18th Century Harry Potter

So for my Neoclassical and Romantic Literature Class I had to read a most boring book even by my standards--Pamela, by Samuel Richardson. It's marketed as being all about sexual intrigue, etc. That is a lie. The first half of the book, yes, she servant girl is trying to get away from her master that just wants to sleep with her. But she is so virtuous and so sweet and so gentle and so pious and everyone just automatically falls in love with her because she is just so, and halfway through the book the gentleman decides he loves her so much that he will stoop to marry his mother's waiting-maid. And, wonderful, Pamela discovers she loves him after all. And she is happy. And he is happy. And her family is happy. His is not, but soon comes around and then they are happy. And the servants are happy, and...this is the last third-to-half of the novel. But turns out, this was the most popular novel of the 1700s, and people all took sides, and everyone separated into Pamelists and Anti-Pamelists. It was also published in installments, so the popularity grew over a long time and when it was finally published that Pamela and Mr. B. got married, all the church bells tolled in London. It was the Harry Potter of the 18th century! It got parodied a lot, as well, so basically this was the birthplace of fanfiction.