For my final paper I decided to write about the fictional autobiography “Roxana” by Daniel Defoe and the biography “Pamela” by Samuel Richardson. What’s interesting about writing this novel “Roxana” again for my final paper is because of her maid Amy, whether or not she is an actually person or Roxana herself, the fact that she did play a servant role. Which is even more significant on how a servant character, becomes one of the important character in the novel and she is the reason that makes this book interesting to read. I find Amy and Pamela to be very similar but also different too. Pamela, who is also a servant that write letters to her parent about her master and her living style. Both Amy and Pamela, they’re fighting as feminist give them anxiety and that anxiety made their determinate to succeed. By offering a close reading in which I will compare and contrast Defoe’s and Richardson’s novel. As we can see, social class is one of the theme for the two novels, but my meaning of “succeed” is not to show whether if the two servant start from poor and become rich. But explaining what makes them a successful character that keeps this novel going because they both have things that they want to protect. For instance, Defoe’s novel Amy, the scene when Roxana puts her in bed with the landlord. Although Amy did say she will scarify anything for her, but under no circumstances Roxana took the action herself without Amy’s permission, so that Roxana won’t feel guilty in mistress when Amy is not virgin anymore. Additionally, when Amy mention that she will murder Susan Roxana’s daughter, so that no one will know her secret except Amy. Similar to Pamela, when her master Mr. B often will secretly come to her room while she is writing to her parent and becomes sexuality active toward her, but she will fight against him to protect herself towards her belief of defending her virginity until her marriage. Roxana’s maid Amy, where they’re relationship goes above and beyond a servant or a friendship even when she gets betrayed, Amy is constantly committed to her. While in Pamela, she rather suffer from injury and scarify anything to protect herself as being virtue. In both novels, Amy and Pamela are not only female servant, but their action goes beyond their social role to represents the eighteen century. Additionally, both novel is written in a first person narrator, where the reader doesn’t know if the character is telling the truth about their situation or not because they were not able to hear from other characters as well. However, at the end of the novel we see that Pamela married to Mr. B but Amy is mysteriously gone leaving the mystery if she had murder Roxana’s daughter or not. Even though Amy didn’t end with a happy ending but throughout the novel she had lead the reader to uncover these mysteries about Roxana which is what this novel is about and that is what makes her a successful character.

Xiu Mei Lin
Professor Hershinow
November 1, 2016
English 4210

The Curse

          The first Gothic novel “The Castle of Otranto” written by Horace Walpole was published in 1764. The novel opens with an introductory of prince Manfred’s family and that he tries to arrange his son, Conrad to marry with Vicenza’s daughter Isabella. But eventually Conrad was crushed to death by a gigantic hamlet. This draws a similar connection with Edmund Burke’s explanation of sublime, “from a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful” in 1759. It states “the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime” (Burke131). In other words, sublime is the opposite of beauty, it gives character the feeling of excitement in horror when they see a specific object. For instance, when Manfred saw the hamlet he states, “a hundred times more large than any casque ever made for human being, and shaded with a proportional quantity of black feathers” (28). This is significant but less pointed, the helmet’s physical appearance “quantity of black feathers” rather than other color but it present as “black” which can both be comparable to a crow and the nature. The crow in our imagery, is that these specie appears in non-beautiful environment. Additionally, the helmet have given out negative energy and it may represents the cruse towards Manfred that he is in danger because the helmet it so unique and it’s beyond human creation, it can represent a punishment of the nature rather than the beauty side of the nature. Since the helmet was met to kill Manfred son, this object brings a physiological effects to Manfred that also creates an overwhelming imagery in his mind which leads him to take evil actions. Manfred said “I cannot give you my son, I offer you myself” (34). When he tries divorce with Hippolita and married Isabella to produce a male heir, so that he could protect his power in the castle and continues his blood line. Also the source states “when danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight…but at certain distances, and with certain modifications, they may be, and they are delightful.” (Burke 131). Like Manfred, he represents “delight” more than pleasure whereas in this case delight means feeling from painful to pleasure and pleasure stays as feeling good. Overall, the primary source clarify the understanding of the meaning of sublime where the helmet present as an evil object that cause Manfred to shows his feeling of excitement in terror.

Works Cited

Edmund, Burke. From a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful (1759). Print.

Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Dover Publications, 2004. Print.