Although Pamela is called the first novel written in the English language, we already find what were soon to become the cliches of Romantic fiction; the innocent girl trying to keep her honour, her virtue, i.e. her virginity, in tact, and the alpha male who has fallen helplessly in love with her and can barely stay away from her. In the case of Pamela's Master, as she refers to him, he doesn't react well to his predicament and thereby hangs the tale.
Pamela is written as a series of letters from Pamela to her parents. That she is writing about every intimate little thing that occurs between her and her master is a source of irritation to him. From her point of view, she needs to do this. She needs constant support and protection in the face of what these days we would call sexual harassment. From his point of view it's annoying that his every word and action as he tries to work out what he feels and what he should do about it is being broadcast.
The fact that this first novel was written as a series of letters just begs for a modern version using the modern technology. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, especially the latter two, are what the modern Pamela would use. Young people do tend to broadcast more about themselves than older people, who like a bit of privacy, would consider wise, and so it's easy to translate Pamela's Master's annoyance about her letters into anger about her tweeting.
Other things are less easy to translate into modern terms. The original Pamela was set within the English class system whereby her Master would simply expect a maid to let him do what he wanted and get it over with. She wasn't supposed to speak up for herself. She wasn't supposed to say, "No." At one stage he offers her a husband, to give her an outward semblance of respectability although everyone would know what was really going on; her husband would effectively be her pimp, while she would get lots of presents in her role as mistress. This might have been a good deal for a maid, but Pamela said, "No." Cynics reading the book suggest that she was aware of his feelings and was holding out for marriage, the title, and the right to enjoy all his wealth not just a few trinkets he might throw her way.
This version of Pamela is set within the fashion industry - because of the original's love of clothes and sewing. The issue is not whether she should keep her virginity, which is a non-issue these days, but to get her boss to show respect. The modern Pamela wants to be wooed and courted, not raped.
The original novel is easily found online at the Gutenberg Project.. It can also be found sometimes in bookshops including Amazon, Powell's, the Book Depository and so on. Yes, despite being a few hundred years old, she's still in print and still controversial.
