Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Pamela, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Value of Virtue
Class and Morality
Religion and Marriage
Sexual Politics
Summary
Analysis
In a letter to her father and mother, the 15-year-old household servant Pamela writes about how the lady she was working for (Lady B) has recently died. Pamela regrets her death because the woman was kind to her and the other servants. On her deathbed, however, the woman gave her son (Mr. B) the highest recommendation for Pamela. Because of this, Pamela doesn’t have to go home to live with her parents. She sends her parents four guineas with John (the footman who delivers her letters), part of her wages from her new master, so that her parents can pay off some old debts.
The opening lines of the book introduce Pamela and her virtuous nature. Lady B gives a favorable opinion of Pamela to her son Mr. B, and then Pamela proves her generosity by giving almost all the money she receives from her new employer to her parents. Richardson never reveals Mr. B or Lady B’s full names, acting as if they’re real people whose identity he’s trying to protect. But this doesn’t mean that Mr. B was a real person—this technique of dashes in names was common in 18th- and 19th-century fiction and contributed to their realism.
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In the postscript, Pamela writes to her mother and father that her new master (Mr. B) scared her by coming up to her while she was writing the letter. He asked to see what she had written, and she reluctantly let him. She feared he might be angry that she was writing about him, but he said it was good that she is kind to her mother and father. He just asked that she be careful about the stories she tells her family. Finally, he noted that she is good at writing and spelling, which Pamela appreciated hearing.
The letter format of the novel also contributes to its realism. Richardson adds little details to the letters to make them more realistic, like Pamela’s postscript here. As the novel continues, Richardson also considers physical aspects of Pamela’s writing, like what time of day she writes her letters, where she gets her paper, and how she has her letters delivered.
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