Joseph Andrews

Joseph Andrews is a novel by Henry Fielding, first published in 1742. Its full title is The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of his Friend Mr Abraham Adams. Fielding acknowledges his debt to the picaresque, modelling his work on that of Cervantes.

Related Topics:
Novel - Henry Fielding - 1742 - Picaresque - Cervantes

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Joseph Andrews was written in response to Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela, published two years earlier under a pseudonym which led some to believe it was the work of Colley Cibber. (This explains the references to Cibber in the text.)

Related Topics:
Samuel Richardson - Pamela - Pseudonym - Colley Cibber

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Fielding set out to parody Pamela, and his central character, Joseph Andrews, is supposedly Pamela's brother. The story is comic and ribald, beginning with the virtuous young Joseph being thrown out of his employment because of his refusal to be seduced by the lady of the house (Lady Booby). Later Joseph meets his beloved Fanny, befriended by Parson Abraham Adams, and all three encounter many adventures in the course of their travel home. Besides Abraham Adams, the novel features many exhilarating characters, such as Mrs. Slipslop who, just like Lady Booby, attempts to seduce Joseph; Parson Trulliber who is a mercantile hog-raiser; Beau Didapper, a short gentleman who is trying to seduce Fanny; and Mrs. Tow-wouse, an inn-keeper's wife who captures her husband making sexual advances to a servant-girl. As other novels of the 18th century, Joseph Andrews includes a few independent stories, such as "The History of Leonora".

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