Pamela's Strifes For Discourse Power

Pamela, written by Samuel Richardson in the epistolary form, tells a story of a maid who tries every means to defend her chastity. Based on the related literary criticism on Richardson and Pamela, enlightened by Michel Foucault's theory, this thesis attempts to explore the novel in a theoretical line of discourse power in a tripartite structure.Chapter One analyzes how Pamela is deprived of her discourse power by the master, Mr. B. Pamela, living in a male-centered society, is repressed politically, economically and culturally. She is subject to imprisonment when the master's sexual advance is refused. Though she can write, she faces all difficulties to post letters to her parents. Her letters are stolen or intercepted by the master, who even dictates or writes to replace her letters. The transmitted information is under his total censorship; Pamela's discourse is kept invalid.Chapter Two is devoted to the courageous strifes that Pamela makes to gain her discourse power. First of all, she tries by all means to write to keep her own voice, and her writing has significant meaning: to deny the social moulds, to change the relationship between her and her master, to expose the double sexual morality. Second, she tries to refute any of the master's unreasonable charges, and in doing so, she gains discourse power to some extent. Finally, by attempting to comment on those involved in helping her master ruin her, she gains sympathy from most servants and builds up her own authority in discourse.Chapter Three examines her discourse power gained by all kinds of efforts. First, she writes her letters in the epistolary form, which makes her story so touching that Mr. B. gives up his prejudice against her. Second, she creates a moral, pious, firm and chaste self-image to contrast with the immoral, blasphemous, swaying and impure Mr. B., so as to discredit B.'s claim of authority and builds up her own authority. Transformed by Pamela's text, Mr. B., the prodigal son, marries Pamela and virtue is rewarded.Pamela is the first important maid heroine in English literature, who is created by Richardson to gain everything by only her pen. So Pamela is a real text of discourse power.