beliefs. As one of the world's most popular novels ever written, Pamela sets the precursor for the French Revolutionary War, which eventually leads to a class system based on merit and not birth. Pamela's elimination of class in her speech allows Mr. B. to see Pamela as an equal, which later enables him to justify his marriage to her, the poor servant-girl. In Letter XI, Pamela describes to her parents the situation in the summerhouse where Mr. B. forces sexual advances upon Pamela. After Mr. B. forces several kisses onto Pamela, she cries, "I won't stay" (55). Mr. B. then asks, "Do you know whom you speak to?" (55). Pamela replies that yes, she does know to whom she speaks, and she will step out of her social class through her speech because he stepped out of his social class when he forced his kisses on her.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 703
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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