Pamela and Anti-Pamela - Research Paper Example

Pamela and Anti-Pamela The present paper aims to make a comparative analysis of two pioneer novels in the history of English literature including Pamela (1740) by Samuel Richardson and its parody-cum-critic Anti-Pamela (1741) by Eliza Haywood. The main objective behind making a comparative analysis of both the remarkable works includes the level of skills and proficiencies both the novelists observe while depicting the social norms and cultural values had been in vogue during the first half of 18th century. In addition, the paper will also explore which of the authors is justified in his claim in a situation where both of them portray quite opposite scenario of early 18th century through their works. Hence, the paper will serve as an in-depth investigation of the literature produced in the earliest age of the growth and development of English novel as one of the most popular literary genres for the future centuries to come. The novel under the title Pamela has been written on the vigorous ethical grounds, where the author appears to teach and preach the significance of moral values including honesty, integrity and chastity, which are actually, in the eyes of Richardson, the most precious jewel a woman could possess (Letter II). Consequently, he vehemently draws out the protagonist of his work to be the quintessence of beauty and delicacy on the one hand and an embodiment of virtuousness and chastity on the other, which could resist to all advancements of wickedness and temptation with a powerful refutation amid the chains of hardships. Hence, the protagonist Pamela Andrews, dares to challenge the might of his wealthy and influential master even being a humble and helpless maid, without taking least consideration to his belongings and socioeconomic status, and political influence as well. As a result, it is Nature to reward this innocent girl in the wake of her sufferings she tolerated without displaying even the least inclinations towards the immoral carnal desires and inductions made by her master, Mr. B. On the one side, Richardson through his original work looks determined to project and promote virtuousness in society, and on the other side his contemporary authoress Eliza Haywood mocks at strict and unconditional observing of the same particularly in a environment which could earn several favors and profits to a poor maid, as she has successfully captured the attention of her young, handsome and well-to-do master because of her beauty and sharpness at large. Thus, contrary to Richardson, Haywood finds the girl as opportunist, who would not seek contentment in temporary physical relationship with his master; instead, she would aim at winning his love for the rest of her life. In other words, Richardson, according to Haywood, has miscalculated the scheme devised by his protagonist, by mistakenly finding her a simple, artless and innocent lady, which is not the case actually. Flohr (1997) compares the affair between Mr. B and Pamela to the one appeared between the former US President Bill Clinton and Ms. Monica Lewinsky, where no one could trace the real issue between the two. Moreover, the readers, Flohr argues, unconditionally signify their sympathies with Pamela, but never bother to discover the views of Mr. B. regarding the allegations raised by the protagonist in her letters to parents, as well as by sharing his seduction attempts to the house-keeper Mrs. Jervis (2-3). Somehow, Pamela’s innocence is evident at the point where she decides to leave Mr. B.’s estate in the wake of the last attempt he has made to her honor. Though she is working as a maid in order to lend a hand to the financial worries of her parents, ye constant threats to her honor force her to leave the estate eventually in order to escape further unpleasant state of affairs at the hands of his iniquitous master. In the beginning letters to her parents, in the wake of sad demise of the Lady B., Pamela does not resist herself from praising Mr. B. and Mrs. Jervis, by declaring them affable and civil to her respectively (Letter III, lines 12-13), and everyone at home loves and looks after her. The words of praise continue in the further correspondence (Letter V, lines 17-27; Letter VI, lines 1-8), where she acknowledges the favors she obtains from the housekeeper and master respectively. However, the latter correspondence demonstrates her fears and reservations towards her master, who looks for having sexual gratification out of her as paramour (Letter X, lines 6-12). Somehow, her worries appeared in the wake of the apprehensions made by her father (letter VIII, lines 1-7), where he had directed his daughter to be cautious and careful about so kind and benevolent attitude of the master, which looked unnatural to the experienced and middle-aged Mr. Andrews, who detected the possibility of the daughter’s exploitation at the hands of her affluent young master. Since such type of immorality and dissipation had been very common in the elite stratum of English society, the sharp eyes of the father reached the point where perils seemed to be turning out to be true to Mr. B.’s extent, and could entrap the young girl because of the dazzling affluence and riches the master maintained sole ownership. Akca & Gunes (2009) appear to be determined to support the thesis presented by Haywood in anti-Pamela, where she declares Pamela’s reluctance to sexual encounters before marriage as a pre-planned scheme, as the protagonist played the trick just to force the master to surrender to her eventually. Since submitting to his very first advancements could result in the fall of the character she apparently possesses, she attempts to conceal her inner feelings of becoming mistress from maid by fouling the master and pretending innocence in order to force him to submit to her as her true lover and future husband as well. Richardson has, according to Akca & Gunes, presented the prototypical feminist role model in his work, where the resistance to pre-marital sex and then submission for marriage made by Pamela exposes the contemporary double standard in sexual mores prevailing in the eighteenth century English middle classes (7-8). Akca & Gunes find feminist elements in it, where by dint of her persistence virtue and the premium she places upon chastity, she converts the lust of her master, Mr. B. into love and a marriage proposal, and thus triumphs in the face of his ubiquitous power - as a male, as her employer, and as the representative of institutional justice (8). In other words, Pamela demonstrated her displeasure towards Mr. B. just for the sake of making a horizontal social growth by entering the elite stratum of society by marrying her master eventually. The same has been also elucidated in a critical manner by Haywood in her Anti-Pamela (1740). Haywood, in her parody work, presents Pamela to be a hypocrite and cunning member of lower class, who just poses to be a chaste lady in order to conceal her real self in the guise of an innocent and simple maid. Since she has explored the very fact that her master is mad after her beauty and charms, she starts dreaming of winning the heart of Mr. B. with the help of her strong reluctance towards his advancements for sexual purposes, which does not actually presents the accurate picture of the middle class woman of that era at all. Hence, Richardson, she laments, could not analyze and assess the true nature of the women belonging to the lower stratum of society, which not only envy the lives of their affluent masters, but also idealize them, and dream of having physical encounters with them beyond the marital-knot even. It is therefore Nickel (1993) regards Pamela to be a fetish play, in which the protagonist indirectly and somewhat scrupulous manner, seduces her master in the guise of a girl quite indifferent to sexual appetite and carnal desires as well. However, the critics forget to note the social norms and cult observed by an overwhelming majority of the middle and lower classes in 18th and 19th century England, where the girl do not live in a purported sex-free social establishments, and hence prudence and protection of virginity till marriage was an admitted fact as well as a universal phenomenon, deviance from which happened only once in a blue moon. The same social traits had also been depicted by the latter authors including the illustrious Jane Austen, George Eliot, Emily Bronte and others. The works of all these authors depict love affairs between the individuals within the boundary lines of morality and chastity, and no protagonist created by the authors, afore-mentioned, dares to get involved into sexual intercourse before marriage. The same moral values have been drawn out by Richardson, though his work underwent unabated criticism at the hands of Eliza Haywood and Henry Fielding, both of whom created parodies of his Pamela by producing the Feigned Virtue and Joseph Andrews respectively. Though Pamela remained the target of criticism at the hands the contemporary and future literary critics, yet the novel has left indelible impacts of its theme and premise on the English prose writers belonging to all areas and regions where English language is studied and taught either as primary or secondary language (Daiches 2007). It is therefore Turner (2011) admires and appreciates the reception of the novel, which is still a hot topic of discussion even after over 270 years of its first publication. It is therefore, Turner submits, its irritating fascination was felt by Prevost, Fielding, Voltaire, Goldoni, Diderot, and Mozart by creating their literary pieces on various topics of interests (70). Had it not been a powerful piece, its theme, style and diction would have not be imitated and discussed at any forum of the world at large. Hence, the novel is rightly declared as the pioneer in the history of English literature, which paved the way for the future prose-writers in respect of making attempts of expressing their talent, imagination and ideas in one way or the other. On the contrary, no one has ever tried to imitate the feelings expressed by Haywood in her Anti-Pamela due to the very reality that people look for the triumph and victory of goodness over the evil, and virtue should be rewarded in the best subsequent to the patience and endurance it has witnessed during the course of time actually, including the high-handedness and taunting behavior of Mrs. Jewkes, the housekeeper at Mr. B.’s Lincolnshire estate. There is no doubt in the truth that Pamela remained the target of critics for exhibiting outstanding virtuousness, but no one can deny it popularity because of the fact that Richardson has just portrayed Mr. B. to be a young man involved in dissipation and revelry-making, which was common in elite stratum, yet he never tried to rape Pamela, which could have been executed by applying physical force on his maid within the premises of his house. In addition, the chaplain Mr. Williams had also offered her to marry, had accepted in order to lead a respectable life with Williams as well as to get rid of Mr. B. However, it was Mr. B. to get convinced that a modest, prudent and chaste girl like Pamela should be her spouse eventually. It negates the very idea presented by Haywood that Pamela would marry her master because of being greedy and avaricious by nature. Works Cited Akca, Catherine & Gunes, Ali “Male Myth-Making: The Origins of Feminism” Nebula 6.3, September 2009 Retrieved from http://www.nobleworld.biz/images/A_G.pdf Accessed on 12-04-2012 Daiches, David “A Critic History of English Literature” Volume I & II Ronald Press 2007 Flohr, Birgitt “How reliable a narrator is Richardson’s Pamela?” http://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/~flohr/papers/m-lit-18-century2.pdf Haywood, Eliza “Feigned Innocence Detected “ Nickel, Terri “Pamela as Fetish: Masculine Anxiety in Henry Fielding’s Shamela and James Parry’s The True Anti-Pamela” Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture Volume 22, 1993 37-49 Richardson, Samuel “Pamela or Virtue Rewarded” 1741 Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6124/6124-h/6124-h.htm Accessed on 12-04-2012 Turner, James Grantham “Novel Panic: Picture and Performance in the Reception of Richardson’s Pamela” Representations, No. 48 Autumn, University of California Press 1994 70-96 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2928611 Accessed on 01-11-2012 http://www.unife.it/letterefilosofia/llmc/insegnamenti/letteratura-inglese-ii-llmc/programma-bibliografia-modalita-desame-e-materiale-didattico-letteratura-inglese-ii-laurea-interclasse-anno-accademico-2011-2012/J.%20G.%20Turner-%20Novel%20Panic%20Picture%20and%20Performance%20in%20the%20Reception%20of%20P-%201994.pdf Read More