Pamela: The Journal (continued) Summary & Analysis

Once again, Mrs. Jewkes and Mrs. B try to control Pamela by taking away what she has written. For Pamela, however, it seems that the process of writing is just as important as the finished result, and so while she regrets not being able to send the pages to her parents, she doesn’t get discouraged, and she continues writing to the extent that she’s able.

Although Mr. B seems cheerful in this passage, Pamela is still thinking about the secret note she got from the fortuneteller, and she knows that Mr. B might just be trying to lure her into a sham-marriage.

Mr. B reads Pamela’s letters and journal entries as if they’re a novel, which is fitting, because they are the majority of Richardson’s novel. This passage seems to suggest Richardson’s own expectations and intentions for writing the novel, as the passage demonstrates how the rakish Mr. B begins asking questions about his own life after reading about Pamela’s writings. Nevertheless, Mr. B still acts menacingly toward Pamela as he threatens to strip-search her, showing how whatever effect the letters have on Mr. B isn’t immediate.

Pamela uses her writing to avoid having to confront Mr. B in person. Partly, this may be because it’s easier for Mr. B to use his privilege to manipulate the situation when talking to Pamela person. But because Pamela is so comfortable writing, she can attempt to turn the tables and manipulate Mr. B with her written words. 

Mr. B’s confusing behavior in this passage perhaps hints at how rare it is for him to have to deal with something that challenges him. Despite his libertine behavior, Mr. B still wants to imagine himself as always having the moral high ground, which is difficult to do when he sees his actions laid out plainly in Pamela’s journal. By asking Pamela to kiss him (instead of just doing it without permission), he shows a little bit more consideration for her feelings, but he still doesn’t seem to fully understand her.

Mr. B’s decision to allow Pamela to see her mother and father is a major turning point, since he has refused Pamela’s requests to go home for most of the novel. This decision seems to be a direct result of Mr. B reading Pamela’s letters, giving an early indication of Pamela’s power as a role model, even for someone as rakish as Mr. B.

Mr. B’s scolding of Mrs. Jewkes seems to be even more evidence of his attempts to reform himself, although yet again, the letter about his plans for a sham-marriage from the fortuneteller raises questions about his motives. Monsieur Colbrand, who once scared Pamela, now acts as a watchful protector on her journey, showing how a change in Mr. B’s attitude also affects how his servants act.

This letter from Mr. B seems to be the most mature thing he’s written to Pamela so far. The part where he gives Pamela permission to accuse him of crimes shows that he has begun to take more responsibility for his actions. His growth in character seems to be directly related to his exposure to Pamela—particularly her letters, which helped him learn things about her that he didn’t learn in person—and so this passage demonstrates the value of a virtuous role model.

On the one hand, Mr. B seems more sincere about his affection for Pamela in this letter than in any of his previous communication. On the other hand, however, Mr. B still can’t help framing things in selfish terms, caring most of all about how Pamela can heal him. Still, unlike in previous passages, Mr. B only makes a request here instead of a command, and this small difference makes Pamela more receptive to his plan.

Pamela’s lowly position as a servant girl means that she still must be suspicious about Mr. B, particularly after all that he’s already tried to do to her. Still, Mr. B made himself more vulnerable in his last letter, even offering to face punishment for what he did, and his intention to send a letter to Pamela’s father seems to confirm to Pamela that he has nothing to hide.

Mr. B’s willingness to free Mr. Williams is yet another sign that he finally understands what Pamela wants (and has begun to put aside some of his own selfishness, particularly his jealousy of Mr. Williams’s friendship with Pamela). Lady Davers’s letter provides an early warning sign of how seriously she believes in the class system. For Lady Davers, the scandal isn’t what Mr. B may have done to Pamela but the simple fact that Pamela is “beneath” him in social class.

While in some ways Pamela may seem like a humble and conventional role model, her ideas about the equality of lower-class and upper-class people (or at least the possibility of equality) were fairly radical for 18th-century England, as the attitudes of characters like Lady Davers show. 

Mrs. Jewkes’s treatment of Pamela seems to improve almost immediately, in keeping with Mr. B’s new attitude toward Pamela. While the novel explores the possibility of exceptional servants like Pamela who are just as virtuous as anyone from the upper class, many lower-class characters seem to be more like Mrs. Jewkes, acting virtuously or not depending on the orders of their employer.

Mr. B and Pamela have both kept many secrets from each other over the course of the novel. This scene is significant because it’s the first time Pamela speaks directly to Mr. B about one of her secrets, perhaps motivated by the positive effect her journals had on him.

Mr. B’s honesty is surprising and provides further evidence that perhaps this time he is serious about reforming. Unlike on previous occasions when Mr. B tried to be nicer to Pamela, here Mr. B takes responsibility for his actions and doesn’t try to claim Pamela was tempting him. Still, this passage shows that Mr. B isn’t entirely reformed, and that at least part of his change might be for a selfish reason—so that he can pass on his wealth to his children.

Despite being virtuous, Pamela suffered greatly throughout the early part of the book. While this might not seem at first like evidence of a God who listens to the prayers of the virtuous, Pamela’s reward in the second half of the book gives new meaning the first half, reframing it a sort of test for which Pamela will now receive a reward for passing.

Once again, Pamela shows a surprising capacity for forgiveness. Here, she demonstrates the Christian doctrine of “turning the other cheek” (i.e., not responding to an insult with a new insult) as well as the doctrine of “love your enemies.”

Mr. B’s suggestion that Pamela memorize the service seems to finally resolve the question of his motivations, proving that, while he may not be totally reformed yet, he nevertheless is sincere about wanting to marry Pamela. The chapel full of lumber suggests that not just Mr. B but his whole family have neglected religion, putting earthly and economic matters like lumber ahead of spiritual matters. Cleaning the chapel out symbolizes how Pamela is bringing the family closer to God.

This passage shows that despite Mr. B and Pamela’s agreement about getting married, there are still details to work out. Pamela’s parents have been skeptical of Mr. B from the beginning, and given all that Pamela has written to them, it’s natural that Pamela’s father would still have doubts. Mr. B’s apology to Pamela for upsetting her shows once again how he’s beginning to become less selfish and consider her needs.

By willingly turning over her letters to Mr. B, Pamela demonstrates that she now trusts him—she’s showing him that he doesn’t have to sneak around or steal her letters. Mr. Williams’s story parallels Pamela’s, and while he initially seemed to be punished for his good behavior, it now seems that he will finally get his reward.

One of the remaining obstacles to Pamela and Mr. B’s marriage is whether the rest of society will accept it. Mr. B knows that the opinion of a local gentleman like Simon Darnford will be important, and so Mr. B arranges a party that will specifically show off some of Pamela’s strengths, like her ability to play harpsichord. This passage suggests that, while class distinctions are important to these characters, ultimately what is most important is a character’s ability to “live up” to their class.

Pamela’s father’s reaction—to believe that people are mocking him rather than praising him—perhaps hints at how condescendingly members of the upper class have treated him in the past. Like Pamela herself, her father shows that despite the class system’s important influence on British life, there was still some room for flexibility.

Once again, Pamela puts forward the idea that a person’s worth has more to do with virtue than material wealth, showing how she lives according to the Christian ideals she believes in. The right-hand seat is an important one at the table, and so Mr. B shows his approval for Pamela’s father (since Mr. B knows, particularly from Pamela’s letters, how important her parents are to her). 

Although previously Mr. B’s haste to get married was suspicious, the dinner with Pamela’s father proved once and for all that his intentions are true, and so now his haste shows the extent of his love for Pamela. The novel explores how virtue (or a lack of virtue) can change the context for some behavior, particularly in the case of Mr. B.

Mr. B notes how Pamela’s virtue is related to her supportive parents. Mr. B’s comment about Mrs. Jewkes taking things too far is perhaps Richardson’s way of predicting and acknowledging potential objections to his own novel. But in her reply, Pamela asserts that she knew exactly what she was doing with Mrs. Jewkes, emphasizing the high value she places on forgiveness.

Pamela’s father is too modest and set in his ways to stay for the wedding. Once again, Pamela’s clothes play a key role in reflecting her current situation, and so her ability to pass as a noblewoman foreshadows that she may soon be able to rise above her relatively humble origins.

Mr. B continues to make amends for his past behavior as he patches things up with Mr. Williams in this chapter. Because Mr. Williams is a chaplain, Mr. B’s reconciliation with him shows how Mr. B is making religion a bigger part of his life after spending time with the virtuous Pamela.

Mr. B’s suggestion that Pamela’s father go to church with his natural hair suggests that while the rich may try to put on wigs to appear virtuous, Pamela’s father is so naturally virtuous that he doesn’t need to do anything to show respect in church. This statement shows a huge attitude shift from Mr. B compared to even a few days ago, and this further highlights Pamela’s power as a role model.

Mr. B uses Pamela’s psalm to show how much has changed in his relationship with Pamela as well as to note the one thing about Pamela that hasn’t changed: her devotion to religion and how it helps her make sense of the world. Pamela’s father’s recitation of the psalm shows how Pamela got her virtuous nature from him, underscoring how important it is to have virtuous role models. 

The 20 guineas that Mr. B gives to Pamela’s father is five times more than the sum he initially gave Pamela (and that she then gave to her parents). While the novel makes clear that Pamela isn’t just after Mr. B’s money, Pamela’s new material wealth nevertheless symbolizes the spiritual reward she receives for enduring so many difficulties earlier in the novel.

The disapproval of Lady Davers and her husband provides a reminder that, while the gathering with Simon Darnford went well, Mr. B and Pamela’s wedding might not get the same warm reception everywhere due to their differing social classes. By tearing up the letter, Mr. B declares his intention to ignore these prejudices. Still, given that Lady Davers is his sister, he will have to face the issue eventually.

Mr. B’s ability to talk about famous authors and trips abroad indicates that, while Pamela might surpass him in virtue, there are still other aspects of upper-class life where he has more experience.

Tension builds as Pamela considers how other gentry, particularly Lady Davers, will react to Mr. B marrying his servant girl. Because family is so important to Pamela, she dislikes the idea of her marriage to Mr. B coming between his relationship with his sister.

Pamela’s decision to have Mrs. Jewkes attend to her at the wedding is the ultimate act of forgiveness, and it further demonstrates Pamela’s pious ability to forgive former enemies.

While at times Pamela seems almost impossibly virtuous, passages like this help humanize her, showing that in spite of her virtue she still has doubts and anxieties about what she does. Mr. B himself acts more vulnerable than usual in this passage, seeming genuinely concerned about whether Pamela wants to marry him—something he didn’t care about at all at earlier points in the novel.

After enduring so many hardships over the course of the novel, Pamela’s actual wedding goes according to plan, representing her reward for all that she has virtuously endured. The wedding of Pamela and Mr. B would seem to be a natural climax for the novel, but it actually occurs well before the ending. Rather than glossing over the difficulties of a marriage between a noble and a servant, the novel instead explores these conflicts in detail.

Mr. B’s decision to keep the wedding a secret seems to be part of a strategy to win public acceptance for his unusual marriage to a servant. His logic seems to be that people will be more willing to accept his wedding after it’s already happened. Once again, Mr. B’s reformed state puts his behavior in a new light—while previously he tried to manipulate people so he could take Pamela’s virtue, now he tries to manipulate them in a positive way to accept Pamela into society as his wife.

Pamela writes several times on her wedding day, perhaps reflecting her eagerness to document every aspect of the important day. While on the one hand, Mr. B’s neglect of Pamela on their wedding night could foreshadow that he’ll neglect their marriage, he may also be entertaining as part of his plan to get the local gentry to accept his marriage to Pamela (which his guests wouldn’t know about yet).

This passage shows how Mr. B and Pamela work together to each make each other better. Mr. B has wealth and a knowledge of practical business matters, whereas Pamela has a better sense of charity and so can show Mr. B how to use his wealth.

The rehiring of the old servants suggests a return to the way things used to be. Pamela will return to the very house where everything started but in a very different living situation, as lady of the house instead of a servant. The impending return to the old setting highlights the novel’s coming-of-age elements, showing how Pamela’s time at Lincolnshire has transformed her.

Pamela continues to show Mr. B her letters, not because he distrusts her but simply as a gesture of goodwill and perhaps as an acknowledgment that they now belong to the same household. Mr. Williams’s promotion confirms that he did the right thing by helping Pamela, not just morally, but also for his own sake.

As Mr. B puts off telling other people about his wedding to Pamela, it raises the question of whether he’s truly planning a strategy or is just anxious about having to deal with people’s responses. Still, he remains as committed to Pamela as ever, trying to prove his trust in her by doubling her request when she asks for a guinea for a sick person.

Despite his love for Pamela, Mr. B nevertheless still has ideas about what a lady should do, and he wants Pamela to live up to them. This passage shows how, despite Pamela’s ability to rise above her humble birth, she must continue to act the part of a lady if she wants to hold on to her new position.

In spite of Mr. B’s fears, all his guests easily accept Pamela as his wife. Perhaps one of the reasons why they do so is that the servants like Mrs. Jewkes and Nan address Pamela as “Your Ladyship,” providing evidence of how successfully Pamela has climbed to a new social class and differentiated herself from her former peers.

After the excitement of the wedding, both Pamela and Mr. B return to more routine matters. Mr. B goes to the dying man’s family to reassure them; he never would’ve performed this act of charity before meeting Pamela, and so this passage once again proves her good influence on him.

Lady Davers’s sudden appearance in the house is a problem, given her resistance to Mr. B and Pamela’s wedding earlier and the fact that she doesn’t know the wedding has already taken place. In other situations, Mr. B helped ease Pamela’s introduction to the other gentry, and so Pamela will have a more difficult time without the authority that he gives to her new status.

Lady Davers’s behavior resembles Mr. B’s own behavior before he got to know Pamela—back then, he made her serve him at the table. Lady Davers specifically wants to humiliate Pamela and make her feel like a member of a lower social class in order to make her feel unworthy of marrying Mr. B (since Lady Davers doesn’t know the wedding has already happened).

Given Mr. B’s history, it’s reasonable for Lady Davers to wonder if Pamela’s been tricked, but this passage also helps reveal how Lady Davers’s prejudices against servants prevent her from seeing Pamela’s beauty and virtue, characteristics that are clearly obvious to other characters who meet her in the right context.

Once again, Lady Davers’s behavior recalls her brother’s behavior before Pamela reformed him. Just as Mr. B once refused to accept that Pamela didn’t love him, now Lady Davers refuses to accept that Mr. B could really love Pamela. The fact that even a letter can’t convince Lady Davers suggests that her prejudices may be even more deeply held than Mr. B’s.

Lady Davers’s slap and Jackey’s sword both provide evidence of how seriously the characters in this novel take class—they are even willing to retaliate violently against someone who disturbs the class order. Mrs. Jewkes reciprocates all the favors Pamela has shown her lately by defending Pamela’s reputation. Pamela shows a positive example of how to be a member of the upper class by inspiring Mrs. Jewkes to act more virtuously, whereas Lady Davers provides a negative example here by inspiring her nephew to consider violence.

Pamela gets at what seems to bother Lady Davers most of all: that after marrying Mr. B, Pamela is now of equal class with her. Pamela’s successful escape to Simon Darnford’s house represents character growth for her, given how she failed her earlier escape attempt. This reflects not just how Pamela has grown up but perhaps also how her marriage to Mr. B has increased her agency and her ability to do things for herself.

A “trick” is a round of play in certain card games, and it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with tricking a person (as in deceiving them). Nevertheless, Pamela is so anxious about being dismissed as a social climber—particularly after her encounter with Lady Davers—that she hesitates to even play a card game involving “tricks.”

Several characters in the novel, including Mr. B and Mrs. Jewkes, have already demonstrated the possibility to reform, and so it makes sense that Lady Davers would also have the capacity to change, despite her extreme initial dislike of Pamela.

Because Lady Davers has such a strong prejudice against Pamela, Mr. B decides that maybe his sister will accept the news of his marriage if she hears it directly from him instead of Pamela. Although in the past Pamela feared Mr. B’s capacity for physical violence, he now uses his strength to protect Pamela by refusing to let Lady Davers continue to berate her.

While in some ways, Pamela radically questions the class system in England by showing how a humble servant can surpass her master in virtue, in other ways, particularly when it comes to gender, the book is more conservative, such as here, where Mr. B flatly states that it would be wrong for Lady Davers to marry a lower-class man because she’s a woman.

While previous sections of the book hinted at Mr. B’s libertine past, here Lady Davers lays the past out plainly to get revenge on her brother for marrying a woman she finds unsuitable. While Lady Davers is deliberately trying to smear Mr. B’s reputation, Mr. B is trying to portray himself in the best light. For this reason, it’s unclear at this point what really happened between Sally Godfrey and Mr. B

Following a similar trajectory to Mr. B’s own journey to reform, Lady Davers begins to change her attitude after a moment where she goes too far. Mr. B’s anger toward Pamela is surprising and seems out of proportion, given how earlier all he wanted was for Pamela and Lady Davers to get along. His unusual behavior hints that perhaps the mention of Sally Godfrey upset him more than he let on, potentially creating tension in Pamela and Mr. B’s happy marriage.

This passage and the previous one show how even though Mr. B still isn’t perfect, his biggest change is his ability to take responsibility for his actions. Kisses play many roles in the novel—while they were once a sign of Mr. B’s willingness to violate Pamela’s autonomy, here they become a sign of the end of grudges. Pamela’s virtuous behavior helps restore things to the way they should be.

Pamela herself once theorized that Mr. B might act the way he does because he was spoiled, and now Mr. B himself puts forward that theory. He seems to suggest that not only does his wealth not make him virtuous, but it also might have made the process of becoming virtuous more difficult for him.

Although Mr. B’s list of 48 rules might seem excessive, Pamela’s willingness to carry them out suggests that she is up to the responsibilities of her new role as his wife. Still, the topic of Sally Godfrey hints at one last major unresolved issue in their marriage.

Pamela’s conversation with Lady Davers here tries to retroactively make sense of her seemingly sudden change of heart toward Mr. B. The moral seems to be that Pamela’s virtuous nature worked in her favor, and her inability to hate Mr. B, even when she had good reason to, ultimately led to her successful marriage.

Pamela’s inability to forget about Sally Godfrey continues to haunt their marriage. Moreover, Pamela had originally stopped keeping secrets from Mr. B, and so the fact that she hesitates to bring up the sensitive topic of Sally Godfrey suggests that they still have at least one major obstacle to overcome in their marriage.

Pamela receives a lot of new wealth by marrying Mr. B, and she proves that she is worthy of it not only by acting the part of an upper-class woman, but also by holding on to her virtuous nature and continuing to be generous to others.

Pamela’s return to Bedfordshire provides yet another example of the transformative power of virtue. The places in the house that used to cause Pamela fear and shame because of the memories associated with them now conjure something almost like nostalgia. Pamela’s continued popularity with the servants confirms that despite her new higher status, she hasn’t lost touch with her old self and the people who helped her in her lowest moments.

This passage, like several others near the end of the book, explores the practical implications of Mr. B and Pamela’s marriage, particularly the financial ones. While Pamela’s insistence on getting married to Mr. B in a chapel emphasized the religious nature of their union, her subsequent journal entries show how marriage is also unavoidably an earthly agreement as well.

In Christianity, the cross is both a symbol of hope and a symbol of suffering (representing the crucifixion of Jesus). In a similar way, the sites of Pamela’s own suffering transform into something more hopeful.

As Pamela begins another new phase of her life after moving to Bedfordshire, she again considers her wardrobe in order to make sure her current clothes match her circumstances. Pamela’s fine clothes often play a crucial role in getting other gentry to accept Pamela as a lady, and Mr. B himself has made rules about what Pamela should wear. The return of the widow Mumford, who appeared briefly in the beginning of the novel, shows once again how things have come full circle, with Pamela able to help the woman who once gave advice to her parents.

Things seem to be going in Pamela’s favor, with people accepting her as Mr. B’s wife. Still, the question of Sally Godfrey lingers over this state of bliss, setting up the final conflict in the book.

Mr. B’s unusual manner of introducing Pamela to Miss Goodwin seems to reflect his own discomfort. He knows that, despite attempting to reform himself, he has nevertheless been keeping a major secret from Pamela for their entire marriage. The dramatic reveal of Miss Goodwin is the final test of Mr. B and Pamela’s marriage, forcing them both to reckon with Mr. B’s libertine past.

There’s still some reason to doubt Mr. B’s version of events, which paint him as a victim—he tried to use similar tactics earlier to paint Pamela in a bad light. This passage explores many of the conventions around marriage that are important to these characters, particularly how marriage relates to inheritance and how children born outside of marriage were a scandal, even for a libertine like Mr. B. In many ways, this passage is Mr. B’s origin story, helping to explain why he acted so callously toward Pamela at first (because he believed, rightly or wrongly, that women were out to get his money), then later why he chose to marry her the right way (to avoid any future children having the same fate as Miss Goodwin).

Even if Mr. B’s version of events is completely true, the fact that Sally Godfrey had to go to Jamaica to avoid a scandal while Mr. B more or less went back to life as usual shows how woman faced greater consequences for failing to follow conventions related to sex and marriage.

Mr. B’s decision to debut Pamela on a Sunday after church shows how Pamela has continued to bring religion into his life. Pamela doesn’t just show up at church—she also puts her beliefs into practice by performing acts of charity. Pamela keeps doing good deeds even after society accepts her, proving that she wasn’t just putting on an act; even after they receive their reward, a virtuous person still has the duty to keep being generous.

Mr. B’s practical talk about inheritance shows yet again how marriage is not just a religious practice but a civil institution as well. His continued jealousy over Mr. Williams is a little irrational and perhaps even humorous, suggesting that just as Pamela has managed to hold on to her virtuous self after getting married, Mr. B still maintains some traces of his older selfish self that pop up on occasion.

Pamela’s thoughts of “imaginary evils” seem to be similar to the modern concept of anxiety. One of the reasons why this novel endures is because even though Richardson wrote it before the invention of modern psychology, it nevertheless has a relatively high degree of psychological realism.

Because Pamela has been writing all these journal entries with her parents as the main audience, the arrival of her parents at Bedfordshire marks a natural stopping point for her journal (since Pamela no longer has to write to them if they’re there with her). Pamela’s acceptance of Miss Goodwin confirms that she has made peace with Mr. B’s past and forgiven him for his old ways.

The editor’s comments are essentially an epilogue, giving a few brief comments on what happened in the rest of the main characters’ lives. The epilogue confirms that even after the main events of the novel, the same principles hold true, and just as Pamela was rewarded for her virtue, later Miss Goodwin receives a similar reward.

Pamela is sometimes called a “conduct book,” meaning a book that was meant to teach morality or social norms. The Editor’s blunt descriptions of the book’s themes and how to interpret certain events relates back to the book’s instructional purpose. The Editor states directly that Pamela is supposed to be a role model; while this might seem like a simple message, the complicated life that Pamela leads over the course of her many letters and journal entries reveals that even for a role model of virtue, doing the right thing isn’t always easy.