Genre
Satirical novella
Setting and Context
1742, England
Narrator and Point of View
The novella is epistolary, meaning it is told in a series of letters. The letters are written in first-person.
Tone and Mood
Tone: comical, lively, satirical
Mood: light-hearted, triumphant, playful
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: Shamela Antagonist: no clear antagonist, though the Squire is a candidate
Major Conflict
Textual level: Will Shamela be able to seduce the Squire into marrying her? Will Parson Oliver be able to convince Tickletext that Pamela is actually Shamela, and the text is problematic?
Meta-textual level: Can Fielding effectually satirize Samuel Richardson's "Pamela?"
Climax
The Squire decides to marry Shamela, effectively handing her what she has been angling for.
Foreshadowing
Shamela's downfall at the end of the text is foreshadowed by her poor treatment of her mother—a woman just like her—because her newly and falsely attained sense of superiority is patently ridiculous.
Understatement
n/a
Allusions
1. "Ciceronian eloquence" (12) is a reference to the great Roman orator Cicero
2. There are numerous coded historical allusions to people of Fielding's day: Conny Keyber is an allusion to Colley Cibber and Dr. Conyers Middleton, two biographers; Miss Fanny is an allusion to John, Lord Hervey, Baron Ickworth; Dr Woodward is an allusion to Dr. John Woodward, a noted physician of the day; etc. etc.
3. "Mr. Whitefield" is an allusion to the evangelical preacher Reverend George Whitefield
4. "Rochester's poems" refer to Restoration poet John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester
5. The "Statute of Lamentations" refers to the Bible's James I Chapter 16, which states that the actions for the recovery of debt have to be undertaken within six years
Imagery
The imagery in the novella is of coquettry and games, of flirtation and sex and stolen kisses. Fielding paints a picture of Shamela's vixenish beauty, describing her attire and her behavior.
Paradox
n/a
Parallelism
n/a
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"Sure Women are great Fools, when they prefer a laced Coat to the Clergy, whom it is our Duty to honour and respect" (23)
Personification
1. "...the thought is every where exactly clothed by the Expression; and becomes its Dress as roundly and as close as Pamela her country habit" (9)
2. "because if I lay down the Book it comes after me. When it has dwelt all Day long upon the ear, it takes Possession all Night of the Fancy" (9)
3. "Passion, says I, is apter to discover our Thoughts than to teach us to counterfeit" (36)
