Review: Joseph Andrews Vol 1

Joseph Andrews Vol 1 by Henry Fielding
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An amusing satire on 18th-century England that still manages to have some universality in the fun it pokes at the pretentious, small-minded, snobbish, and ill-tempered.

Though the author's better-known work The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling has all of the same virtues as a work of prose, only to a greater degree, I personally prefer the hero of this one. Where Tom Jones professes his love for Sophia but has no problem sleeping with any other woman who he encounters, Joseph Andrews, following the exhortations of his kindly mentor, the Reverend Adams, refuses a number of advances by assorted women because he is true to his beloved Fanny. This is partly in imitation of his sister Pamela, the same Pamela Andrews from the novel Pamela by Samuel Richardson, which Fielding had earlier satirized in An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews . So this book is a spin-off from a satire of a rival's work, but incorporates some of his values into it without apparent intent to satirize them. Joseph is sincere in his commitment, and it's clear that Adams is a devout and faithful clergyman (in contrast to every other clergyman they meet), even if he is a bit free with his fists at any provocation.

The story involves a good deal of travel (Joseph is trying to get back to his home area after losing his position in London because he wouldn't sleep with his recently-widowed employer), and it's clear that 18th-century travel was significantly dangerous. The characters are constantly encountering criminals of one sort or another. There appear to have been a great many inns and taverns, though, since they keep stumbling across them (and then having trouble paying the bill, because they've been robbed by the criminals).

I'm looking forward to reading the second volume next.

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