Penetrating Interiority in Two Prison-Courts in Pamela

Abstract

According to Ian Watt, eighteenth-century formal realism novels adopt a narrative technique that specifies both characters' individual experience and material surroundings such as time and space in order to represent the reality of human life (33). Richardson's Pamela, one of the well-known formal realism novels, imitates human life substantially, portraying in particular "what is privately experienced" by a realistic protagonist(Kearney 37). Richardson's elaborate description of Pamela's private experience enables readers to feel as if they read real private letters written by a real person, thereby promoting the authenticity of Pamela's story. Most important, Richardson's depiction reflects the fervent interest in privacy that the bourgeoisie in the eighteenth century ceaselessly discussed and craved for.