Pamela Theme of 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 much it. By that definition of womanhood, Pamela is a super femme: she's submissive and mainly concerned with protecting her virtue. That said, she's not afraid to assert herself when her virtue is at issue, even though her defense tactics generally take the acceptably feminine form of fainting. Ah, the good old days, when women were women, and men were aggressive, brutal rapists right up until the moment that the example of a virtuous woman turned them around. Don't you just wish we could go back?

1. In the context of the novel and what you know about the eighteenth century, would you say that Pamela is a feminist or anti-feminist figure?
2. What do you make of the novel's portrayal of femininity? Sometimes being "feminine" is a good thing (e.g., when that means being yielding and agreeable), and sometimes it's bad—such as when Pamela evinces the "feminine" trait of being mouthy.
3. The novel portrays a lot of asymmetries—better known as double standards—between the expectations for men and women in terms of behavior. Does the novel offer any critique of these double standards? Why does it matter?

Pamela might be yielding and gentle, but she ultimately emerges as a powerful feminist figure, standing up to Mr. B's abuse and asserting her right to resist his authority.

Pamela is not a particularly feminist figure; she only fights Mr. B's authority where morality is concerned, and otherwise she makes every effort to conform to and embody traditional feminine ideals in her behavior.