If contemporary pop music has taught us anything, it’s that
the “haters” are going to “hate, hate, hate”. I’d imagine that when confronted
by all the “haters”, Richardson probably just shook them off.
Haywood's Anti Pamela is one such story (yes I'm saying that she was a hater. But to be fair, I'd been a hater of Pamela too!). The narrative structure is a bit different. Anti Pamela does incorporate letters, but some of the story is told in traditional third person narration. This is an interesting technique because it gives the reader a much more fulfilled and rounded view of the events which are unfolding in the text. The structure of the story is easy to follow (even if the language at times is very difficult to fully comprehend. Having now read a few pieces by Haywood, I can firmly say that her writing style isn't suited for my tastes. That being said, she's still vitally important to read, and I do see the importance of her work, even if I don't particularly care for it) and it does mimic Richardson's novel.
One of the most important differences between Pamela and Anti Pamela is the characterization of the leading female. In Pamela, that character is Pamela and she is a most virtuous woman who's influences are deeply rooted in family politics, religion, and piety. In Anti Pamela, our lead character is Syrena Tricksey (even her surname plays into the "Warning" note at the beginning of the novella. More on that later) who can be described as someone longing for an increased station in life without any sort of appropriate moral code in which to conduct one's behavior (okay this description might be a little bit harsh. It really isn't Syrena's fault. Her mother all but induced this kind of behavior upon her from the moment of her birth!). Syrena is an almost tragic character because the circumstances she undergoes don't fully allow her to develop herself as a person. In fact, I think if there is one thing I take away from this text, it's that Syrena never really got an opportunity to live.
The beginning of the novella is interesting. I find it to be rather funny (almost like a good '90s sitcom at times. I imagine many of the scenes acted out with Kelsey Grammer and Peri Gilpin in starring roles) and almost over the top. We are first acquainted with a note from the author that the text is a "Publish'd as a necessary caution to all Young Gentleman" (1). The text then follows this almost warning like narrative. Syrena is constantly, with every page, depicted in all but desirable ways. I think that Haywood is heavy handed at times with this method, especially on page 16 where she describes post rape (I'm assuming the scene prior described a rape but I'm not all that certain) Syrena's situation as: "had she been possest of that Softness and Tenderness which some are; but as she was capable of loving in reality nothing but herself, and carried on a Correspondence with him as merely a mercenary View, she was not much to be pitied". I really struggle to grasp Haywood's lack of carrying about women in the text we've read from her thus far. The narration here is similar to Fantomina and I am reminded of the lack of care the author put in place for developing sympathetic notions for her. Haywood does the same thing in Anti Pamela and it really bugs me.
So how are to respond overall to the text? Well it's certainly based off of and similar to Pamela and yet it comes across like a mockumentary. Syrena's character is basically the anti Pamela as the title of the text would suggest (and yet in many ways, she feels like a vastly superior character on the page. If anything, Syrena reads as real, whereas I never really got that sense with Pamela). The abortion scene is one of the stronger scenes we have read thus far and it merits examination. The second half of the text furthers the plot introduced in the first half and fulfils the warning obligation granted at the beginning of the text. Overall, I'd say it's complex, and as I have previously mentioned, I'm disturbed with the way women develop and are written in the text's we've read from Haywood thus far.
Haywood's Anti Pamela is one such story (yes I'm saying that she was a hater. But to be fair, I'd been a hater of Pamela too!). The narrative structure is a bit different. Anti Pamela does incorporate letters, but some of the story is told in traditional third person narration. This is an interesting technique because it gives the reader a much more fulfilled and rounded view of the events which are unfolding in the text. The structure of the story is easy to follow (even if the language at times is very difficult to fully comprehend. Having now read a few pieces by Haywood, I can firmly say that her writing style isn't suited for my tastes. That being said, she's still vitally important to read, and I do see the importance of her work, even if I don't particularly care for it) and it does mimic Richardson's novel.
One of the most important differences between Pamela and Anti Pamela is the characterization of the leading female. In Pamela, that character is Pamela and she is a most virtuous woman who's influences are deeply rooted in family politics, religion, and piety. In Anti Pamela, our lead character is Syrena Tricksey (even her surname plays into the "Warning" note at the beginning of the novella. More on that later) who can be described as someone longing for an increased station in life without any sort of appropriate moral code in which to conduct one's behavior (okay this description might be a little bit harsh. It really isn't Syrena's fault. Her mother all but induced this kind of behavior upon her from the moment of her birth!). Syrena is an almost tragic character because the circumstances she undergoes don't fully allow her to develop herself as a person. In fact, I think if there is one thing I take away from this text, it's that Syrena never really got an opportunity to live.
The beginning of the novella is interesting. I find it to be rather funny (almost like a good '90s sitcom at times. I imagine many of the scenes acted out with Kelsey Grammer and Peri Gilpin in starring roles) and almost over the top. We are first acquainted with a note from the author that the text is a "Publish'd as a necessary caution to all Young Gentleman" (1). The text then follows this almost warning like narrative. Syrena is constantly, with every page, depicted in all but desirable ways. I think that Haywood is heavy handed at times with this method, especially on page 16 where she describes post rape (I'm assuming the scene prior described a rape but I'm not all that certain) Syrena's situation as: "had she been possest of that Softness and Tenderness which some are; but as she was capable of loving in reality nothing but herself, and carried on a Correspondence with him as merely a mercenary View, she was not much to be pitied". I really struggle to grasp Haywood's lack of carrying about women in the text we've read from her thus far. The narration here is similar to Fantomina and I am reminded of the lack of care the author put in place for developing sympathetic notions for her. Haywood does the same thing in Anti Pamela and it really bugs me.
So how are to respond overall to the text? Well it's certainly based off of and similar to Pamela and yet it comes across like a mockumentary. Syrena's character is basically the anti Pamela as the title of the text would suggest (and yet in many ways, she feels like a vastly superior character on the page. If anything, Syrena reads as real, whereas I never really got that sense with Pamela). The abortion scene is one of the stronger scenes we have read thus far and it merits examination. The second half of the text furthers the plot introduced in the first half and fulfils the warning obligation granted at the beginning of the text. Overall, I'd say it's complex, and as I have previously mentioned, I'm disturbed with the way women develop and are written in the text's we've read from Haywood thus far.
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