An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews
Click to enlarge
Author: Henry Fielding
Date: April 2nd,1741
Full Text
Fielding's Shamela receives much critical attention for being the first Pamela satire. It claimed to be the correct factual account of the young-servant girl's story; "In which, the many notorious Falshoods and Misrepresentations of a Book called Pamela, Are exposed and refuted; and all the matchless Arts of that young Politician, set in a true and just Light".
Published just four months after the original, the short and humorous story attacked it from a few different angles. Fielding makes fun of the praises, or "puffs", found at the beginning of Pamela and also points out Richardson's more than questionable role as editor/author with the following two letters.
Date: April 2nd,1741
Full Text
Fielding's Shamela receives much critical attention for being the first Pamela satire. It claimed to be the correct factual account of the young-servant girl's story; "In which, the many notorious Falshoods and Misrepresentations of a Book called Pamela, Are exposed and refuted; and all the matchless Arts of that young Politician, set in a true and just Light".
Published just four months after the original, the short and humorous story attacked it from a few different angles. Fielding makes fun of the praises, or "puffs", found at the beginning of Pamela and also points out Richardson's more than questionable role as editor/author with the following two letters.
The Editor to Himself
Dear SIR, However you came by the excellent Shamela, out with it, without Fear or Favour, Dedication and all; believe me, it will go through many Editions, be translated into all Languages, read in all Nations and Ages, and to say a bold Word, it will do more good than the clergy have done harm in the World. I am, Sir, Sincerely your Well-wisher, Yourself. |
JohnPuff, Esq; to the Editor.Sir,
I have read your Shamela through and through, and a most inimitable Performance it is. Who is he, what is he that could write so excellent a Book? he must be doubtless most agreeable to the Age, and to his Honour himself; for he is able to draw every thing to Perfection but Virtue. Whoever the Author be, he hath one of the worst and most fashionable Hearts in the World, and I would recommend to him, in his next Performance, to undertake the Life of his Honour. For he who drew the Character of Parson Williams, is equal to the Task; nay he seems to have little more to do than to pull off the Parson's Gown, and that which makes him so agreeable to Shamela, and the Cap will fit. I am, Sir, Your humble Servant, John Puff. |
Excerpts
Blond Odalisque - François Boucher
Fielding's adaptation mirrors much of Pamela in its characters and plot. It stays true to the epistolary form, making fun of how inherently fictitious "writing to the moment" can be. She writes letters to her mother, most of which focus on their schemes to trap Squire Booby in a marriage: "Mrs. Jervis and I are just in Bed, and the Door unlocked; if my Master should come — Odsbobs! I hear him just coming in at the Door. You see I write in the present Tense, as Parson Williams says. Well, he is in Bed between us, we both shamming a Sleep, he steals his Hand into my Bosom, which I, as if in my Sleep, press close to me with mine, and then pretend to awake.....O what a Difficulty it is to keep one's Countenance, when a violent Laugh desires to burst forth."
Shamela, having absolutely zero notions of romantic love for Booby is in control of him and successfully fakes being as pure as she needs to be all the way to the marriage bed: "In my last I left off at our sitting down to Supper on our Wedding Night,* where I behaved with as much Bashfulness as the purest Virgin in the World could have done. The most difficult Task for me was to blush; however, by holding my Breath, and squeezing my Cheeks with my Handkerchief, I did pretty well. My Husband was extreamly eager and impatient to have Supper removed, after which he gave me leave to retire into my Closet for a Quarter of an Hour, which was very agreeable to me; for I employed that time in writing to Mr. Williams, who, as I informed you in my last, is released, and presented to the Living, upon the Death of the last Parson. Well, at last I went to Bed, and my Husband soon leap'd in after me; where I shall only assure you, I acted my Part in such a manner, that no Bridegroom was ever better satisfied with his Bride's Virginity. And to confess the Truth, I might have been well enough satisfied too, if I had never been acquainted with Parson Williams."
Nonetheless, her passions spoil her rewards when the marriage is cut short once her affair with Parson Williams is brought to light. Fielding is clearly annoyed with the hypocrisy of selling anything deemed virtuous, yourself or a book, for financial gain.
Shamela, having absolutely zero notions of romantic love for Booby is in control of him and successfully fakes being as pure as she needs to be all the way to the marriage bed: "In my last I left off at our sitting down to Supper on our Wedding Night,* where I behaved with as much Bashfulness as the purest Virgin in the World could have done. The most difficult Task for me was to blush; however, by holding my Breath, and squeezing my Cheeks with my Handkerchief, I did pretty well. My Husband was extreamly eager and impatient to have Supper removed, after which he gave me leave to retire into my Closet for a Quarter of an Hour, which was very agreeable to me; for I employed that time in writing to Mr. Williams, who, as I informed you in my last, is released, and presented to the Living, upon the Death of the last Parson. Well, at last I went to Bed, and my Husband soon leap'd in after me; where I shall only assure you, I acted my Part in such a manner, that no Bridegroom was ever better satisfied with his Bride's Virginity. And to confess the Truth, I might have been well enough satisfied too, if I had never been acquainted with Parson Williams."
Nonetheless, her passions spoil her rewards when the marriage is cut short once her affair with Parson Williams is brought to light. Fielding is clearly annoyed with the hypocrisy of selling anything deemed virtuous, yourself or a book, for financial gain.