Joseph Andrews (1742) PDF

Joseph Andrews (1742) By Henry Fielding The English author and magistrate Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was one of the great novelists of the 18th century. His fiction, plays, essays, and legal pamphlets show he was a humane and witty man, with a passion for reform and justice.  The Engl...

Joseph Andrews (1742) By Henry Fielding The English author and magistrate Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was one of the great novelists of the 18th century. His fiction, plays, essays, and legal pamphlets show he was a humane and witty man, with a passion for reform and justice.  The English novel of today was largely created by Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson. Richardson's works, written in the form of a series of letters, are experiments in psychological analysis. Fielding's novels, in which the author himself tells the story and controls the plot structure, are considered the first accurate portrayal of contemporary manners.  Joseph Andrews, or The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams, was the first published full-length novel of the English author Henry Fielding, and indeed among the first novels in the English language.  Published in 1742 and defined by Fielding as a ‘comic romance’, it is the story of a good- natured footman's adventures on the road home from London with his friend and mentor, the absent-minded parson Abraham Adams. The novel represents the coming together of the two competing aesthetics of eighteenth- century literature: the mock-heroic and neoclassical.  RICHARDSON'S PAMELA AND FIELDING'S JOSEPH ANDREWS Richardson's novel Pamela, subtitled Virtue Rewarded, was immensely popular when it appeared in 1740. Richardson tells the story, through letters, of the repeated attempts of Pamela's employee, Mr. B–, to seduce her and then to rape her. Won over by her virtue and genteel delicacy, he marries her even thought she is a mere servant.  Fielding satirized Pamela with Shamela (1741), whose heroine is a knowing, ambitious, self- centered manipulator. Then in the next year,1742, he wrote Joseph. His purpose in this book, however, was more than parody. In this new kind of writing, which Fielding called a "comic epic poem in prose," he creatively blended two classical traditions: that of the epic, which had been poetic, and that of the drama, but emphasizing the comic rather than the tragic.  Joseph Andrews is supposedly the brother of "the illustrious Pamela, whose virtue is at present so famous." He resists the advances of his employer, Lady Booby, in order to remain faithful to his true love, Fanny Goodwill. After escaping Lady Booby and surviving amusing adventures along the road with his companion, Parson Adams, Joseph is reunited with Fanny.  With the introduction of Parson Adams, who has been called the first great comic hero in the English novel and one of the glories of human nature, it also becomes a novel of character.  In keeping with Fielding's bent as a moralist and reformer, the satire extends beyond literary matters to society itself, and Fielding exposes the vices and follies not merely of individuals, but also of the upper classes, institutions, and society's values.  Henry Fielding published his first full novel in 1742, at a time when he was nearly penniless and expecting the deaths of his young daughter and beloved wife. Joseph Andrews was, then, a response to personal and financial issues, but it was equally a response to that great literary event of 1740, the publication of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded.  Fielding wrote "Shamela" as a satirical response to Richardson's "Pamela", and his longer and more serious "Joseph Andrews" likewise draws on Richardson's novel for an equivocal sort of inspiration. While "Shamela" is a straightforward travesty of "Pamlea", "Joseph Andrews" is something more complex, and its relation to "Pamela" is something other than the relation of parody to original.  Fielding wrote "Shamela" as a satirical response to Richardson's "Pamela", and his longer and more serious "Joseph Andrews" likewise draws on Richardson's novel for an equivocal sort of inspiration. While "Shamela" is a straightforward travesty of "Pamlea", "Joseph Andrews" is something more complex, and its relation to "Pamela" is something other than the relation of parody to original.  What is comic epic in prose? Comic epic in prose is an epic presented comically that consist of comic hero, comic fights, comic journey etc not in poetry but in prose.  Setting and Historical Background The novel takes place in the early eighteenth century. It mirrors the lifestyle, caste system, hypocrisy, and corruption of the times. England was becoming a commercial power and wealth was shifting from the landowners to the merchants.  Plot Overview Joseph, the virtuous and true footman, is forced to leave the service of his mistress, Lady Booby, when he is no longer able to ward off her amorous advances. He starts out to reunite with his sweetheart, Fanny.  Misfortunes on his journey continually waylay him and his kindly traveling companion, Parson Adams. They encounter both kindness and villainy, generosity and selfishness, on their journey.  Joseph and the Parson maintain their innocence and culpability throughout their trials and tribulations. All ends well when Fanny and Joseph are reunited and the secrets of their parentage is revealed.  The subject of Joseph Andrews, as of all of Fielding’s novels, is human nature, which he considered fallible but perfectible. The mode is comical or satirical, and the moral intention is to puncture the facades whereby people protect themselves from moral opprobrium or from self-knowledge, as the case may be.  Book I The novel begins with the affable, intrusive narrator outlining the nature of our hero. Joseph Andrews is the brother of Richardson’s Pamela and is of the same rustic parentage and patchy ancestry.  At the age of ten years he found himself tending to animals as an apprentice to Sir Thomas Booby. It was in proving his worth as a horseman that he first caught the eye of Sir Thomas’s wife, Lady Booby, who employed him (now seventeen) as her footman.  After the death of Sir Thomas, Joseph finds that his Lady’s affections have redoubled as she offers herself to him in her chamber while on a trip to London. In a scene analogous to many of Pamela’s refusals of Mr B in Richardson’s novel, however, Lady Booby finds that Joseph’s Christian commitment to chastity before marriage is unwavering.  After suffering the Lady’s fury, Joseph dispatches a letter to his sister very much typical of Pamela’s anguished missives in her own novel. The Lady calls him once again to her chamber and makes one last withering attempt at seduction before dismissing him from both his job and his lodgings.  With Joseph setting out from London by moonlight, the narrator introduces the reader to the heroine of the novel, Fanny Goodwill. She is a poor illiterate girl of ‘extraordinary beauty’ (I, xi) now living with a farmer close to Lady Booby’s parish. She and Joseph had grown ever closer since their childhood, before their local parson and mentor, Abraham Adams, recommended that they postpone marriage until they have the means to live comfortably.  On his way to see Fanny, Joseph is mugged and laid up in a nearby inn where, by dint of circumstance, he is reconciled with Adams, who is on his way to London to sell three volumes of his sermons. The thief, too, is found and brought to the inn (only to escape later that night), and Joseph is reunited with his possessions. Adams and Joseph catch up with each other, and the parson, in spite of his own poverty, offers his last money to Joseph’s disposal.  Book II During his stay in the inn, Adams’ hopes for his sermons were mocked in a discussion with a travelling bookseller and another parson. Nevertheless, Adams remains resolved to continue his journey to London until it is revealed that his wife, deciding that he would be more in need of shirts than sermons on his journey, has neglected to pack them.  The pair thus decide to return to the parson’s parish: Joseph in search of Fanny, and Adams in search of his sermons. With Joseph following on horseback, Adams finds himself sharing a stagecoach with an anonymous lady and Madam Slipslop, an admirer of Joseph’s and a servant of Lady Booby.  When they pass the house of a teenage girl named Leonora, the anonymous lady is reminded of a story and begins one of the novel’s three interpolated tales, ‘The History of Leonora, or the Unfortunate Jilt’. The story of Leonora continues for a number of chapters, punctuated by the questions and interruptions of the other passengers.  After stopping at an inn, Adams relinquishes his seat to Joseph and, forgetting his horse, embarks ahead on foot. Finding himself some time ahead of his friend, Adams rests by the side of the road where he becomes so engaged in conversation with a fellow traveller that he misses the stagecoach as it passes. As the night falls and Adams and the stranger discourse on courage and duty, a shriek is heard.  The stranger, having seconds earlier lauded the virtues of bravery and chivalry, makes his excuses and flees the scene without turning back. Adams, however, rushes to the girl’s aid and after a mock-epic struggle knocks her attacker unconscious. In spite of Adams’ good intentions, he and the girl, who reveals herself to be none other than Fanny Goodwill (in search of Joseph after hearing of his mugging), find themselves accused of assault and robbery.  After some comic litigious wrangling before the local magistrate, the pair are eventually released and depart shortly after midnight in search of Joseph. They do not have to walk far before a storm forces them into the same inn that Joseph and Slipslop have chosen for the night. Slipslop, her jealousy ignited by seeing the two lovers reunited, departs angrily.  When Adams, Joseph and Fanny come to leave the following morning, they find their departure delayed by an inability to settle the bill, and, with Adams’ solicitations of a loan from the local parson and his wealthy parishioners failing, it falls on a local peddler to rescue the trio by loaning them his last 6s 6d.  The solicitations of charity that Adams is forced to make, and the complications which surround their stay in the parish, bring him into contact with many local squires, gentlemen and parsons, and much of the latter portion of Book II is occupied with the discussions of literature, religion, philosophy and trade which result. Joseph Andrews (Part Two) Book III The three depart the inn by night, and it is not long before Fanny needs to rest. With the party silent, they overhear approaching voices agree on ‘the murder of any one they meet’ (III, ii) and flee to a local house.  Inviting them in, the owner, Mr Wilson, informs them that the gang of supposed murderers were in fact sheep-stealers, intent more on the killing of livestock than of Adams and his friends. The party being settled, Wilson begins the novel’s most lengthy interpolated tale by recounting his life story; a story which bears a notable resemblance to Fielding’s own young adulthood.  At the age of 16, Wilson’s father died and left him a modest fortune. Finding himself the master of his own destiny, he left school and travelled to London where he soon acquainted himself with the dress, manners and reputation for womanising necessary to consider himself a ‘beau’.  Wilson’s life in the town is a façade: he writes love-letters to himself, obtains his fine clothes on credit and is concerned more with being seen at the theatre than with watching the play. After two bad experiences with women, he is financially crippled and, much like Fielding himself, falls into the company of a group of freethinkers and gamblers.  Finding himself in debt, he turns to the writing of plays and hack journalism to alleviate his financial burden (again, much like the author himself). He spends his last few pence on a lottery ticket but, with no reliable income, is soon forced to exchange it for food. While in jail for his debts, news reaches him that the ticket he gave away has won a £3,000 prize.  His disappointment is short-lived, however, as the daughter of the winner hears of his plight, pays off his debts, and, after a brief courtship, agrees to become his wife. Wilson had found himself at the mercy of many of the social ills that Fielding had written about in his journalism: the over- saturated and abused literary market, the exploitative state lottery, and regressive laws which sanctioned imprisonment for small debts.  Having seen the corrupting influence of wealth and the town, he retires with his new wife to the rural solitude in which Adams, Fanny and Joseph now find them. The only break in his contentment, and one which will turn out to be significant to the plot, was the kidnapping of his eldest son, whom he has not seen since.  Wilson promises to visit Adams when he passes through his parish, and after another mock-epic battle on the road, this time with a party of hunting dogs, the trio proceed to the house of a local squire, where Fielding illustrates another contemporary social ill by having Adams subjected to a humiliating roasting. Enraged, the three depart to the nearest inn to find that, while at the squire’s house, they had been robbed of their last half- guinea.  To compound their misery, the squire has Adams and Joseph accused of kidnapping Fanny, in order to have them detained while he orders the abduction of the girl himself. She is rescued in transit, however, by Lady Booby’s steward, Peter Pounce, and all four of them complete the remainder of the journey to Booby Hall together.  Book IV On seeing Joseph arrive back in the parish, a jealous Lady Booby meanders through emotions as diverse as rage, pity, hatred, pride and love. The next morning Joseph and Fanny’s banns are published and the Lady turns her anger onto Parson Adams, who is accommodating Fanny at his house.  Finding herself powerless either to stop the marriage or to expel them from the parish, she enlists the help of Lawyer Scout, who brings a spurious charge of larceny against Joseph and Fanny in order to prevent, or at least postpone, the wedding. Three days later, the Lady’s plans are foiled by the visit of her nephew, Mr Booby, and a surprise guest: Booby has married Pamela, granting Joseph a powerful new ally and brother-in-law.  What is more, Booby is an acquaintance of the justice presiding over Joseph and Fanny’s trial, and instead of Bridewell, has them committed to his own custody. Knowing of his sister’s antipathy to the two lovers, Booby offers to reunite Joseph with his sister and take him and Fanny into his own parish and his own family.  In a discourse with Joseph on stoicism and fatalism, Adams instructs his friend to submit to the will of God and control his passions, even in the face of overwhelming tragedy. In the kind of cruel juxtaposition usually reserved for Fielding’s less savoury characters, Adams is informed that his youngest son, Jacky, has drowned.  After indulging his grief in a manner contrary to his lecture a few minutes previously, Adams is informed that the report was premature, and that his son had in fact been rescued by the same pedlar that loaned him his last few shillings in Book II.  Lady Booby, in a last-ditch attempt to sabotage the marriage, brings a young beau named Didapper to Adams’ house to seduce Fanny. Didapper is a little too bold in his approach and provokes Joseph into a fight. The Lady and the beau depart in disgust, but the pedlar, having seen the Lady, is compelled to relate a tale.  The pedlar had met his wife while in the army, and she died young. While on her death bed, she confessed that she once stole an exquisitely beautiful baby girl from a family named Andrews, and sold her on to Sir Thomas Booby, thus raising the possibility that Fanny may in fact be Joseph’s sister. The company is shocked, but there is general relief that the crime of incest may have been narrowly averted.  The following morning, Joseph and Pamela’s parents arrive, and, together with the pedlar and Adams, they piece together the question of Fanny’s parentage. The Andrews identify her as their lost daughter, but have a twist to add to the tale: when Fanny was an infant, she was indeed stolen from her parents, but the thieves left behind a sickly infant Joseph in return, who was raised as their own.  It is immediately apparent that Joseph is the abovementioned kidnapped son of Wilson, and when Wilson arrives on his promised visit, he identifies Joseph by a birthmark on his chest.  Joseph is now the son of a respected gentleman, Fanny an in-law of the Booby family, and the couple no longer suspected of being siblings. Two days later they are married by Adams in a humble ceremony, and the narrator, after bringing the story to a close, and in a disparaging allusion to Richardson, assures the reader that there will be no sequel.  Questions Who is the real hero of Joseph Andrews? In a sense, Joseph is the hero of the novel. We become interested in him at the very beginning of his career. But this novel has another hero too. This hero is Parson Adams, and he is a comic hero.  Parson Adam is considered as the real source of interest in the novel. It is true?? Yes, it is true that Parson Adam is considered as the real source of interest in the novel because of his absent mindedness, forgetfulness and simple-mindedness.  Joseph Andrews Characters Discussed Joseph Andrews A handsome and virtuous young footman whom Lady Booby attempts to corrupt. He is a son of Mr. Adams and the devoted but chaste lover of Fanny Goodwill. His adventures in journeying from the Booby household in London back to the countryside, where he plans to marry Fanny, provide the main plot of the novel.  Mr. Abraham Adams A benevolent, absent-minded and somewhat vain curate in Lady Booby’s country parish. He notices and cultivates Joseph’s intelligence and moral earnestness from early on, and he supports Joseph’s determination to marry Fanny. His journey back to the countryside coincides with Joseph’s for much of the way, and his simple good nature makes him a rival of Joseph for the title of protagonist.  Fanny Goodwill Fanny is a former chambermaid of Sir Thomas Booby and Lady Booby who has known Joseph Andrews since childhood and is in love with him. In many ways, her story mirrors that of Joseph’s sister Pamela, who was also a chambermaid who acted chastely and who earned the affection of the noble Squire Booby. (At the end of the book, it’s revealed that Pamela is actually Fanny’s biological sister, not Joseph’s.)  Sir Thomas Booby The recently deceased master of Joseph and patron of Mr. Adams. Other characters’ reminiscences portray him as decent but not heroically virtuous; he once promised Mr. Adams a clerical living in return for Adams’s help in electing Sir Thomas to parliament, but he then allowed his wife to talk him out of it.  Lady Booby Sir Thomas’s widow, whose grieving process involves playing cards and propositioning servants. She is powerfully attracted to Joseph, her footman, but finds this attraction degrading and is humiliated by his rejections. She exemplifies the traditional flaws of the upper class, namely snobbery, egotism, and lack of restraint, and she is prone to drastic mood swings.  Mrs. Slipslop A hideous upper servant in the Booby household. Like her mistress, she lusts after Joseph. Peter Pounce Lady Booby’s miserly steward, who lends money to other servants at steep interest and gives himself airs as a member of the upwardly striving new capitalist class.  Mr. Booby The nephew of Sir Thomas. Fielding has adapted this character from the “Mr. B.” of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; like Richardson’s character, Mr. Booby is a rather snobbish squire who marries his servant girl, Pamela Andrews.  Pamela Andrews Joseph’s virtuous and beautiful sister, from whom he derives inspiration for his resistance to Lady Booby’s sexual advances. Pamela, too, is a servant in the household of a predatory Booby, though she eventually marries her lascivious master. Fielding has adapted this character from the heroine of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela.  Mr. Andrews The father of Pamela and, ostensibly, Joseph. Mrs. Andrews The mother of Pamela and, ostensibly, Joseph.  Leonora The reclusive inhabitant of a grand house along the stage-coach route, a shallow woman who once jilted the hard-working Horatio for the frivolous Bellarmine and then was jilted in turn.  Mr. Wilson A gentleman who, after a turbulent youth, has retired to the country with his wife and children and lives a life of virtue and simplicity. His eldest son, who turns out to have been Joseph, was stolen by gypsies as a child. Mrs. Wilson The wife of Wilson. She once redeemed him from debtor’s prison, having been the object of his undeclared love for some time.  Pedlar An apparent instrument of providence who pays one of Mr. Adams’s many inn bills, rescues Mr. Adams’s drowning son, and figures out the respective parentages of both Joseph and Fanny.  Lawyer Scout Tells Mr. Adams that Joseph has worked long enough to gain a settlement in Lady Booby’s parish, but then becomes a willing accomplice in Lady Booby’s attempt to expel Joseph and Fanny. Beau Didapper A guest of Lady Booby’s, lusts after Fanny and makes several unsuccessful attempts on her.  Vices and Virtues in Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding Introduction “Joseph Andrews” by Henry Fielding is a novel that explores the themes of vice and virtue through its characters and their actions. The novel is a satire of the popular genre of the time, the “picaresque” novel, which typically featured a rogue or antihero as the main character. In “Joseph Andrews,” the titular character is presented as the embodiment of virtue, while the other characters are portrayed as either virtuous or vice-ridden. Some of the vices and virtues present in the novel are:  Vices In Joseph Andrews, the characters show a lot of inappropriate behaviour including the man and woman characters. Chastity is a recurrent theme- Joseph is a classic example of Male chastity as he is the victim of seduction by Lady Booby and Mrs. Slipslop.  London is depicted as a place of lust and filled with wantonness. The city is corrupt with vices where Lady Booby represents the corruption of London settlers. She gambles drinks and party with her friends while attempting to devour the chastity of Joseph Andrews. When her husband died, she pretended to mourn for her husband but she plays cardwith her friends for six days.  Mrs Slipslop has been a widow for many years and she found Joseph attractive and wanted to devour him as well which also reflects the mannerisms and ill behaviour of city dwellers  The theme is heightened when Fanny, Mr. Parson Adams and Joseph were heading and amidst was attacked by a group of hounds where the leader of the hounds Squire kidnaps and takes away Fanny. She was saved by Mr. Peter a steward of Lady Booby. Beau Didapper also shows the same amount of lust for Fanny where he decides to woo around Fanny and triggering the anger of Joseph. The only characters who remained chastise was Mr. Parson Adams, Fanny and Joseph Andrews.  Virtues Joseph Andrews is a virtuous and honourable young man who faces many trials and tribulations on his journey to find his place in the world (Fielding, p 16). Here are some of the virtues displayed by Joseph Andrews in the novel: Honesty: Joseph Andrews is honest and straightforward in all his dealings. He refuses to lie or deceive others, even when it would be to his advantage to do so.  Kindness: Joseph Andrews is kind and compassionate, always willing to help those in need. He goes out of his way to help his fellow travellers on the road, and he shows kindness and respect to all he meets. Courage: Joseph Andrews displays courage in the face of danger and adversity. He is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, even when it puts him in harm’s way  Humility: Joseph Andrews is a humble man who does not seek glory or fame. He is content to live a simple life and work hard to earn his keep. Chastity: Joseph Andrews is a chaste and virtuous young man who resists the advances of women who would lead him astray. He remains loyal to his fiancée, Fanny, even when it is difficult to do so. Forgiveness: Joseph Andrews is a forgiving man who is able to see the good in others, even when they have wronged him. He forgives those who have treated him poorly and is always willing to give others a second chance.  Parson Adams is a virtuous and well-meaning clergyman who possesses many admirable qualities. Here are some of the virtues displayed by Parson Adams in the novel: Kindness: Parson Adams is a kind and compassionate man who is always willing to help others. He goes out of his way to assist those in need, and he treats everyone he meets with respect and consideration.  Generosity: Parson Adams is a generous person who gives freely of his time and resources. He is not interested in material possessions and is happy to share what he has with others. Honesty: Parson Adams is an honest man who values truth and integrity. He is not afraid to speak his mind and willalways stand up for what he believes in, even in the face of opposition.  Humility: Parson Adams is a humble man who does not seek attention or praise. He is content to live a simple life and does not desire wealth or power. Forgiveness: Parson Adams is a forgiving person who is able to see the good in others, even when they have wronged him. He is always willing to give others a second chance and is quick to forgive those who have treated him poorly. Faith: Parson Adams is a man of deep faith who is committed to his religious beliefs. He is a dedicated clergyman who seeks to help others find meaning and purpose in their lives through the teachings of the church.  Conclusion In conclusion, Joseph Andrews is a novel that offers a complex exploration of vices and virtues. The characters in the novel are flawed and imperfect, but they strive to lead a virtuous life despite the temptations and challenges they face. At the same time, the novel is a critique of the societal vices of the time, such as greed, envy, and lust.