Joseph Andrews
“A masterpiece of sustained irony and social criticism. At its center is Parson Adams, one of the great comic figures of literature. Joseph and the parson have a series of adventures, in all of which they manage to expose the hypocrisy and affectation of others through their own innocence and guilelessness.”
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
In one of the first novels in the English language, we follow the picaresque adventures of Joseph Andrews, a virtuous young man who is keen to maintain his innocence—despite being coerced into bed by nearly every woman he encounters.
The episodic journey sees him head home to London with his tutor, Parson Adams, with the aim of finding his sweetheart, Fanny. Much mayhem ensues along the way as they become embroiled in a series of escapades and slapstick brawls.
Fielding was an expert satirist, and through the many twists and turns of narration, he combines high and low literature with high and low humor to create a witty novel that he aptly named a “comic epic poem in prose.”
Praise