Isabela Cristina Chioveanu Seria I, Grupa I

The Picaresque: Henry Fieldings Joseph Andrews

Published in 1742, Henry Fieldings Joseph Andrews, in full name The History of The Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his friend Abraham Adams, is a comic romance and a Picaresque novel. The comic romance represents a comic epic poem in prose; differing from a comedy, as the serious epic from tragedy: its action being more extended and comprehensive; containing a much larger circle of incidents, and introducing a greater variety of characters. It differs from the serious romance in its fable and action.(Fielding, 21) The Picaresque novel, which is writ in the manner of Cervantes(Fielding, 15), is the only form of fiction that admits episodic excursions. The 16th Century Spanish picaro, was a character of the low life. It is reflected in the novel because Joseph Andrews follows his adventures, hes outside the society and sometimes he acts against the law. Joseph Andrews is a comic antithesis, and not an imitation of Samuel Richardsons Pamela. Fielding uses Pamela and Booby as minor characters in his novel and parallels between Joseph Andrews and Richardsons heroine, Pamela. The humour of Joseph Andrews is related to the absurdity of a man worrying about his chastity, as Richardsons heroine, Pamela, does. In the First Chapter of Book II, Of Division in Authors, the Neoclassical view is revealed. The division of a book reflects rationality, and it comes from Antiquity, as Homer divided his work into twenty-four books. I take this of dividing our works into books and chapters to be none of the least considerable. Now, for want of being truly acquainted with this secret, common readers imagine, that by this art of dividing we mean only to swell our works to a much larger bulk than they would otherwise be extended to. (Fielding, 93) For Fielding, the division of his book in very important not for his work to be swelled, but he take his division from Antiquity, and it makes his work more organized. Furthermore, (the division) [] prevents spoiling the beauty of a book by turning down its leaves, a method otherwise necessary to those readers who (though they read with great improvement and advantage) are apt, when they return to their study after halfan-hours absence, to forget where they left off (Fielding, 94). So, it helps the reader like a bookmark, to remember from where they left off the leaves of the book. The narration of this novel emphasizes the human nature and it is not written for the action. The narrator is both sincere and satiric, like the Ancients, and every character is alive, every incident is capable of having happened. Fielding uses the Deus ex machina concept, Joseph Andrews is narrated from a hidden position, and when a problem seemed unsolvable, the narrator unexpectedly changes the situation to have a happy ending. He uses this concept mostly at the moment when Fanny was supposed to be Josephs sister. Josephs parents sav ed the moment, Fanny was indeed their daughter, but Joseph was an infant left by the thieves, the kidnapped son of Mr. Wilson, so the couple is not supposed anymore to be siblings and they were able to get married. In a nutshell, Henry Fieldings Joseph Andrews is a comic romance, a satire of Samuel Richarsons Pamela, to the idea of chastity as a virtue, a Picaresque novel by the type of characters, Joseph Andrews being from a low class, until he finds out who his father is, the respected gentleman Mr. Wilson, and all ends well, thanks to the Deus ex machina concept.

Works cited: 1. 2. Fielding, Henry, and George Saintsbury. Joseph Andrews. Electronic Classic Series. The Pennsylvania State University. 2004. Electronic. Keymer, Tom, and Jon Mee. The Cambridge Companion to English Literature: 1740-1830. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.