Discuss the concept of virtue in richardson's pamela
Answers
The novel Pamela is an epistolary conduct book about a young woman who is rewarded for her virtue and piety. In her letters to her parents, Pamela claims to be a hard-working, humble, obedient, and virtuous woman; however, as the narrator, she can portray herself as a paragon of virtue despite her actions not always reflecting her supposed values. Pamela tries to be hard-working, but resists doing manual labour and suggests to her parents that she is too beautiful for such work. Instead of being humble, Pamela develops a taste for rich clothing and has trouble accepting that she must return to her parents’ humble country life. Additionally, Pamela is not as obedient as she claims to be, and her writing often betrays her wit and distaste for authority. While Pamela is supposed to be a model of virtue for all women to emulate, her incessant detail about Mr. B’s advances on her are too revealing to be considered a chaste description for any young lady to write. Despite these discrepancies, Pamela is a conduct novel, and as such, does not question the actions of Pamela but allows her to claim to be more perfect than she is. In Pamela, the epistolary genre, combined with the novel’s premise as a conduct book, allows Pamela to present herself as a hard-working, humble, obedient, and virtuous woman in her letters, but does not require her to actually endorse these values. Instead, Pamela’s writing shows a disconnect between the self she wants to present to her parents and her true personality.
Although Pamela claims in her letters that she is hard-working and willing to do manual labour at home, her language makes it clear that she believes that she is above doing hard manual labour. When Pamela attempts to scrub a pot when Rachel’s back is turned, she quickly gives up and decides that she would rather sew and do plain-work instead. Although she claims she could do it “by degrees” and that she “hope[s] to make [her] hands as red as a blood-pudding, and as hard as a beechen trencher, to accommodate them to [her] condition” ( Richardson 77). These phrases only highlight her distaste for manual labour, suggesting that she doesn’t currently have the strength to do such work, as she will have to “accommodate” her hands in order to withstand the work (77). While Pamela claims that she would be able to do manual labour if she needs to, she is eager find other employment where she “need not spoil [her] fingers” (77). By writing about her preference for plain-work in her letters, her obliging parents will most likely not allow her to scrub pots or do other manual labour. Pamela writes that she wishes she had learnt how to “wash and scour, and brew and bake, and such like,” she claims her lady only taught her to sing and dance, meaning she would have to learn these skills if she were to go home (76). Pamela also writes that her “proud heart” will make it harder for her to learn new skills (76). It is clear from her repetition that she believes she is more suited for plain-work, singing, and dancing. While she does not tell her parents that she does not want to do manual labour, she makes it clear in her letters that her skill set is better suited for more ladylike tasks.
It is clear from Pamela’s unwillingness to do manual labour that she wants to work in an upper-class household and wait on upper-class women. The tasks she describes to her parents — mostly embroidering and sewing — are those of a lady’s maid, one of the more prestigious servant positions for a woman (Anonymous 601). She also claims that her lady told her she was good at singing, dancing, and needlework, and that all she wants to learn is to draw, flower, and improve her needlework (Richardson 76). These tasks are not servants’ tasks, but aristocratic “accomplishments” for upper-class women or possibly lady’s maids, as lady’s maids were expected to be more accomplished than downstairs servants (Anonymous 601). Additionally, Pamela tells her parents how a servant man, Harry, called her pretty and “took hold of [her]” and that Mr B thinks she is beautiful as well, suggesting that she looks as pretty as an aristocratic lady (Richardson 17). Pamela not only believes that she can become a proper lady’s maid, but thinks she looks as pretty as a lady’s maid as well. Pamela is determined to learn how to behave like an upper-class woman instead of learning how to work like a lower-class woman, which means that when she tells her parents she will be happy working on the farm with them, she is lying about her true feelings. Instead of focussing on her practical skills, Pamela’s language suggests that she belongs in an upper-class house and has the skills to succeed as a lady’s maid and not a farm girl.
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The concept of virtue.
Explanation:
- The story ''Pamela'' is written by Samuel Richardson.
- The main theme of the story is on virtue.
- The story itself is also called by virtue.
- Her parents always wanted her to respect her virtue.
- They even said that ''It is better to lose your life than the virtue''.
- She felt endangered as her virtue was not safe so she decided to leave.
- In the end, her mother saved her and her virtue.
Learn more about it.
Marquis de Sade wrote a parody on "Pamela or Virtue Rewarded" by Samuel Richardson. Which name is in the title?
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