The subtitle, "Virtue Rewarded," of Samuel Richardson's Pamela, may explain why this novel received both warm welcome and satire after its publication. To a great extent, it was the word "reward" that attracted the attention of a vast number of women, who were delighted to discover the true value of their virginity; it was also this word that offended some moralists, who came to realize the invasion of materialism into the existing moral system. The article is aimed at an examination of the view of virginity expressed in this novel. The author of this article believes that this novel has inher...
