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Unit 3: Joseph Andrews-II: Detailed Study of the Text

on courage and duty, a shriek is heard. The stranger, having seconds earlier lauded the virtues Notes
of bravery and chivalry, makes his excuses and flees the scene without turning back. Adams,
however, rushes to the girl’s aid after a mock-epic struggle knocks her attacker unconscious.
In spite of Adams’ good intentions, he and the girl, who reveals herself to be none other than
Fanny Goodwill (in search of Joseph after hearing of his mugging), find themselves accused
of assault and robbery.
After some comic litigious wrangling before the local magistrate, the pair are eventually released
and depart shortly after midnight in search of Joseph. They do not have to walk far before a
storm forces them into the same inn that Joseph and Slipslop have chosen for the night.
Slipslop, her jealousy ignited by seeing the two lovers reunited, departs angrily. When Adams,
Joseph and Fanny come to leave the following morning, they find their departure delayed by
an inability to settle the bill, and with Adams’ solicitations of a loan from the local parson and
his wealthy parishioners failing, it falls on a local peddler to rescue the trio by loaning them
his last 6s 6d.
The solicitations of charity that Adams is forced to make, and the complications which surround
their stay in the parish, bring him into contact with many local squires, gentlemen and parsons,
and much of the latter portion of Book II is occupied with the discussions of literature, religion,
philosophy and trade which result.

3.1 Book II, Chapters I through V

Chapter I

At the start of Book II, Fielding addresses the authorly practice of dividing literary works into
books and chapters. He compares the chapters of a book to the stages of a physical journey,
with the white spaces between them standing for inns and resting-places. At the ends of
chapters, Fielding suggests, the reader should pause to consider what he has read, just as a
traveler considers the “curious Productions of Nature.” The “Contents prefixed to every Chapter”
parallel the inscriptions over the gates of inns indicating what entertainment the traveler can
expect. Fielding goes on to claim Homer as a precedent in dividing a literary work into books,
with Virgil and Milton following him.

Chapter II

Mr. Abraham Adams and Joseph Andrews are about to part ways, but the curate decides
against London when it appears that he has in fact left his manuscript sermons at home. Mr.
Adams, looking on the bright side, interprets the disappointment as providence intended for
his good. When the inn bill comes, Mr. Adams has only a shilling to spare, and he would have
been even worse off if a servant belonging to the coach and six had not lent him a guinea. He
and Joseph set off together for the country seat of the Booby family, planning to take turns
riding the horse. While Mr. Adams starts on foot, however, the Hostler detains Joseph at the
inn, demanding payment for the horse’s board. Joseph refuses to pay with Fanny Goodwill’s
gold piece, so the dispute bogs down. Meanwhile, Mr. Adams has forgotten all about Joseph
during a meditation on Aeschylus. After a time he remembers his companion and gradually
begins to wonder what is keeping him. He sits down to read some Aeschylus, and when
Joseph still does not appear, he enters a nearby alehouse.

Chapter III
In the alehouse, Mr. Adams overhears two travelers discussing Joseph’s quandary; he resolves
to return to the inn, though he has no real plan for making the payment. A rainstorm prevents

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