Richardson, Samuel (1689-1761), an English writer, is considered one of the founding fathers of the novel. He wrote three novels: Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady (1748), and Sir Charles Grandison (1754). These works are too long to be much read today, but their influence on literature has been enormous.
Richardson’s books brought various important, and in some ways new, elements to the novel. Each of his novels has a genuinely unified plot rather than disconnected episodes. The characters maintain a consistent point of view, without interference by the author. The works established the theme of courtship leading to marriage as a basic plot of the novel.
All three novels are written in the form of letters. Indeed, the idea for the form of Pamela originated from a manual of model letters written by Richardson. Pamela was published anonymously and was a sensational success. All the novels have a breathless quality that sweeps the reader along from letter to letter.
It is easy to mock the somewhat dubious, often priggish morality of these novels. Indeed, Pamela inspired witty parodies by writers of his time. Still, Richardson set the novel firmly in what became its main direction: a detailed description of real people in common situations of domestic life. In particular, Richardson’s novels treat women’s concern for security, marriage, and a proper social role. This reflects how, with the rise of the new middle class, women with conscious individual identities and problems were coming to the forefront. This tendency has grown since Richardson’s time, and in him, as in many later novelists, women have found a sympathetic and sensitive voice.
Richardson was born on Aug. 19, 1689, in Derbyshire. He started his own printing business in 1719 and later became one of London‘s most successful publishers. He died on July 4, 1761.
