Housekeeping:
- This week’s hybrid requirement: read the instructions for our last two projects very carefully (see schedule page). Add comments and questions.
Group Presentation!
The Pamela Media Event
But the extraordinary popularity of Pamela involves more than a transient shift in taste, a mere “vogue”; it is a media event that helps to inaugurate a shift in media practices. But what exactly is a media event? First, such an event is not precipitated by some prior historical event (such as a battle, a trial, or a coronation) which then becomes grist for representations in the media. Instead, it begins with a media production—in this case, the publication of Pamela . Second, the atavistic interest in the media event, as demonstrated by purchases and enthusiastic critical response, feeds upon itself, producing a sense that this media event has become an ambient, pervasive phenomenon which properly compels the attention and opinions of those with a modicum of “curiosity.” Finally, this media event triggers repetitions and simulations, and becomes the focus of critical commentary and interpretation (Warner 178)
Discussion
- What is Richardson’s “project” with this novel? Can you tell?
- Let’s look at Richardson’s prefatory materials to the novel….
- Why does Richardson decide to tell this story through letters/diary entries? Is there something particularly gendered about this kind of narrative?
- Why is this novel’s subtitle “Virtue Rewarded”?
- What did you make of Pamela as a character? Is she realistic? Is she suffering from Stockholm’s Syndrome? Are there other elements to her psyche worth taking into consideration?
Writing Exercise:
Margaret Doody argued that “[Richardson’s] heroines try to maintain their own identity and perspective in times of great trial by setting thoughts and opinions down on paper. It is the mark of a villain or an unreformed character in all of Richardson’s novels that that person will try to interfere either with writing itself or with the transmission of another’s writing in some way.” (Margaret Doody, “Samuel Richardson: Fiction and Knowledge” in The Cambridge Companion to The Eighteenth-Century Novel, ed. John Richetti, Cambridge UP, 1996, page 97).
How does Mr. B try to control Pamela’s writing? What does his control indicate about his character? About the nature of their relationship? Why does Pamela’s writing cause him anxiety? How effective is his control of Pamela’s text? To what extent does this reflect Richardson’s own efforts to control the meaning of Pamela? How are they different?
Answer as many of these questions as you can in these last 15 minutes. Aim for clarity and argumentation: focus on what you can prove with examples from the novel, rather than your own personal opinion. Turn in your work when you’re done.
