Dress Discourse In Pamela

In Samuel Richardson’s novel Pamela, besides writing letters and journals to express emotions from within, the protagonist Pamela also uses clothes as the means of expressing her ideas. Similar to languages, clothes are speaking all the time. The dress discourse in Pamela can not only contribute to characterization of the novel, but also reveal the dressing principles in the 18th century Britain. Individuals’ choices of clothes should be made according to certain kinds of social and cultural conventions. The dress discourse in Pamela can not only reflect characters’ identities, but also demonstrate their virtues. Richardson combines the image of "clothes" and the concept of "virtues" together, thus presenting the fact that clothes have restrictions on humans both physically and mentally. These restrictions help establish the difference of identities between the aristocracies and the common civilians, the rich and the poor as well as the male and the female. As an ordinary poor maid, the protagonist Pamela dares not to change her dressing styles immediately even when she has already stepped into the upper class. She decides to change her clothes gradually in order to achieve acceptance from the upper class. This process shows possibilities of class mobility in the 18th century Britain. Meanwhile, as a member of the new rising bourgeoisie, Richardson’s political ideals of gaining recognition from the aristocratic ruling class have also been exposed.This thesis aims at discovering the functions of dress discourse in the following aspects-- to present the characters’ personalities, cultural identities as well as moral status by analyzing the descriptions of clothes in the novel. Clothes can not only decorate characters’ appearance, but also reveal the characters’ inner world in literary works. By analyzing the characters’ attitudes toward clothes, the social and cultural background where the characters live in and the value system about clothes of the writer while shaping characters can be figured out. Combining dress study with literary research can help provide a new direction for multiple interpretations of literary works.