Wednesday, March 18, 2015

ANTI-PAMELA by ELIZA HAYWOOD, SUMMARY and ANALYSIS

ANTI-PAMELA by ELIZA HAYWOOD

SUMMARY
Syrena Tricksy is raised in London, GBR by her liaison mother to attract a wealthy husband.  She is trained in acting and deception.  When Syrena is older than 13 and her other friends are beginning to enter into apprenticeships, and other areas of employment, Syrena is sent off to serve as a maid for a wealthy mistress named Mrs. Martin whom she knows through family connections, and is expected to use her newfound position to attract a patron and lover.
Immediately, Syrena is disgusted with the formality of her new family, and begs to be sent home.  Syrena must miss a trip home because it is raining on the weekend, and boasts of deceiving a man into attraction for her on the next day in a letter that was sent on Monday.  The man, named Vardine, vows to give all his money to her the next day.  Syrena's mother who is named Ann applauds Syrena's receipt but cautions her optimism in trusting the new lover, and encourages her to increase the manipulation until the man is powerless.  Syrena discovers the man has no estate and Ann cautions Syrena to shun the man completely.  Because Syrena liked the man, she tricks Ann into letting her leave the Martins by claiming that someone has caught small pox in the house.
Vardine meets Syrena in the park and they go out drinking alcohol together.  Syrena finds a new lady named Mrs. L for whom to serve.  Vardine tells Syrena that he will marry her at any time.  Syrena tricks Vardine into giving her five guineas to repay a fictional debt from Ann to Mrs. Martin;  Vardine only has 2 guineas then, and promises to obtain another 3 by Friday.  On Friday, Vardine sends a note to her that he has been sent to Ireland in the English invading military and does not have the 3 guineas.
Syrena writes to Ann that Thomas L, one of Syrena's new patrons, forced Syrena to kiss him and slipped 5 guineas down her blouse.  Later, Thomas comes into Syrena's room and attempts to force himself on her, but she refuses.  His son, referred to as Mr. L, jumps out of the closet as soon as Thomas leaves and condemns Thomas' behavior while praising Syrena.  Syrena suspects Mr. L and his father are like-minded in their pursuit of her.  Mr. L begins to kiss Syrena without her permission. Thomas accosts Syrena while she is hiding from Mr. L, and promises to show her his good intentions when they are away at the countryside together.  When they go to the country Thomas tells Syrena he loves her, hinting that he will support her if she becomes his unwed lover, but Syrena refuses.  Ann tells Syrena she should be less harsh toward Thomas, but focus her energy on manipulating Mr. L, who tells her that he cannot risk marrying her because Thomas would disapprove.  Thomas draws Syrena a legal offer to pay her 100 pounds cash per year during Thomas' life and 50 pounds per year after Thomas' death, and educate and feed her children; Syrena submits the contract to Ann for consideration.  Ann and Syrena decide to report Mr. L for rape in order to extort the Martins, and show up at Mrs. L's house with Syrena disheveled, offering to drop the charges if he will marry her.  Thomas sends counter-proposals to Mamma, but negate the offers upon the discovery that Mr. L is innocent.
Syrena then focuses on another man named Mr. D, and soon obtains 50 pounds from Mr. D as a sign of his devotion.  Ann meets with Mr. D to prevent Mr. D from going to the other woman whom Mr. D is courting, named Maria, in Lincolnshire. Ann sends an anonymous letter to Maria warning that Mr. D is betrothed to another woman.  Mr. D writes a letter to Syrena and Ann declaring the relationship over, but Syrena goes to his home in London and claims to be pregnant with Mr. D's son so that he will keep her as a mistress for 3 pounds a week, plus an up front bonus of twenty guineas.  Maria writes Mr. D an anonymous letter revealing the Tricksy's deceit.
Syrena goes to a ball and tries to lure a man named Lord R. who discerns her intentions to extort him and reprimands her.  Under the guise of escaping a rapist, Syrena runs into an empty shop and begins a relationship with the Mercer who owns the shop.  The Mercer has an invalid wife and is charmed by Syrena.  Syrena meets another man who writes to Syrena from jail asking for 100 pounds to bail him out of jail.  Syrena tells the Mercer that her father is in jail and obtains 100 pounds from the Mercer who is informed by a spectating coachman that Syrena is not a faithful woman.  The Mercer goes to Syrena that night and tells her that she will not deceive him again.  Afterward, the Mercer plans to commit suicide with a pistol but instead only grazes his head with a bullet, and moves to the countryside.  Syrena's lover attempts to extract more money from her so she goes back to Lord R. who makes her his lover and gives her a bonus of 50 pounds with a salary of 10 guineas per week.  Syrena catches an unnamed Sexually Transmitted Disease from Lord R, and must spend all of the money he gave her for medical treatment, and Lord R severs his contract with Syrena.
Syrena meets an old man named Mr. W who invites Syrena to live with him at his rural estate.  When Syrena gets there, Mr. W does not let her sit with his wealthy guests, but does not seat her with the servants, either, deeming both situations inappropriate.  Syrena told Mr. W that she was previously married to a man who died 18 months prior.  Mr. W kisses Syrena, and breaks down in tears, professing his love for her.  Ann writes Syrena a letter explaining that a man named Mr. Smith is madly in love with Syrena, and encourages Syrena to devote her attentions to Mr. Smith.  Shortly after, Syrena gets a letter from a man named Harriot Manly to whom Syrena has claimed to be a widow.  Mr. W learns of Mr. Smith's offer, and proposes marriage to Syrena.  Shortly after, Mr. W's son comes to visit and claims that Syrena is extorting Mr. W, and Syrena is banished from Mr. W's home.
When Syrena is walking in town a few days later, she sees an attractive man named Mr. P, and pretends to faint in front of him.  Mr. P takes Syrena into a pub to comfort her, and falls in love with her during the proceeding months.  Because Mr. P's father squandered the family fortune, Mr. P is hesitant to marry Syrena.  Syrena sees Vardine walking in a park, and asks Vardine to pretend to pursue her romantically in front of Mr. P.  Mr. P begins to ignore Syrena and she comes to his house some days later and cries before Mr. P until he agrees to take her on as a mistress.  Mr. P's love for Syrena is renewed and he spends money on Syrena until he falls deeply into debt.  One day, Mr. P comes home to find Syrena and Vardine having sex with eachother, and Mr. P's friend prevents Mr. P from killing Syrena and Vardine.  Syrena and Vardine run away together.  Vardine sends Mr. P a letter offering to duel Mr. P, but Mr. P's friend intervenes and Vardine agrees to never see Syrena again in apology.
Syrena goes home to live with her mother.  After meeting a man named Mr. E, Syrena receives a letter from a man named Mr. A.Z. who professes profound love for Syrena.  Syrena moves in with Mr. E as his mistress in exchange for a payment of 500 pounds.  Mrs. E begins exchanging letters with a man named Mr. C who arranges to have Syrena sent to Wales.

ANALYSIS
This book was written as a parody for the novel Pamela by Samuel Richardson.  Pamela is an extremely virtuous woman who eventually marries her master, gaining wealth and social respect.  Syrena is contrary to Pamela in that Syrena actively seeks to deceive men into giving her wealth and social dignity, rather than attending to virtue and letting reward come as a result.
It is not in the least bit doubtful that Syrena is gaming her boyfriends in the novel.  While Syrena does admit to feeling attachment toward most of her romantic pursuits, she prioritizes money over truthfulness and compassion in her relationships.  Rather than dating in the pursuit of love, she dated in hopes of gaining riches, and the love came secondary.  Because so many of the men quickly caught on to Syrena's ploys to gain money from them, I gathered that extorting gentlemen for money was an established practice among attractive, low-born women.  The parody of Pamela is, in part, referencing the established practice amongst women to attract wealthy men as Pamela did, but, lacking all of the virtue Pamela possesses.
Ultimately, the reader must decide whether or not to perceive Syrena negatively for her actions.  She grew up without money or high-birth, and had no profession awaiting her in adulthood.  Syrena's extortion of men was her only source of income.  While Syrena's extortion of Mr. P took Mr. P into bankruptcy, Syrena's extortion of other men was within their budget.  Mr. A.Z., Mr. D, Mr. L, Thomas, and Lord R., all wanted Syrena to be their mistress whom they could approach for sex whilst their respective wives were neglecting of them.  Additionally, Mr. L and Thomas forced themselves on Syrena.  Is extorting men who can afford it and also benefit from the relationship by being unfaithful to another person wrong?  Syrena's predicament was symptomatic of an era when women had no rights, as single women or as wives.  However, she did not stop herself from bankrupting Mr. R, who did truly love her, and did not have the respect for him to end their relationship before again pursuing Vardine, so she did not merely respond to her environment.  Syrena, under the tutelage of her mother, developed a predatory attitude and actively attacked people, some of whom happened to be predators themselves.


  • Syrena Tricksy lures a man named Vardine into promising her money, but he pretends the military has called him away and leaves her
  • Syrena serves as a maid in a house where the father and son, Thomas and Mr. L, are attracted to her
  • Syrena attempts to extort the son, claiming he raped her, but is caught and must leave the home
  • Syrena courts Mr. D who decides to go back to his wife
  • Syrena tries to lure a man named Lord R but is hired as a maid by Mr. W
  • Syrena is accused of deceitfulness by Mr. W's son and leaves Mr. W
  • Syrena serves as Lord R's mistress but catches an STD and is fired by Lord R
  • Syrena meets Mr. P and uses Vardine to make Mr. P jealous
  • Mr. P marries Syrena and she drives Mr. P bankrupt
  • Mr. P finds Syrena and Vardine having sex, and vows to kill Vardine, but Vardine agrees to stop dating Syrena, and Mr. P does not kill him, but Syrena leaves without either man
  • Syrena meets Mr. A.Z. whose wife reports Syrena to a man who takes Syrena to Wales

SOURCE
Haywood, Eliza.  Anti-Pamela, or, Feign'd Innocence Detected.  Peterborough, Ont.  Broadview, 2004.  Print.  Book about a woman who dates many rich men and ends up alone.