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Letter 20
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Pamela, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Value of Virtue
Class and Morality
Religion and Marriage
Sexual Politics
Summary
Analysis
Pamela writes to her father and mother that, yet again, she had to stop writing because she feared Mr. B was coming. This time, however, it was just Mrs. Jervis. Mrs. Jervis said that Mr. B has been angry with Pamela for how she’s acting lately. But he also said that if he met a noblewoman just like Pamela, he’d marry her the next day. Embarrassed, Pamela replied that if she were a noblewoman, Mr. B wouldn’t have forced himself on her twice. Now, Pamela just hopes to finish up a waistcoat in a few days so she can finally come home.
Pamela’s confusion of Mrs. Jervis with Mr. B suggests how now that Mr. B has exerted his influence over Mrs. Jervis, they both are watching her and so play a similar role. Mr. B realizes that he can’t manipulate Pamela solely by being aggressive, so he tries complimenting her to confuse her and keep her from running away.
Themes
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