Joseph Andrews/Shamela
and, Shamela
Author: Henry Fielding and Judith Hawley Series: Penguin Classics
In writing these comic novels Henry Fielding took aim at the conventional morals and mores found in the novels of his contemporary, Samuel Richardson. Joseph Andrews, Fielding's first full-length novel, can be seen as a response to Richardson, as the lascivious Lady Booby sets out to seduce her comically chaste servant Joseph (himself in love with the much-put-upon Fanny Goodwill). As in Tom Jones, Fielding takes a huge cast of characters out on the road and exposes them to many colorful and often hilarious adventures. Yet at the heart of the book is Parson Abraham Adams, a man often duped and humiliated by those more crafty than him, but still a model of Christian charity, learned, generous, friendly, and brave.
Shamela is a brilliant parody of Richardson's Pamela, in which a virtuous servant girl long resists-her master's advances and is eventually "rewarded" with marriage. Fielding's far more spirited and sexually honest heroine, by contrast, merely uses coyness and mock modesty, as techniques to catch a rich husband.
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Summary
In writing these comic novels Henry Fielding took aim at the conventional morals and mores found in the novels of his contemporary, Samuel Richardson. Joseph Andrews, Fielding's first full-length novel, can be seen as a response to Richardson, as the lascivious Lady Booby sets out to seduce her comically chaste servant Joseph (himself in love with the much-put-upon Fanny Goodwill). As in Tom Jones, Fielding takes a huge cast of characters out on the road and exposes them to many colorful and often hilarious adventures. Yet at the heart of the book is Parson Abraham Adams, a man often duped and humiliated by those more crafty than him, but still a model of Christian charity, learned, generous, friendly, and brave.
Shamela is a brilliant parody of Richardson's Pamela, in which a virtuous servant girl long resists-her master's advances and is eventually "rewarded" with marriage. Fielding's far more spirited and sexually honest heroine, by contrast, merely uses coyness and mock modesty, as techniques to catch a rich husband.
Description
'Kissing, Joseph, is but a Prologue to a Play. Can I believe a young Fellow of your Age and Complexion will be content with Kissing?'
Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding's first full-length novel, depicts the many colourful and often hilarious adventures of a comically chaste servant. After being sacked for spurning the lascivious Lady Booby, Joseph takes the road, accompanied by his beloved Fanny Goodwill, a much-put-upon foundling girl, and Parson Adams, a man often duped and humiliated, but still a model of Christian charity. In 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 epic Tom Jones, with their amiable good humour and pointed social satire.
Critic Reviews
“"Hawley's introduction is a model of what such a thing should be (for an undergraduate audience): full of information, but not too pushy. She manages to touch on a truly remarkable number of important bases in just a few pages--an impressive accomplishment. The notes are good, too. This is the best edition out there for college students." -- Douglas Patey, Sophia Smith Professor of English, Smith College”
About the Author
Henry Fielding was born in 1707 at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury. He was educated privately at first and then at Eton. In 1725 he attempted to abduct an heiress and was bound over to keep the peace. He then went to London, where in 1728 he published a satirical poem, The Masquerade, and a comedy, Love in Several Masques.
From 1728 to 1729 he was a student of literature at Leyden University, returning to London in the autumn of the latter year. Between then and 1737 he wrote some twenty-five dramatic pieces, including comedies, adaptations of Moliere, farces, ballad operas, burlesques and a series of topical satires, such as Pasquin and The Historical Register, which lampooned Sir Robert Walpole and his government.
It was partly because of this last play that Walpole introduced the Stage Licensing Act in 1737, which effectively ended Fielding's career as a dramatist. After this he embarked on a career in the law and was called to the Bar in 1740, but had little success as a barrister. In 1734 he married Charlotte Cradock, the model for Sophie Western and also for the heroine of his last novel, Amelia (1751).
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