Shamela (1741) is one of the funniest books ever to have played a part in changing literary history. Like his master Cervantes in Don Quixote (1605–15), Fielding used a variety of comic devices to construct a narrative that ridiculed a fashionable mode of writing. It is evident from the start that Fielding intends to undercut the overt message of the recent smash hit by Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740), the first most talked about novel of the period. For the tale of a virtuous teenage servant girl, Pamela Andrews, repelling the advances of her lecherous master until she brings him to offer marriage, written in a serious and almost solemn vein, Fielding provides a scurrilous comedy, displaying …
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Citation: Rogers, Pat. "An Apology for the Life of Mrs Shamela Andrews". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 March 2022 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6686, accessed 08 September 2024.]