Pamela some important points

 1.1 Gender and the character of ‘Pamela’

There’s a power imbalance between the two sexes in the 18th century and it’s reflected in Pamela and Mr. B’s relationship in the novel. Due to their different social classes in society, Mr. B and Pamela starts out having a completely unfair power imbalance; not only is Mr. B a man, but he is also a very wealthy man of authority and Pamela is a poor subordinate servant. Mr. B encapsulates men’s role in society as patriarchal and authoritarian and Pamela epitomises 18th century notions of femininity with her submissiveness and compliance.

In the novel, Pamela is viewed as the epitome of virtuous and christian femininity with her dedication to chastity, docility and humility. She’s emotionally fragile, hysterical and faints under stressful circumstances. People in the novel regularly praise her for conforming to the ideals of femininity with phrases like “you’re an ornament to your sex” and “called me an exemplar of all my sex”. But Pamela isn’t all passive and compliant, because she does courageously stand up Mr. B’s ill-treatment of her and is therefore quite complex.

Curiously, many of the same gender stereotypes we assign to men and women today also dominated the understanding of masculinity and femininity all the way back in the mid 18th century.

“You are so pretty, that, go where you will, you can never be free from the designs of some of our sex”

Mr. B describes men uncontrollable sexual thirst the same way the male gender is still sometimes stereotyped as sexually aggressive and fundamentally unable to control their urges. “Boys will be boys” kind of talk. Mrs. Jervis says to Pamela that she should “stay out of the way of men” if she doesn’t want to become a victim of rape or sexual harassment. This echoes the way many still blames the victim in sexual assault cases today.

Women are also accused of being vain, gossipy and obsessed with fashion. Pamela herself has a very low opinion of women;

 “For well I know, sir, that nothing much excites the envy of my own sex, as seeing a person set above them in appearance, and in dress”

The novel also reveals the sexual double standards that are present today as well as back then. Men are free to call on prostitutes or relieve their urges by having a mistress without too much damage being done to their reputation. But the same cannot be said for women. As Pamela says:

“If he can stoop to like such a poor girl as me, what can it be for? He may, perhaps, think I may be good enough for his harlot; and those things don’t disgrace men, that ruin poor women” (p. 40)

1.2 Religion and morals

Samuel Richardson was a very moralistic and conservative writer. He was very inspired by the religious puritan ideal of innocence and virtue. He denounces the idea of sexual and materialistic “self-indulgence” and thinks it is the root of all evil. Pamela exemplifies the ideal puritan woman; she refuses any sexual relationship with Mr. B.

“I can so contentedly return to my poverty again, and think it less disgrace to be obliged to live upon rye-bread and water, as I used to do, than to be a harlot to the greatest man in the world”

Pamela also declines to receive any pecuniary gifts continually offered by Mr.B and his servants.

“Bread and water I can live upon, Mrs Jervis, with content. Water I shall get any where; there is nourishment in water, Mrs Jervis: and if I can’t get me bread, I will live like a bird in winter upon hips and haws, and at other times upon pig-nuts and potatoes, or turnips, or any thing. So what occasion have I for these things [money]?(p. 87-88)

And despite being delighted at receiving fine clothing and luxury items by the wealthy Mr. B upon his mothers death, Pamela rejects the fine clothing when going to her father’s poor village house in fear of being considered vain and out of place;

“But since I am to be turned away, you know, I cannot wear them at my poor father’s; for I should bring all the little village upon my back: and so I resolve not to have them” (p. 86)

Pamela’s purity and good behaviour is essentially “rewarded” with her being married to a noble man and the story having a happy ending.

Also throughout the entire novel, Samuel Richardson makes it clear that Pamela knows her place in society. She’s born lower-class and she embraces her family’s poverty. She’s by no means ashamed of it or repulsed by poverty like other haughty snobbish 18th century people were.

In the end, this is a moralistic conduct novel (as there were many of in the 18th century). Samuel Richardson is saying; this is how young girls should conduct themselves, if you resolve to be pure, innocent, religious and humble like Pamela, everything will end well for you.

1.3 Class

The marriage between the poor servant Pamela and the wealthy nobleman Mr. B caused quite an uproar in 18th century english society. It was scandalous that a servant should marry her master, someone so above her own class. But a lower-class girl marrying a higher-class man is a plotline found in surprisingly many romance-novels, and there’s a reason for it. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a woman’s social ranking was determined by either her father or husband’s place in the social hierarchy. To quote Mr. B himself:

“the difference is, a man ennobles the woman he takes, be she who she will; and adopts her into his own rank, be it what it will: but a woman, though ever so nobly born, debases herself by a mean marriage, and descends from her own rank, to that of him she stoops to marry” – Mr. B

This is probably linked to the legal doctrine of “coverture” which purports that a woman’s legal existence is ‘suspended’ during marriage and is ‘consolidated’ into that of her husband and the wife loses almost all the privileges she’d have as a single woman (to own property, keep salary, sign contracts etc). It may also be linked to why women has historically assumed her husband’s last name instead of keeping her own.

But the problematic thing about this, is that while the gender difference of ‘man and woman’ in an 18th century relationship is unequal (due to men being considered superior), the class distinction creates even more of a power imbalance. Pamela should not only listen and obey her husband because he’s male, but also because he’s higher-born than her. After their marriage, Pamela willingly continues to address her husband as “master”. Some of Mr. B’s friends even jokes that all wives should call their husband’s ‘master’.

Pamela herself, in the first few pages of the book, acknowledges that the class distinction between her and Mr. B should make their relationship implausible. She was also apprehensive about sharing her fear of Mr. B’s sexual advances with others, as they might consider her vain;

“But I say nothing yet of your cautions, or of my own uneasiness, to Mrs Jervis; not that I mistrust her, but for fear that she should think me presumptuous and vain, and conceited, to have any fears about the matter, from the great distance between such a gentleman and so poor a girl” – Pamela.   

But it also seems that Pamela expects a sort of ‘respect’ from her master. Pamela is astonished to discover the motives of Mr. B to be completely antithetical to that of a gentleman. After all, an ideal gentleman would preserve her virtue, not ruin it.

Someone writing an analysis on Pamela on the website ‘Gradesaver’ encapsulates it perfectly, I think:

“If this hedging suggests latent class snobbery on Richardson’s part, however, the novelist does not fail to insist that those who receive privileges under the system bear responsibilities also, and correspondingly those on the lower rungs of the ladder are entitled to claim rights of their superiors. Thus, in the early part of the novel, Pamela emphasizes that Mr. B., in harassing her, violates his duty to protect the social inferiors under his care;” (source: http://www.gradesaver.com/pamela-or-virtue-rewarded/study-guide/themes) 

So, Mr. B’s sexual advances towards her shows a lack of respect for her class; he doesn’t consider the reputation she’d lose nor her right to bodily integrity.

“I said, ‘I won’t stay’”

‘You won’t, hussy! Do you know whom you speak to?’

“I lost all fear and all respect, and said “Yes, I do, sir, too well! Well may I forget that I am your servant, when you forget what belongs to a master’”

The quote reveals Mr. B’s sense of entitlement; how dare Pamela refuse his advances and talk back to him when he is her superior. Richardson’s negative portrayal of the immoral, pompous and entitled Mr. B suggests that he might’ve drawn some from the real world of 18th century society. In another scene, Mr. B actually blames Pamela’s cheekiness as the reason he’s been ‘rougher’ with her. In response, another servant insists that Pamela should know her place. This conversation puts the blame on the victim, not the perpetrator.

“Do you hear, Mrs Jervis?” said he, “do you hear hear the pertness of the creature? I had a good deal of this sort before in the summer-house, and yesterday too, which made me rougher with her than perhaps I had otherwise been”

“‘Pamela, don’t be pert to his honour,’ said Mrs Jervis; ‘you should know your distance; you see his honour was only in jest’

Pamela believes in the puritan idea that ‘humility’ is a virtue. These religious ideals also intertwines with her class – as lower-class persons should ideally ‘embrace’ and acknowledge their social class and their place the hierarchy. Pamela does this by discarding her late Lady B’s fine clothing and by continually being “humble” and excusing herself in the presence of ladies and gentlemen. In the same vein, higher-class people should acknowledge their place in society and act accordingly. When Pamela marries, she feels it acceptable to finally wear her late Lady B’s fancy clothes without too much guilt.

The book also describes the condescending and disrespectful attitude upper-class eighteenth century individuals often harboured towards the lower-class – especially the supercilious and downright abusive way employers treated their servants.

“Why, Creature,’ said she, flying into a passion, ‘dost thou think thyself above it? Insolence!’ continued she, ‘this moment, when I bid you, know your duty, and give me a glass of wine; or-‘“

Lady Davers’s mean treatment of servants even stretched as far back as her childhood, which means her sense of superiority must’ve been internalised very early on.

“‘Lady Davers’ added she, ‘when a maiden, was always passionate, but very good when her anger was over. She would make nothing of slapping her maids about, and begging their pardons afterwards, if they took it patiently; otherwise she used to say, The creatures were even with her’”

But to be fair, her brother, Mr. B did speak about her in a disapproving way whilst explaining his sister’s supercilious tendencies.

Mr. B is complex in terms of how he engages with his own class and class differences in 18th century society. On one hand, he looks past class differences when he marries his waiting-maid but is at the same time very aware of his social status and exploits it to seduce and abduct female servants in his household. After all, Pamela isn’t the first girl he has sexually pursued, a former servant of his became pregnant and died in childbirth – which Pamela apparently think she deserved because she forfeited her virtue (actually, throughout the book, Pamela is quite a judgemental person – but I digress). Like aforementioned, Mr. B thinks people of high birth are often spoiled and arrogant in behaviour because of lack of discipline, he himself acts this way “he was very urgent with me to go ashore, or to go the voyage: I could have thrown him overboard in my mind; for being impetuous in my temper, spoiled, you know, my dear, by my mother, and not used to controul, I thought it very strange, that wind or tide, or any thing else, should be preferred me and my money:”

1.4 Marriage Life in the 18th century

Curiously, Mr. B chose a maidservant – a lower-class person – to be his wife, specifically because he knew she would be obedient as opposed to someone of high-birth. A woman of of fortune and privilege, he says, would’ve been raised without being subject to control or discipline, and therefore would’ve been too headstrong and independent to be a decent wife.

“We people of fortune, or such as are born to large expectations of both sexes are generally educated wrong” (…) “We are usually headstrong in our wills, and being unaccustomed to controul from our parents, know not how to bear it” (…) (p.499) “(…) a wife is looked for: birth, and fortune, are the first motives, affection the last (if it be at all consulted): and two people thus educated, thus been headstrong torments to every one who had share in their education, as well as to those to whom their owe their being, are brought together; and what can be expected, but that they should join heartily in matrimony to plague one another?”(…) “Neither of them having ever been subject to controul, or even to a contradiction, the man cannot bear it from one, whose new relation to him, and whose vow of obedience, he thinks, should oblige her to yield her will entirely to his.”

Mr. B does not, like other high-born men, want to marry someone who is “accustomed to have her will in everything”. He abhors the idea of men having to “compromise” with their wives, which is today, I think, conversely thought of as being one the key standards of a happy and balanced marriage.

His wife should “have shewn no reluctance, uneasiness, or doubt, to oblige me, even at half a word” and always show a high opinion of her husband whether he deserved it or not and “draw a kind veil over my faults”.

After hearing his lecture, Pamela decides to scribble down 34 rules he expects a wife to follow. It’s very interesting to read and, I think, differs a lot from how married people interact and engage with each-other today and showcases staggeringly and frustratingly unequal gender relations that women had to deal with in the 18th century. Pamela comments on all these rules though, in her journal, and some of them she agrees with more than others. I’m happy Samuel Richardson also included Pamela’s own independent thoughts on those rules.

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