representative of'the sentimental school ir English literature wai
Sainuei Richardson (1689-1761), the son of a
joiner, w L;o ccv.ie
to
London and was apprenticed as a printer. He remain
jg a / т г г г
throughout his life and followed the path o f the v." .. :
successful apprentice, even to marrying his master's dat^./w
He
was asked to prepare a series o f
model
letters for those wLo
could not write for themselves. Richardson told maid-servants
bov/ io
negotiate a proposal of marriage, apprentices
how
to apply
for situations, and even his sons how to plead
fheir
father's
forgiveness. This humble task taught Richardson tis.it he had at
his
fingers’ ends the art of expressing himself in letters, and in the
years
that followed he published three long works, on which his
reputation rests: “Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded” (1740), “Clarissa;
or. the History of a Young Lady” (1748) and “The History of Sir
Ciurles Grandhon” (1754), in which the inner world o f the
onaracter is shown, in them Richardson glorifies middle-class
virtues as opposed to the immorality ofthe aristocracy. He makes
his
readers sympathize with his heroes. In each instance, u.
central story is a simple one. Pamela was a virtuous servant, who
resisted the attempts at seduction o f the son of her late mistress,
and, as a result, gained from him a proposal of marriage, which
she
gleefully accepted. Clarissa was virtuous but a lady. Tormented
by
the pressure o f her family, which urged on her a detestable
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