A review by willowbiblio
Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

“What a world we live in! for it is grown more a wonder, that the men are resisted, than the women comply.”
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Well, the streak of no one star reads had to end sometime in 2024. I was not expecting to dislike this quite as much as I did, but here we are. 

It was overly verbose, more so than just style of the 1740’s. The inner dialogue of Pamela often was circular in logic and came to no real conclusions. 

The whole premise of this book was men in power suck, but also if you successfully resist being violated by them for long enough, then they just might marry you, which should make you the happiest woman who ever lived. Because you fall in love with them while living in the house they kidnapped you to, at 15 years old. 

I got close to just DNF’ing this so many times it was shocking, because I opt to skim and call it done 99.9% of the time.

I suppose what I learned is that at this time in history many believed virginity was the only thing of value about a woman. That this was so divisive indicates the morals and tastes were not a monolith, and I do appreciate the historical significance of this being the first known instance of a book spawning merch sales.