Samuel Richardson

His first novel "Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded" Samuel Richardson published when he was already over fifty. Behind were hard times: Richardson survived death of his wife and five sons. And although his second wife gave him four daughters, he did not have a heir, who could continue his work. "Pamela" immediately became one of the most popular works of that time. The protagonist is a servant who staunchly opposes the attempts of the young master to seduce her but later still marries him. By the way, Pamela gave birth to seven children. Illustrated by Elena Odarich.

A tale of seduction and "Virtue Rewarded", this early epistolary novel tells of the maidservant Pamela, abducted and abusesd by her master before she eventually falls in love with him.Although Pamela was a bestseller and became hugely influential, it caused a scandal on its publication in 1740; not for the plotline of kidnap and attempted rape, but for Richardson's idea that social and class roles could be overcome by morality and love.

Pamela" usci tra 1740 e 1741 e ottenne subito uno straordinario successo di pubblico in Inghilterra e nei paesi europei nei quali nel giro di un paio d'anni fu rapidamente tradotto: persino Goldoni ne trasse l'argomento per una fortunata commedia. Cuore del romanzo sono le vicende di una cameriera sedicenne, di grande bellezza e ancora piu grande virtu, che resiste ai tentativi di seduzione del proprio padrone, del quale pure e sinceramente innamorata, fino a riuscire a condurlo al matrimonio. Una trama di sconvolgente novita per l'epoca, con una protagonista donna, di umile condizione sociale, e per di piu impegnata in una battaglia per affermare la parita dei sessi in materia di etica sessuale. Un romanzo che appare ancora oggi di interesse per la narrazione avvincente e ricca di suspense, per la minuziosa descrizione della vita quotidiana settecentesca, ma soprattutto per la finezza dell'analisi psicologica. Richardson rappresenta infatti con vivacita e sottigliezza rare le emozioni della protagonista e trova nella nuova forma del romanzo epistolare il veicolo piu adatto per l'espressione di quel "sentimento" che il Settecento, il Secolo dei Lumi, andava proprio allora scoprendo.

"Pamela" es una novela compuesta de cartas y diarios en la que Richardson se presenta como el editor de ese material. La novela es la historia de una joven bella, virtuosa y orgullosa que defiende su dignidad y su castidad de los constantes asedios de un caballero de buena posicion que valiendose de su superioridad social pretende conseguir a la joven tanto por la fuerza como proponiendole matrimonio. Su inicial y constante rechazo termina finalmente en boda con el caballero y hacen de Pamela un modelo de virtud."Pamela" es una novela compuesta de cartas y diarios en la que Richardson se presenta como el editor de ese material. La novela es la historia de una joven bella, virtuosa y orgullosa que defiende su dignidad y su castidad de los constantes asedios de un caballero de buena posicion que valiendose de su superioridad social pretende conseguir a la joven tanto por la fuerza como proponiendole matrimonio. Su inicial y constante rechazo termina finalmente en boda con el caballero y hacen de Pamela un modelo de virtud.

"Pamela under the Notion of being a Virtuous Modest Girl will be introduced into all Familes,and when she gets there, what Scenes does she represent? Why a fine young Gentleman endeavouring to debauch a beautiful young Girl of Sixteen."Pamela Censured, 1741.One of the most spectacular successes of the burgeoning literary marketplace of eighteeent-century London, Pamela also marked a defining moment in the emergence of the modern novel. In the words of one contemporary, it divided the world 'into two different Parties, Pamelists and Antipamelists', even eclipsing the sensational factional politics of the day.Preached up for its morality, and denounced as pornography in disguise, it vividly describes a young servant's long resistance to the attempts of her predatory master to seduce her.Written in the voice of its low-born heroine, but by a printer who fifteen years earlier had narrowly escaped imprisonment for the seditious output of his press, Pamela is not only a work of pioneering psychological complexity, but also a compelling and provocative study of power and its abuse.Based on the original text of 1740, from which Richardson later retreated in a series of defensive revisions, this edition makes available the version of Pamela that aroused such widespread controversy on its first appearance.

Fifteen-year-old Pamela Andrews, alone and unprotected, is relentlessly pursued by her dead mistress's son. Although she is attracted to young Mr B., she holds out against his demands and threats of abduction and rape, determined to defend her virginity and abide by her own moral standards. Psychologically acute in its investigations of sex, freedom and power, Richardson's first novel caused a sensation when it was first published, with its depiction of a servant heroine who dares to assert herself. Richly comic and full of lively scenes and descriptions, Pamela contains a diverse cast of characters, ranging from the vulgar and malevolent Mrs Jewkes to the aggressive but awkward country squire who serves this unusual love story as both its villain and its hero.