An essay on the Representation of Virtue in Pamela and in one Literary Response to Pamela:

In Pamela, Richardson sets up an interesting conflict between the idea of the definition of virtue, and what self proclamation of virtue and self righteous appraisal can do to taint this notion. By many accounts, Richardson was a feminist who believed in strict morals, and who's most despicable characters still had religious standards. Pamela was born from a strict set of beliefs, but whether these are shown in a convincing light through the novel is …

…Richardson, "Familiar Letters on Important Occasions", (Ed. J. Isaacs), 1928 Katherine Hornbeak, "Richardson's Familiar Letters and the Domestic Conduct Books, Richardson's Aesop", (Ed. Caroline Bourland, Paul Graham, Howard Patch, Osmund Robert and Margaret Rooke), January 1938. Laura Fasick, "Sentiment, Authority, and the Female Body in the Novels of Samuel Richardson" (Essays in Literature, Fall 1992, pgs 192-203) Christopher Flint, "The Anxiety of Affluence: Family and Class Dis(order) in Pamela (Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, summer 1989 pgs 489-513)