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Fiction

Notes As instances of the positive moral influence of written accounts of exemplars of virtue, Fielding
cites two recent publications, in both cases sarcastically. The first is Samuel Richardson’s
Pamela (1740), an epistolary novel about a virtuous maid-servant; Fielding detested the novel
and the moral system implicit in it, and both Joseph Andrews and his previous effort in
fiction, Shamela, are spoofs of Richardson’s novel. The second is the Apology for the Life of
Colley Cibber (1740), the autobiography of the scantly talented Poet Laureate who was despised
by Fielding, Alexander Pope, and almost every other contemporary writer of note.

Chapter II
Fielding introduces “Mr. Joseph Andrews, the Hero of our ensuing History”. Joey, as Fielding
and his characters call the hero at this stage of the narrative, is the son of the low-born
Mr. and Mrs. Andrews and the brother of Pamela Andrews, the fictive heroine of Samuel
Richardson’s famous novel. Fielding confesses that, despite his best genealogical efforts, he
has been unable to discover the ancestry of the Andrews family. Jokingly, he asks the reader
to contemplate the possibility that the Andrews family has no ancestors at all, though of
course they must be descended from someone. Fielding is satirizing the social convention
whereby only families of high standing are considered to be “families” in the proper and
exalted sense; accordingly, a person who lacks ancestors of note is said, in this snobbish
idiom, to lack ancestors altogether. From his comment on the arbitrary nature of social distinctions,
Fielding goes on to argue for the suitability of Joey as a hero: “Would it not be hard, that a
Man who hath no Ancestors should therefore be rendered incapable of acquiring Honour,
when we see so many who have no Virtues, enjoying the Honour of their Forefathers”?
Fielding summarizes Joey’s early biography. At age ten he went to work in the household of
Sir Thomas Booby, his initial job being to scare birds; he failed at this task, however, because
his sweet voice tended rather to attract them. His second job was to keep Sir Thomas’s hounds
in line with a whip, but he failed at this task for a similar reason. His third job was to ride
Sir Thomas’s horses in races, which task he performed so well through his combination of
athleticism and invulnerability to corruption that Lady Booby noticed him and, when he was
seventeen, began to employ him as a footman. Joey’s new responsibilities involved attending
Lady Booby everywhere, including at church, where his singing voice and general good conduct
attracted the notice of the curate, Mr. Adams.

Chapter III

Fielding introduces Mr. Abraham Adams, who besides being a clergyman is a master of
several tongues both ancient and modern and who exemplifies ingenuous good nature: “He
was generous, friendly and brave to an Excess; but Simplicity was his Characteristic.” He is
fifty years old, and his income does not go far in providing for his wife and six children.
Mr. Adams quizzes Joey on his knowledge of the Bible and, in answer to a series of questions,
learns that Joey has had some formal education but is largely an autodidact. Mr. Adams,
finding Joey so deserving of cultivation, attempts to secure Lady Booby’s permission to tutor
him in Latin, “by which means he might be qualified for a higher Station than that of Footman.”
Lady Booby will not deign to speak with the curate, however, and Mr. Adams must deal with
Mrs. Slipslop, her ladyship’s pretentious waiting-gentlewoman. Mrs. Slipslop informs
Mr. Adams that the Boobys are soon to depart for London and that Lady Booby will not wish
to leave her footman behind to receive Latin instruction. The family leaves within a few days,
taking Joey with them, but not before the latter has thanked Mr. Adams for his consideration
of him.

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