Underlying book story — recording-specific coverage unverified
Coverage is limited to the scope described in this write-up. Recording changes, further installments or an unwritten ending may remain outside it.
This synopsis covers the underlying book linked to this recording: Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Recording-specific abridgements, added material or adaptation changes have not been verified.
Volume 1
Pamela Andrews is a pious, virtuous fifteen-year-old, the daughter of impoverished labourers, who works for Lady B as a maid in her Bedfordshire estate. After Lady B's death, her son, Mr. B, inherits the estate, and begins to pay Pamela romantic attention: first gifting her his mother's fine clothes, and then attempting to seduce her. Pamela rejects Mr. B's advances multiple times by fleeing and locking herself in her bedroom. In one instance, she faints, and finds the laces of her stays have been cut.
When Mr. B attempts to pay her to keep his failed seduction secret, she confides in her best friend and housekeeper of the estate, Mrs. Jervis. Later, Mr. B hides in Pamela's closet and tries to kiss her when she undresses for bed, which causes Pamela to consider leaving her position and returning to her parents to preserve her innocence. She is insistent on remaining at the estate to finish embroidering a waistcoat for Mr. B, hoping that by doing so he will let her leave on good terms.
Angry at Pamela for telling Mrs. Jervis of his attempted seductions, Mr. B informs Pamela that he intends to marry her off to Mr. Williams, his chaplain in Lincolnshire, and gives money to her parents to persuade them to give consent. Pamela refuses the engagement and decides to leave the estate, but Mr. B intercepts her letters to her parents and tells them she is having an affair with a poor clergyman and that he will send her to a safe place to preserve her chastity. Pamela is forcibly taken to Mr. B's Lincolnshire Estate by Mr. B's servant Monsieur Colbrand, where she begins a journal with the intention of sending it to her parents.
The Lincolnshire housekeeper, Mrs. Jewkes, is "odious" and "unwomanly", devoted to Mr. B, and keeps Pamela as her bedfellow. Mr. B promises that he will not approach Pamela without her consent and stays away from the estate for some time.
As Pamela is mistreated by Mrs. Jewkes, she begins communicating with Mr. Williams by letters, which they leave for one another in the gardens. After Mrs. Jewkes beats Pamela when Pamela calls her a "Jezebel", Mr. Williams entreats the village gentry for help. They pity Pamela, but they too are loyal to Mr. B, and are convinced a seduction would either not occur or be inconsequential because of Pamela's low social standing. Mr. Williams proposes marriage to her to help her escape the estate and Mr. B's advances but shortly afterward is attacked and beaten by robbers. Pamela attempts to flee home to her parents, but is terrified by two cows, which she mistakes for bulls. Mr. Williams accidentally reveals his correspondence with Pamela to Mrs. Jewkes and so Mr. B has him arrested and announces that he will marry Pamela to one of his servants. Desperate, Pamela attempts to escape by climbing a wall, and, injured, gives up.
Mr. B returns and offers Pamela a list of conditions that he would meet, should she accept his hand in marriage, but she refuses, citing her reluctance to think above her social station to become his mistress. In league with Mrs. Jewkes, Mr. B molests Pamela while she is in bed and is dressed as the housemaid Nan. Pamela is sent into hysteria and seems likely to die. Mr. B repents and is kinder in his seductions, but Pamela implores him to stop altogether. Mr. B implies that he loves Pamela but will not marry her because of her social status.
Pamela has hidden a parcel of letters to her parents in the garden, but they are seized by Mrs. Jewkes, who gives them to Mr. B. He sympathises with Pamela on reading her account of their relationship, and once again proposes. Pamela, still doubtful of his intentions, begs him to let her return. Though vexed, he does so to her surprise.
Volume 2
On leaving for home, Pamela is strangely sad and on her way home he sends her an apologetic letter that prompts her to realise that she is, in fact, in love. When she hears that he is ill, she returns to him. The two reunite and become engaged, and Pamela explains that she rejected Mr. B's advances because she feared that he would attempt to take advantage of her without marrying her.
Mr. Williams is released from prison, and the neighbouring gentry come to the estate and admire Pamela. Her father arrives at the estate and fears that she accepted Mr. B's proposal under duress but is reassured when he sees her happy. Pamela and Mr. B wed. When Mr. B leaves to attend to a sick man, his sister, Lady Davers, arrives at the estate and threatens Pamela and calls her marriage a sham. Pamela escapes by the window and is taken by Colbrand to Mr. B. The following day, Lady Davers enters their bedroom without permission and reveals that Mr. B previously seduced a girl, Sally Godfrey, and had a child with her.
Pamela reconciles the furious siblings, who return to Bedfordshire. Pamela rewards her friends and servants with money and forgives her father for attempting to end her engagement. They visit a farmhouse where they meet Mr. B's daughter and learn that her mother now lives married in Jamaica. Pamela proposes taking the girl home with them. The neighbourhood gentry, who once despised Pamela, now praise her.
Volume 1
Pamela Andrews is a pious, virtuous fifteen-year-old, the daughter of impoverished labourers, who works for Lady B as a maid in her Bedfordshire estate. After Lady B's death, her son, Mr. B, inherits the estate, and begins to pay Pamela romantic attention: first gifting her his mother's fine clothes, and then attempting to seduce her. Pamela rejects Mr. B's advances multiple times by fleeing and locking herself in her bedroom. In one instance, she faints, and finds the laces of her stays have been cut.
When Mr. B attempts to pay her to keep his failed seduction secret, she confides in her best friend and housekeeper of the estate, Mrs. Jervis. Later, Mr. B hides in Pamela's closet and tries to kiss her when she undresses for bed, which causes Pamela to consider leaving her position and returning to her parents to preserve her innocence. She is insistent on remaining at the estate to finish embroidering a waistcoat for Mr. B, hoping that by doing so he will let her leave on good terms.
Angry at Pamela for telling Mrs. Jervis of his attempted seductions, Mr. B informs Pamela that he intends to marry her off to Mr. Williams, his chaplain in Lincolnshire, and gives money to her parents to persuade them to give consent. Pamela refuses the engagement and decides to leave the estate, but Mr. B intercepts her letters to her parents and tells them she is having an affair with a poor clergyman and that he will send her to a safe place to preserve her chastity. Pamela is forcibly taken to Mr. B's Lincolnshire Estate by Mr. B's servant Monsieur Colbrand, where she begins a journal with the intention of sending it to her parents.
The Lincolnshire housekeeper, Mrs. Jewkes, is "odious" and "unwomanly", devoted to Mr. B, and keeps Pamela as her bedfellow. Mr. B promises that he will not approach Pamela without her consent and stays away from the estate for some time.
As Pamela is mistreated by Mrs. Jewkes, she begins communicating with Mr. Williams by letters, which they leave for one another in the gardens. After Mrs. Jewkes beats Pamela when Pamela calls her a "Jezebel", Mr. Williams entreats the village gentry for help. They pity Pamela, but they too are loyal to Mr. B, and are convinced a seduction would either not occur or be inconsequential because of Pamela's low social standing. Mr. Williams proposes marriage to her to help her escape the estate and Mr. B's advances but shortly afterward is attacked and beaten by robbers. Pamela attempts to flee home to her parents, but is terrified by two cows, which she mistakes for bulls. Mr. Williams accidentally reveals his correspondence with Pamela to Mrs. Jewkes and so Mr. B has him arrested and announces that he will marry Pamela to one of his servants. Desperate, Pamela attempts to escape by climbing a wall, and, injured, gives up.
Mr. B returns and offers Pamela a list of conditions that he would meet, should she accept his hand in marriage, but she refuses, citing her reluctance to think above her social station to become his mistress. In league with Mrs. Jewkes, Mr. B molests Pamela while she is in bed and is dressed as the housemaid Nan. Pamela is sent into hysteria and seems likely to die. Mr. B repents and is kinder in his seductions, but Pamela implores him to stop altogether. Mr. B implies that he loves Pamela but will not marry her because of her social status.
Pamela has hidden a parcel of letters to her parents in the garden, but they are seized by Mrs. Jewkes, who gives them to Mr. B. He sympathises with Pamela on reading her account of their relationship, and once again proposes. Pamela, still doubtful of his intentions, begs him to let her return. Though vexed, he does so to her surprise.
Volume 2
On leaving for home, Pamela is strangely sad and on her way home he sends her an apologetic letter that prompts her to realise that she is, in fact, in love. When she hears that he is ill, she returns to him. The two reunite and become engaged, and Pamela explains that she rejected Mr. B's advances because she feared that he would attempt to take advantage of her without marrying her.
Mr. Williams is released from prison, and the neighbouring gentry come to the estate and admire Pamela. Her father arrives at the estate and fears that she accepted Mr. B's proposal under duress but is reassured when he sees her happy. Pamela and Mr. B wed. When Mr. B leaves to attend to a sick man, his sister, Lady Davers, arrives at the estate and threatens Pamela and calls her marriage a sham. Pamela escapes by the window and is taken by Colbrand to Mr. B. The following day, Lady Davers enters their bedroom without permission and reveals that Mr. B previously seduced a girl, Sally Godfrey, and had a child with her.
Pamela reconciles the furious siblings, who return to Bedfordshire. Pamela rewards her friends and servants with money and forgives her father for attempting to end her engagement. They visit a farmhouse where they meet Mr. B's daughter and learn that her mother now lives married in Jamaica. Pamela proposes taking the girl home with them. The neighbourhood gentry, who once despised Pamela, now praise her.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Underlying book identified by the catalog’s explicit book_slug relation. Exact source annotation 995. Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license