When first coming across the name Shamela in the course syllabus, I didn’t expect much from the book itself. One glance at the ridiculous pun in the title and I knew it was going to be just as ridiculous a satire to Pamela. In my opinion, I was right. After reading Shamela I don’t feel like I have learnt anything useful in respects to the time period, or Pamela as a character. I didn’t enjoy Anti-Pamela that much either, but at least it gave a different way of looking at the original text. I suppose that Shamela is a different way of looking at Pamela as well, but in its ridiculousness any credibility seems to have gone out the window. Anti-Pamela could stand alone as a novel, whereas Shamela is obviously just a satire about Pamela, that accentuates the flaws in the plot and characters. In its defense I will say that it was funny to read, and at times hilarious, but it was just not my cup of tea.
