The rest of the story is told in letters between the major characters, such as Shamela, her mother, Henrietta Maria Honora Andrews—who is unwed in this version—Master Booby, Mrs. Jewkes, Mrs. Jervis, and Rev.

[2] The verbal and physical violence of Richardson's "Mr. B" (whose name is revealed to be Booby) to his servant maid are hyperbolized, rendering their supposed love-match contemptible and absurd.

Reading Shamela amounts to re-reading Pamela through a deforming magnifying glass; Richardson's text is rewritten in a way that reveals its hidden implications, to subvert and desecrate it.

Also, as the title and paratexts make clear, Shamela is also a spoof against Colley Cibber's Apology (An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, Comedian), published the same year, as well as a dig at Conyers Middleton, whose Life of Cicero, written at the request of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, was perceived by opposition authors as a panegyric of sorts for the controversial administration of Robert Walpole.

[6] Some critics have pointed out that the popularity of Richardson's Pamela and Cibber's Apology alerted Fielding to the possibilities of prose fiction for influencing the taste and morals of his contemporaries.

Un dato testo è sovvertito, dissacrato, ma anche riscritto in una forma suscettibile di rivelarne, oltre agli aspetti risibili, le implicazioni nascoste, gettendo magari le basi di uno sviluppo futuro.Fielding's parody revises the conversational exchanges between Pamela and B. into a condensed, degraded pastiche that exposes the truly sordid nature of Richardson's dialogue.