Marriage in Pamela and Fanny Hill
‘Marriage is the only available—and acceptable—option for the eighteenth century heroine’. Is this true?
Class and gender chiefly governed British society in the eighteenth century and the opportunities for a woman to achieve social and financial security were scarce. In this society men of the upper class governed the female identity. This patriarchal climate stipulated that, “a respectable woman was nothing but the potential mother of children” (Blease 7). In the context of eighteenth century British society, this prescribed duty implied marriage first and was shortly followed by procreation and duties relating to family life. Although marriage and maternity provided the only socially acceptable path for women during this time, some women turned to prostitution as an alternate means of subsistence. However, in eighteenth century society, where sexuality, especially female sexuality, was repressed, prostitution as a line of work was largely tabooed. Thus, marriage during this time provided the only respectable means for a woman to achieve a comfortable and virtuous life. In addition, amidst a socially stratified society, marriage also served an alternate purpose as a potential means by which a woman could elevate her social situation. These social politics, combined with the sexual inequality that characterised eighteenth century British society, are manifested throughout the literature of the time. Samuel Richardson’s novel, Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded, embraces the notion that marriage is the only acceptable path for his heroine. However in Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, John Cleland provides the antithesis of Richardson’s novel by depicting pleasure as his heroine’s ultimate source of freedom throughout the account of her life as a prostitute. Both Richardson and Cleland approach marriage within their respective works in radically different ways as each text provides its author with a vehicle to comment on the function of marriage amidst
Class and gender chiefly governed British society in the eighteenth century and the opportunities for a woman to achieve social and financial security were scarce. In this society men of the upper class governed the female identity. This patriarchal climate stipulated that, “a respectable woman was nothing but the potential mother of children” (Blease 7). In the context of eighteenth century British society, this prescribed duty implied marriage first and was shortly followed by procreation and duties relating to family life. Although marriage and maternity provided the only socially acceptable path for women during this time, some women turned to prostitution as an alternate means of subsistence. However, in eighteenth century society, where sexuality, especially female sexuality, was repressed, prostitution as a line of work was largely tabooed. Thus, marriage during this time provided the only respectable means for a woman to achieve a comfortable and virtuous life. In addition, amidst a socially stratified society, marriage also served an alternate purpose as a potential means by which a woman could elevate her social situation. These social politics, combined with the sexual inequality that characterised eighteenth century British society, are manifested throughout the literature of the time. Samuel Richardson’s novel, Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded, embraces the notion that marriage is the only acceptable path for his heroine. However in Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, John Cleland provides the antithesis of Richardson’s novel by depicting pleasure as his heroine’s ultimate source of freedom throughout the account of her life as a prostitute. Both Richardson and Cleland approach marriage within their respective works in radically different ways as each text provides its author with a vehicle to comment on the function of marriage amidst
References: Blease, W. L. (1971). The emancipation of English women. New York, B. Blom. Cleland, J. (2004). Fanny Hill: memoirs of a woman of pleasure. Ware, Wordsworth Editions. Haslanger, A. (2011) What Happens When Pornography Ends in Marriage: The Uniformity of Pleasure in Fanny Hill. English Literary History, 78 (1), p.163-188. Morton, D. (1971) Theme and Structure in "Pamela". Studies in the Novel, 3 (3), p.242-257. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29531465. Richardson, S. (1958). Pamela: or, Virtue rewarded. New York, Norton.