The Self-Conscious Narrator in Henry Fielding’s Shamela and Eliza Haywood’s Anti-Pamela

Is Henry Fielding’s Shamela exposing Pamela’s true character? In an early letter to her mother, Shamela says the squire held her hand and she “pretended to be shy” (243).  And when he had kissed her, she “pretended to be Angry, and to get away” (243). She continues and says that by “Ill-luck,” Mrs. Jervis walked in on the squire kissing Shamela and spoiled the moment. We’ve wondered about Pamela’s honesty in her letters regarding her feelings for Mr. B and his attempts at her. Is Shamela the real Pamela exposed? If Pamela were not trying to appear virtuous to her parents, would she have also said she was pretending to be upset? Shamela is an honest narrator, she tells her audience that she enjoys the squire kissing her and holding her hand, but is aware of her role as a woman and must appear to be virtuous in front of the squire. The difference between her and Pamela is she’s actually honest in retelling her story through her letters. Is Shamela less virtuous than Pamela because she admits to liking the squire’s attempts? I think Shamela is a self-conscious and honest narrator, unlike Pamela.

In Letter VI, at Twelve o’Clock, Shamela is writing to her mom and says, “You see I write in the present Tense” (247). Shamela is conscious of the act of writing and is honest in admitting her presence as the narrator. She then admits to having feigned a “Swoon” in front of the squire and in having difficulty maintaining her  “Countenance, when a violent Laugh desires to burst forth” (18). Shamela has freedom as a self-conscious narrator, and when she desires to laugh at pretending to have swooned, I think she desires to laugh at her own reckless freedom in writing the truth, where others before her have tried to conceal it.

In conversation with Mrs. Jewkes, we continue to see Shamela’s self-consciousness. Mrs. Jewkes tries to lecture Shamela on her behavior in Letter X and says if other servants are punished, it is her fault. Shamela, however, doesn’t allow this conversation to continue.  She says, “Mrs. Jewkes remembered the Smart of my Nails too well to go farther; and so we sat down and talked about my Vartue till Dinner-time” (258). Later down the page, Shamela says they “talked of honourable Designs till Supper-time” (258).  Shamela is not trying to be affected like Pamela was; Shamela is putting everything out on the table in discussing “vartue” and “honourable designs”. The artistry of a narrator is in the novel.

Shamela brings all artistry to the surface. Fielding appreciates the self-conscious narrator, which is why I think he pokes fun at Pamela’s supposed “virtue.” We will see the self-conscious narrator reappear in Fielding’s Joseph Andrews as well.

The title to Eliza Haywood’s Anti-Pamela reads: Anti-Pamela; or Feign’d Innocence Detected. Feigned innocence detected is similar to my speculation that Fielding is exposing Pamela as feigning her innocence and dislike of Mr. B’s attempts.  Syrena’s intentions are revealed to us in the very beginning from a narrator. We are told early on that Syrena did not hope to become a laborer but that she may become rich either through “Marriage, or a Settlement from some Man of Condition” (56).  She is willing to become a mistress to someone of high rank or status; and she is only 13 years old at this point! Syrena is a social climber, and Haywood may be implying that so too is Pamela.

The self-conscious narrator, after having relayed to us that Syrena and her mother hoped for more grand options, says, “Here one cannot forbear reflecting, how shocking it is, when those who should point out the Paths of Virtue, give a wrong Bent to the young and unform’d Mind” (56).  The narrator is giving her own opinion on the behavior of her characters. Is this opinion directed at Samuel Richardson who claims to “cultivate the Principles of Virtue…in the Minds of the Youth”? Haywood is clearly not concealing her sentiment towards Richardson’s novel in her title Anti-Pamela.

Syrena is similar to Shamela in that she is honest about her feelings too. She admits to pretending to act a certain way and is very obvious in wanting money, status, and gifts from men of high rank. We know very well what she is after and she lays it all out.  Like Shamela, she is aware of her role as a female, and so puts on a virtuous act in front of Vardine when they first meet. He is very sexual towards her, admitting to watching her dress and asking her opinion on which stockings to purchase. Though Syrena appears to be careless in front of him, she says “I said nothing, but pretended to be mighty uneasy, tho’ in my Heart I was well enough pleas’d” (61). And then of course she does choose a pair of stockings. Syrena is aware of her role as a female though and so she rejects the stockings when Vardine insists she takes them. She is honest in admitting though that "indeed they were very pretty” and later regrets not taking them (62, 69).

I am very curious about the narrator appearing before Syrena’s letters. Can we safely assume this is Haywood laying out her thoughts and giving us a depiction of her character before we’re even able to judge Syrena for ourselves? The narrator continues to reappear throughout the novel, commenting on Syrena and exposing her intentions.  

Also, why don’t we get to see the letter Syrena wrote to her mom pretending she got rid of Vardine (73)? Instead, the narrator relays their conversation to us. Is this significant in any way? Does the narrator seem to have her own agenda throughout the novel?