Pamela Themes

Pamela Themes

Class

She's cool. He's hot. She's from the Valley. He's … oh wait. That's the ad campaign for Valley Girl, nm. But switch around those pronouns, and it might as well be Pamela. A gentleman falls in lus...

Principles

Pamela's a pretty easygoing gal. She'll tend your linen, mourn your mom, embroider your waistcoat, and dress herself up and present herself to your guests. No problem. But don't you dare assault he...

Literature and Writing

If Pamela was alive back in the early 2000s, she'd totally have a LiveJournal. (And it would be full of sparkly Bible quotes.) She might love virtue, but she loves reading and writing almost as muc...

Gender

For modern readers, Pamela's depiction of gender roles can be hard to swallow. The novel does a hard sell on traditionally feminine qualities like docility, chastity, and … okay, that's pretty mu...

Pride

Everyone has something to be proud of. Mr. B is proud that his family name stretches back hundreds of years; Pamela is proud that she's a virgin; Shmoop is proud that we actually made it all the wa...

Religion

Pamela's Oscar acceptance speech would thank God first … and second … and third … and, in fact, she'd probably still be thanking God when the orchestra swelled to cut her off. For Pamela, it'...

Violence

We gave Pamela an R for its sexual content, but we might have to give it an NC-17 for its violence. There's hand-slapping, shoulder-beating, ear-boxing, attempted rape, and, of course sword-brandis...

Marriage

Pamela isn't some rom-com that leaves its happy couple that the altar. Nope, Richardson has some Very Important lessons to teach us all about marriage, too, and so the novel offers lots of reflecti...