Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding's first full-length novel, depicts the many colou
rful and often hilarious adventures of a comically chaste servant. After being s
acked for spurning the lascivious Lady Booby, Joseph takes to the road, accompan
ied by his beloved Fanny Goodwill, a much-put-upon foundling girl, and Parson Ad
ams, a man often duped and humiliated, but still a model of Christian charity. I
n the boisterous short tale Shamela, a brilliant parody of Richardson's Pamela,
the spirited and sexually honest heroine uses coyness and mock modesty to catch
herself a rich husband. Together these works anticipate Fielding's great comic e
pic Tom Jones, with their amiable good humour and pointed social satire.
Judith
Hawley's introduction compares the works of Fielding and Richardson, and discus
ses sex and class relations, and the literary and political world of the time. T
his volume also includes a chronology and suggestions for further reading.
