In an
article titled “Richard’s characterization of Mr. B. and Double Purpose in Pamela,” Gwendolyn B. Needham contends
that the average reader of Samuel Richardson’s first novel fails to recognize
the complex character the author renders in its hero-villain, Mr. B.: “Convinced
of Mr. B.’s wickedness, outraged by a seeming switch from black dye to whitewash,
the reader doubts the ‘miraculous conversion’ and deplores Richardson’s
ineptitude” (437). Needham holds,
instead, that Mr. B.’s motivations have been represented consistently throughout
the narrative and that “Richardson’s psychological insight and conscious
realism make convincing what happens to a Mr. B. when he encounters a Pamela”
(452). I am interested in Richardson’s
characterization of Mr. B. because of an unbecoming characteristic I
found to be as prevalent in him after his “reformation” as before, that of his nearly
paranoid concern with others’ perception of him. This is evidenced by a series of solemn
counsels he administers to Pamela in regards to her behavior as his wife. Fearing the opinion of their wedding guests, for instance,
he asks that she adopt an artifice of lightheartedness at their nuptials: “But
whatever you do, Pamela, be cheerful;
for else, may-be, of the small Company we shall have, some one, not knowing how
to account for your too nice Modesty, may think there is some other Person in the World, whose Addresses would be still more
agreeable to you” (342). Of her role as
hostess, he enjoins, “[B]ut yet I will say, that I expect from you, whoever
comes to my House, that you will accustom yourself to one even, uniform
Complaisance: That no Frown take place on your Brow . . . That . . . you signify not, by the least reserved Look,
that the Stranger is come upon you unseasonably” (371). Finally, he warns her against ever
representing their marriage in an unfavorable light: “In all Companies she must
have shewn, that she had, whether I deserved it altogether, or not, a high
Regard and Opinion of me” (446).
Prior to reading Needham’s article,
I considered Mr. B.’s excessive vanity just another aspect of his unsavory
character, despite the fact that his creator, Richardson, clearly wished me to
have a far higher opinion of him by the latter half of the novel. Needham, however, urges that Richardson’s
continued representation of this prevalent fault in the hero is not indicative
of the author’s inconsistency in characterizing him, but the opposite. It is Mr. B’s ego that is at the heart of the
novel’s initial conflict, as his inner struggle, in deciding whether a marriage
to Pamela is worth the censure of his peers, “finally emerges as a clear case
of Pride versus Love” (Needham 455). However,
as Needham also holds that “Richardson emphasizes pride of self as Mr. B.’s
dominant and pervasive trait” and “convincingly demonstrates that Mr. B.’s ego
and domineering disposition remain essentially unchanged,” I now question his
characterization in but a different way (445; 468). No longer does Mr. B. seem strangely
converted from one who is thoroughly bad to one who is thoroughly good. Rather, my own observations regarding his
excessive fear of the judgment of others, coupled with Needham’s insistence
that his vanity explains his psychological motivations throughout the novel
and provides for his realistic rendering, lead me to newly question the
likelihood of such a man marrying below his station. Of course, Needham also asserts that Richardson has created, in Mr. B., “a man capable of correcting and disciplining himself given sufficiently strong motivation” (446). His love for Pamela may indeed provide just such motivation. However, as he is hardly reformed in his vanity; as he seems, in his aforementioned cautions to Pamela regarding her behavior, to prize others’ perceptions over her comfort; and as, in marrying his servant, he would surely risk a far more extensive disapprobation of his peers than that afforded by any of the smaller matters over which he shows so much concern, I have my doubts.
As I forgot to include a Works Cited and am unable to properly format one in a comment, here is a link to Needham's article if anyone is interested:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2737862.pdf?acceptTC=true