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Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded

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Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded

By: Samuel Richardson
Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Full Cast
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About this listen

Samuel Richardson's epistolary novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, published in 1740, tells the story of a young woman's resistance to the desires of her predatory master. Pamela is determined to protect her virginity and remain a paragon of virtue; however, the heroine's moral principles only strengthen the resolve of Mr. B and Pamela soon finds herself imprisoned against her will. The young woman's affection for her captor gradually grows and she becomes aware of a love that combines eros and agape.

Richardson's classic novel created a sensation upon its publication: the novel's radical departure from the traditional comic plot violated convention and its portrayal of a young female servant daring to assert herself proved to be even more controversial. Clare Corbett and cast read from the original, unrevised text that left an indelible mark on the conscience of an entire nation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2013 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Young Adult

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All stars
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A fabulous reading of a highly historically significant book which can be a difficult read due to its length. Highly recommended.

Fantastic.

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This book was way ahead of its time. I have listened to over fifty audio books and the narrator was one of the best. Beautifully read. Be aware that this book was published in 1740.

A classic of English literature

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True to the attitudes of those times, Pamela’s humility and piety are off-putting rather than endearing for readers today.
But as one of the earliest attempts at a novel, I found Pamela a very interesting read.

Pamela

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Enthralling from beginning to end. The first part of the story is painful because you feel the heroine’s suffering as attempts are made to seduce her. However, the second part of the story is happy and joyous. Even in the eighteenth century, there were licentious men and women who attacked virtue and it is great that, in this story, virtue wins through and is rewarded. In addition to being very entertaining, this novel is important because it shows us how society used to be – not so very long ago. It is a sad fact that, in modern society, few people recognise and respect virtue, they don’t even know what it is. This wonderful novel, published in 1740, is an important part of English heritage.

Wonderful, with a happy ending

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Bless Clare Corbett, she is a wonderful narrator, but she has precious little to work with.

Pamela has barely enough plot or substance for a short story, but Richardson managed to stretch this out to a 600-page behemoth. The format of the novel - a series of letters from Pamela to her parents - seems interesting at first, but becomes unbearable when Richardson wants to impart some moral lesson on the reader (which is very often). As our narrator is a teenage girl of limited life experience, every time 'lofty' ideas are introduced Pamela first has a discussion with some wiser character and then draws up a convoluted bullet-point list of what it means to be a good wife, for example. Even with allowances for a different age and style, this is just dreadful writing.

The storyline itself is appalling. Pamela is subjected to physical and mental torture, including attempted rape, but her go-to response is to pray for everyone and (SPOILER) she marries her sadistic captor in the end, so that's all good, I guess.

Clare Corbett is a joy. She attempts to inject as much emotion and character as possible into a series of very similar and repetitive scenes and I wouldn't have made it to the end without her.

I feel sorry for the narrator

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