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. DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Henry Fielding (April 22, 1707 – October 8, 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humor and satirical prowess and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. ... // Events January 24 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... The picaresque novel (Spanish: picaresco, from pícaro, for rogue or rascal) is a popular style of novel that originated in Spain and flourished in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries and has continued to influence modern literature. ... Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (September 29, 1547 - April 23, 1616), was a Spanish author, best known for his novel Don Quixote de la Mancha. ...

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.) Samuel Richardson (August 19, 1689 – July 4, 1761) was a major eighteenth-century writer best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and Sir Charles Grandison (1753). ... Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded is a epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, first published in 1740. ... A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to their legal name (whereas an allonym is the name of another actual person assumed by one person, usually historical, in authorship of a work of art; e. ... Colley Cibber, actor, playwright, Poet Laureate, first British actor-manager, and head Dunce of Alexander Popes Dunciad. ...

Fielding set out to parody Pamela, and his central character, Joseph Andrews, is supposedly Pamela's brother. Unlike "Pamela," the story is not told through letters, but through the voice of a separate narrator. 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). Unemployed and cast out in London, Joseph decides to return home and seek out his beloved Fanny. On his way home he successively meets up with his old friend Parson Abraham Adams and Fanny herself. 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". In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ...

External links

Full text of Joseph Andrews from Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

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