Mauro Ayala

Introduction to English Literature

1
ST
year Group C
Shamela (1741
!y "enry #ielding
The argument o$ this piece is to ma%e $un o$ another &or% in that same period
called 'Pamela( &ritten !y Samuel Richardson) &ich intended *to culti+ate the
principles o$ +irtue and religion in the minds o$ youth o$ !oth se,-) as .ichardson
says in his !oo% and Fielding paraphrased in his/ Fielding &rote this parody to
critici0e society and its hipocricy and ho& easy it is to turn something supposedly
good and righteous into something more &ordly) pathetic using the same tool1
&ords/
Shamela) it is an epistolary no+el !ecause it is structured in a series o$ letters &hich
the di$$erent characters e,change !et&een them/ This %ind o$ structured &as $irst
used !y Richardson in 'Pamela( and &as imitated !y Fielding/ Shamela &as
&ritten &ithin the 2eoclassical period during the 34II century) &hen no+el &as 5ust
starting to rise as a ne& $orm o$ literature/ 6oetry &as the canon in that period/
The story !egin &ith the letter $rom parson Thomas Tickletext) &ho recommend to
his $riend) parson J. Oliver) to read a $a!ulous no+el he 5ust disco+ered/ 7ut 8li+er
tells him he has some real e+idence a!out the true nature o$ the main character in
that !oo%1 a series o$ correspondence &ich in+ol+ed the real story !ehind that
no+el/
So) the plot de+elops itsel$ &ith the sho&ing o$ those letter telling the &hole story/
The main characters are Shamela Andrews ( &hich is the real name o$ Pamela) her
mother Henrietta Andrews9 the s:uire Boo!) his house%eeper Mrs/ "ucretia Jarvis
(&ho is Shamela(s con$ident9 Mrs/ Jewkes ( another house%eeper in Boo!#s
manor and re+erend Arthur $illiams/
The story goes around the attempts o$ Shamela to &in the s:uire Boo! as her
hus!and/ To achie+e this) she has the aid o$ Mrs/ Jervis) &ho appear at $irst as the
most loyal person to Boo! !ut then she disco+ered hersel$ as Shamela(s !est card/
;uring this game) Shamela is in touch &ith parson <illiams) her true lo+er/
Shamela &rites to her mother periodically in order to ac:uaint her &ith the details
o$ the process/
At the end) Shamela managed hersel$ to marry the man) !ut $inally is caught red=
handed in !ed &ith Arthur $illiams/
The story is told right li%e .ichardson(s +ersion '6amela() !ut under a di$$erent
approach) more &olrdly) not so spiritual/ Fielding pro+es the $ailure in
Richardson#s &riting method and also critisi0e his puritanism and hypocrisy/
I $ind this piece really interesting) I had to read Pamela too) in order to $ully
understand the conte,t so it &as +ery enlightener process/ They iniciated &hat &e
no& en5oy and call '%ovel#.
This piece) among a $e& others) started the no+el history as &e %no& it) so I $ound
it :uite surprising/ Searching $or in$ormation a!out these plays) I disco+ered
ama0ing $acts a!out those stories and its author(s li$es/ Pamela) $or instance) &as
!ased on a true story/ Jose&h Andrews' #ielding(s !oo%) &as a character created
also as a moc%ing o$ Richardson#s &or% and simplicity/ Jose&h Andrews is
Pamela#s !rother and he must resist the temptations o$ his mistress) "ad! Boo!.
7i!liography
<i%ipedia entry1 http1>>es/&i%ipedia/org>&i%i>Shamela
8ther Sources1 http1>>&&&/inglese,terior/com>esenglish>literature/asp