ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 focuses on eighteenth-century courtship novels written by particularly influential authors, whose recurring danger/protection language helps to solidify literary conventions pertaining to plot and character that provide a baseline for subsequent works. While Haywood’s The Fortunate Foundlings , Richardson’s History of Sir Charles Grandison , and Burney’s Evelina provide unambiguous models of traditional conventions, Haywood’s The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless and Richardson’s Pamela expand the parameters beyond the traditional, yet ultimately deliver conventional messages. A discussion of Haywood’s Love in Excess helps to account for Richardson’s portrayal of a hybrid villain-hero in Pamela, and shows how the courtship novel genre both builds upon and reacts against early eighteenth-century amatory fiction.
