Virtue

Now, I am unable to think of anything but Pamela whenever I read the word "virtue." Does anyone else have this problem? Anyways, the inclusion of "virtue" in this week's Wollstonecraft reading made me want to compare the definition with Richardson's meaning.

Wollstonecraft, like Richardson, is explicit in this text's potential use for moral instruction as the title expresses the text's purpose to "regulate the affections and form the mind to truth and goodness." The excerpt for today was even titled "Moral Conversations," which suggests the importance of a mentor whose job it is to impart biblical principles to young persons by example. This emphasis on instruction through observation rather than a simple insistence on a set of rules can also be found in Richardson's portrayal of a young woman who is not offered a prescribed response to various and diverse attempts upon her virtue.

Wollstonecraft has adjusted her text to the needs of the present state of society and specifies that the example should directly address the senses, which are "the first inlets to the heart" (v). Wollstonecraft's lamentation ("Cruel necessity!") that vice must be explained in order to teach virtue endorsed Richardson's numerous inclusions of Mr. B's devious wickedness so that Pamela's virtue might be all the more appreciated by readers.

The plot of both texts bear a resemblance as Mary and Caroline, like Pamela, are left to the management of servants. All three rely upon compassionate older women for instruction, Mrs. Mason and Mr. B's mother/Mrs. Jervis. The definition of "virtue" in both texts is also similar as Wollstonecraft identifies it as "ever the truest source of pleasure" and Pamela certainly takes pleasure from the actions she takes (and the attention she receives?) to preserve her virtue (11). A longer definition is provided two pages later at the end of a paragraph on the great chain of being: "we exercise every benevolent affection to enjoy comfort here, and to fit ourselves to be angels hereafter" (13). While this expanded definition may only refer to general qualities of being morally good, applying "benevolent affection to enjoy comfort here" to Pamela opens up a wide range of bawdy possibilities for interpretation.

I would be interested in applying Wollstonecraft's expanded definition of virtue to the Blake poems we read for today. Furthermore, we could consider the connections Blake makes to the great chain of being and how virtue affects the relationship of man to angels and to God.