Samuel Richardson Writing Style

Samuel Richardson, the son of a London joiner, was born in 1689 in Derbyshire. Yet, he spent most of his life in London. When he was in school Richardson amused his schoolmates by making up improvisatory romances; and when but thirteen years old, such was his talent as a letter-writer that the working girls employed him to write their love letters for them. At the age of 17, Richardson was forced to begin apprenticeship as a printer under John Wilde. Richardson, sometimes considered “the father of modern novelists” in English. He received decent quality education. But, he had an inherent ability for letter writing. Richardson was apprenticed as a printer and he remained a printer to the rest of his life. When he was fifty years old

While he compiled the volume he decided to use part of the material to write a novel based on the story of a house girl who successfully resisted her master’s attempts to seduce her and eventually became his wife. This is the plot of Richardson first novel, “Pamela”, or we can say “Virtue rewarded” which was published in four volumes between 1740 and 1741. His second novel,

“Clarissa Harlowe”, probably the longest work in Literature, about one million words, was published in seven volumes between 1747 and 1748, and centers rather than around the loss of virtue of the protagonist who is kidnapped and by consequence dies of sorrow and disgrace. His third and last novel is, Charles Grandison, 1753-1754 have seven volumes. Still in the epistolary form the author intended to create a model of manly virtues, yet Sir Grandison is so “perfect” that he appears unrealistic and boring.

The story of a beautiful 15 year old maidservant named Pamela. She is working for