The original Pamela is presented as a virtuous working-class woman who reforms a debauched gentleman and wins his love; her virtue is rewarded with marriage.

Fiction written in response to this novel typically reframes Pamela's actions to instead present her as a manipulative social climber.

Haywood's novel is generally seen as condemning Richardson's Pamela character for using her sexuality for self-interested ends.

[1] Some scholars also interpret the novel as condemning the idea of social mobility itself, and supporting the idea that there is a natural ruling elite whose innate moral superiority can never be matched by lower classes.

[2] Unlike Shamela, which retells the same plot as Pamela, Haywood's novel follows the life of a Pamela-esque character, Syrena Tricksy, in her own storyline.