In my opinion I believe Pamela was more realistic than Shamela. I do admit when I was reading Shamela the words were indeed flowing just because it was getting straight to the point and it wasn’t dreadful like Pamela was when she went on and on and on and on with what she was trying to say. But I would have to say that to me Pamela is more realistic. I think about the 1700th and what it was like to grow up at that age. Pamela to me seemed like an innocent child who doesn’t know what she honesty is doing. I believe she really was virtuous and I think she really didn’t know what it is to want to be with someone thus her being all annoying. Shamela to me seemed unreal. I really don’t believe a mother would say those to things to her daughter. That totally seemed unrealistic. I also don’t believe anyone would be that conniving to get money just because you are poor. I think that Pamela did really want to keep her virginity. Even to this day, there are people who keep their virginity whether it’s for religion reasons or culture or just the family and the way they grew up. I just don’t understand why it is so difficult for anyone to believe that she really wanted to keep her virginity?
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I don't think it was the fact that she was trying to keep her virginity that made people disbelieve her. I think it was the fact that she was so ridiculously unsuccessful at running away from Mr. B that made readers think that Pamela had a secret desire that was subconsciously (or maybe consciously) keeping her from being successful.
Great comments. I think Richardson is something of a genius (perhaps an unconscious genius) at evoking the conflicting emotions that surround virginity: the war between desire and moral belief if you will. As we will see in Tom Jones, Fielding is not interested in this aspect of experience. In Fielding, characters universally echo the "moral code" but their actual behavior or mental state is often at odds with that code--as you might expect. To some degree the code forces us all to be hypocrites, to pretend that we don't have feelings or desires that we do. Shamela is not a hypocrite--she does not pretend to be more moral than she is, and in that way she can feel refreshing and even likable.
Consider in this context what Fielding means when he says he represents "human nature."
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