JOSEPH ANDREWS by Henry Fielding
This novel is one of the first “romantic comedies” in English. It’s about a poor, virtuous young man and a poor, virtuous young woman (Joseph and Fanny) who persevere in the face of various hardships (and attempts on their chastity) and end up married and, if not wealthy, at least propertied and comfortable (because, as is proper to the genre, both Fanny and Joseph have their true parents revealed in the last chapters). It was published in 1741, so it’s somewhere between Robinson Crusoe and Pride & Prejudice in terms of the stylistic development of English prose fiction.
It was written, in part, against Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Colley Cibber’s Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, both of which Fielding regarded as (very) poorly written and not at all edifying. It’s not, however, merely a mocking refutation; indeed, he only occasionally mocks them. (He’d mocked Pamela thoroughly already, in his novella Shamela.) Rather, as he states in his introduction, his goal is to create (at least in English) a new kind of writing, based on such works as Cervantes’ Don Quixote.
The plot is episodic, comprised primarily of loosely-related “adventures” that happen to Joseph, Fanny, and their priest, Parson Adams, as they journey from London to the village where they all live. It’s certainly funny, but the humour is more good-natured than I’d expected; I thought it would be as biting and sarcastic as Gulliver’s Travels, and it wasn’t. There was quite a bit of swearing, though.
It’s a short, relatively easy, thoroughly enjoyable read, so go find a copy at your local Half-Price Books and read it, already.
March 5th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
[…] is; the hobbits’ journey across the Shire, and even as far as Bree, is very reminiscent of Joseph Andrews, and probably every other English “road novel” of the 18th century. It’s very […]