The Oldest (in English) of Them All

[Nancy]

How much more classic can you get? First published in 1740, Pamela predates (and is said to have influenced) Jane Austen's early 19th Century works. Seventy years brought the English language much closer to our own version; reading Richardson is slow going (mostly because Pamela reminds us endlessly of how humble her station in life is), where spending an afternoon with Austen is like floating effortlessly down a pleasantly moving stream.

How many of us would consider it a reward to marry an assailant and kidnapper who plots to deceive us and banishes everyone who tries to help us out? But that is the reward for virtue that the title describes. Granted, the scoundrel mends his ways later on, but we don't understand why, and so we wonder whether he will resume his bad behaviour as quickly as he abandoned it.

The novel finishes with a series of observations for the moral improvement of the rich, their servants, the despondent, children and others. These are rich in social history; coupled with his mastery of detail throughout the book, they give us a naunced picture of English village society of the period.

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