Here's a huge bestseller from the 1740s in England – so much so that it gave rise to an early parody. Henry Fielding published "Shamela" about a year after "Pamela" came out, and the original was famous enough that Fielding didn't have to explain what he was making fun of. It therefore grieves me to report that by modern standards, it's not at all surprising to see why "Pamela" isn't much read today.
Let me repeat that: "Pamela" is unsuccessful by today's standards only. Its plot and characters by themselves are more than dramatic enough to please the modern reader. On the other hand, its style and themes are not. And that's before we even consider the thing's length. "Pamela" is roughly 850 pages of moralizing, and in pre-Declaration Of Independence language at that. Hoo boy.
Our story's heroine is, of course, Pamela, a young girl from a lower-class family who has been in service to an upper-class lady since her mid-teens. She's been raised by doting parents in a committed Christian way, and like a lot of women (and men) of her social class, she's been accustomed to think of her social superiors as her "betters". So it comes as quite a shock when her mistress dies and she goes into service for the late lady's son, and quickly discovers that he wants her to be his mistress. The book's first half consists of her letters to her parents describing his ongoing attempts to get into her bed, including his transporting her to another house he owns when she thinks she's being sent home. In other words, he kidnaps her and subjects her to a variety of oppressions assuming that she'll eventually have sex with him, and thinks that because she's of a lower social class, and his servant besides, that this is acceptable behavior.
What I'm going to say next isn't exactly a spoiler because the plot of this 270-year-old book is well known. (Besides, the subtitle kind of gives it away.) Eventually, Pamela's virtuous nature has such an impact on her master (which is what she continues to call him despite his cruelty) that he mends his ways and marries her. The story has several hundred pages to go yet and Pamela has a number of conflicts to suffer through, but she never doubts her now-husband again.
If someone were writing "Pamela" today, my biggest criticism would probably be the suddenness of the heroine's falling in love with her oppressor. When she's under his control, she often finds herself confused at the fact that she never feels inclined to curse him – though she never gives in to his advances, no matter what he offers her in the way of money or status, she continues to pray for him, and when he gets hurt she's terribly alarmed, so she seems to have feelings for him of a sort. When she agrees to return to him after being released and is delighted when he proposes, though, it seems inexplicable nevertheless.
After her marriage, she makes some remark like "O how good God is!" at least every paragraph, if not more often. I admit I might find this repetitive simply because I'm not a Christian myself, but (again by today's standards) it seems a little excessive.
Which brings us to Samuel Richardson's professed reason for writing his fiction. He intended "Pamela", and his other two novels, for amusement and instruction of his readers. He operated a print shop in London, which probably helps to explain how he got published, and had at one time prepared for a career as a clergyman. So it makes sense that the novel provides object lessons in how to behave, particularly for young women – in case the lessons aren't obvious enough, the book concludes with a list of specifics as to what various classes of reader (young women in service, other servants, those born into large fortunes) should take away from it, but this doesn't make it any more interesting or any less repetitive.
In short, although I have to acknowledge its virtues, I can't really recommend "Pamela" to any modern reader looking for an entertaining time with a book. Today it's more of a work for study regarding the development of English literature.
Benshlomo says, In this day and age, shorter and less repetitive is mostly better.
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