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 lust with a servant girl and has to come to terms with the fact that (1) she believes she has just as much right to bodily autonomy and moral authority as he does, and (2) he's actually in love with her, which means massively defying the class norms of his day in order to marry her. Their marriage temporarily confounds the social system they live in—but in the end, everyone acknowledges that Pamela's beauty, intelligence, and natural grace make her superior to virtually every other woman around, whether or not she was born with a "Lady" in front of her name.
Radical? Absolutely.
Questions About Class
- It's all well and good to say that it's Pamela's inner beauty that won her all the kudos and status in the end, but what if she had been ugly and continued to wear her servant clothes after getting married? Would her inner worth have been as "visible" then?
- Pamela is kind of like Lady Davers's maids: She often earns respect by not laying claim to it. Is this just admirable humility, or is it a characteristic of someone who's just used to being abused?
Chew on This
The novel's suggestion that virtue trumps class is disingenuous; if the heroine had been ugly and continued to dress badly, her "inner" virtues would not have been recognized.
True or false: Pamela only gains the respect of gentlemen and gentlewomen because she acts like she doesn't deserve it.