EDUCATIONAL BLOG

      Joseph Andrews as a picaresque Novel

 

"Joseph Andrews" is an 18th-century novel which was written by an English author and the magistrate Henry Fielding. Its full name is “The Adventures of Joseph Andrews and His friend Abraham Adam”.  It was published in 1742. He was basically a satirist and was very famous for his political and moral satirical works. Before writing this novel, he was going through a tough time because his wife and daughter were in the condition of illness and were expecting to die. He was in trouble financially and suffering his life in poverty. During these conditions, he came to know about Samuel Richardson’s novel “Pamela or Virtue Rewarded” which was published in 1740. Henry Fielding was angry about the succession of Samuel Richardson's "Pamela or Virtue Rewarded" so he wrote "Joseph Andrews”. In which, Joseph was the protagonist and the name of the novel is on him. In Samuel Richardson's "Pamela or virtue rewarded", "Pamela" is the name of the heroine of this novel, a servant girl who saves her chastity from the people who had evil eyes on her and tried to seduce her. In the same way, Henry Fielding showed his hero "Joseph Andrew'' a chaste boy who saves himself from the women of society who had evil eyes on him and tried to seduce him. His work "Joseph Andrews" was a burlesque on Samuel Richardson's Pamela. In the last chapter, We can see his mockery by Pamela's comment about Fanny “ She was my equal but I am no longer Pamela Andrews; I am now this gentleman’s lady, and as such, I am above her''(Fielding 296).  

In the beginning, this novel was the response of "Pamela" but later this became a masterpiece of irony and social criticism that's why Henry Fielding along with Samuel Richardson was considered "the founder of English traditional novels". Joseph Andrews is not only the product of his career but also of his age which is called the Age of Reason or Age of Enlightenment. After Chaucer and Shakespeare, one who observed the whole sleep of English society was Henry Fielding. He was interested in psychological realism, so the characters were real to him and he made them real to us also. As we cannot see 18th Century London but he presented the people and places as much clear that we get to know all about his time in his novel. He was completely loyal in portraying all the views that’s why he is considered a realistic writer. Furthermore, the novel is an imitation of the novel “Don Quixote” whose author is Miguel de Cervantes.

Don Quixote was a Spanish novel that was written in the 15th Century. This was the "first modern novel" and was published in two parts one in 1605 and the second in 1615. Many writers considered this novel the best literary work. There are marked resemblances between Don Quixote and Joseph Andrews. Don Quixote is an adventurous novel and has the picaresque novel's characteristics. This style of novel originated in Spain in 1554 and these styles of novels flourished throughout England for more than 200 years. The term picaresque was coined in 1810 and the word "Picaresque" is derived from "Picaro" which means rough or "villain". This type of novel presents the adventures or rather misadventures of a rogue hero. Before giving the arguments to support that Joseph Andrew is a picaresque novel, It becomes necessary to give a clear idea of what the picaresque novel is and what are the characteristics that define a particular style of writing as picaresque. If we see the features of Picaresque tradition, we would find that the picaresque tradition is marked by the two basic characteristics:

(1) Episodic  and

 (2) Comic

The first characteristic of picaresque tradition is episodic which is the result of the action, which is invariably that of a journey or wandering through the journey side, and in the second characteristics, the comic elements lay in the nature of the hero’s adventures, through which, generally society was satirized.

The writer shows a large variety of characters and events. The loose plot that the hero literally lets loose on the high roads for his adventures and hero wanders from place to place encountering thieves, rescue damsels in distress, fighting duels, falling in love, being thrown in prison, and meeting a vast section of society. In picaresque novels, the writer has the opportunity to represent a large part of society to show their behavior with humanity. As the hero meets with an aristocratic class, country squire, from haughty to ill-tempered soldiers, the writer can show the saint and sinner too and introduces their lifestyle, their culture and morality of his time of the people and satires the evils. In a nutshell, we can say that a Picaresque novel is a genre of prose fiction that depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero of a low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

 According to the Collins dictionary: "A Picaresque story is one in which a dishonest but likable person travels around and has lost an exciting experience". 

However, the Cambridge Dictionary says that a Picaresque novel is "A type of story in which the main character travels from place to place and series of adventures".

If we compare Joseph Andrews with the first picaresque novel “Don Quixote'', we would find the characteristics of a picaresque novel. As far as the first characteristic is concerned, we would find that Joseph Andrew is divided into four books and every book has its own chapters like  Book I has 18 chapters, Book II has 17 chapters, Book III has 13 chapters and Book IV has 16 chapters. Every chapter of the book has episodes and in every episode, there are some actions. Joseph Andrews is picaro because he plays the central role in the novel and Parson Abraham Adam is a comic hero. He was clearly a Quixotic figure. Like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Joseph Andrew and Abrahams also set out on a journey which involves them in a series of adventures, some of them were burlesque and were at inn and some at rural houses. The most important action which is found in the Picaresque novel is “Journey”. This journey is totally different from the pictorial journey but it is episodic and the protagonist travels through continuous episodes. The journey, from London to Booby’s house, of Joseph and his friend Parson Adam, was difficult. In Book II Chapter 16, when they were tired they stopped to rest in an Inn. Fielding narrated as follows:

                “ Our travelers had walked about two miles from that inn, which they had more reason to have mistaken for a castle than Don Quixote ever had any of those in which he sojourned, seeing that had met with such difficulty in escaping out of its walls when they came to a parish, and behold a sign of invitation hanging out”.   (Fielding 133)

Besides, In Book II Chapter 14, the visit of Parson Adams to the Trulliber was somewhat similar to Don Quixote and his friend.

Actually, When Lady Booby took Joseph Andrew to London and tried to seduce him but he told her that she is like his mother and after that at the same place, Lady Booby’s servant, Slipslop who was an ugly woman, tried to seduce him but she accused Joseph of seducing her when she blamed Joseph. Henry Fielding narrated that in the following words in Book I chapter 6.

“As when a hungry tigress who long has traversed woods in fruitless search sees within the reach of her claws a lamb, she prepares, leaps on her prey so did Mr. Slipslop prepare to lay her violent amorous hands-on poor Joseph”.  (Fielding 14)

“Lady Booby fired him and made him out of his house while she knew that there is no one to help him and he does not have anything because he is poor.  When the first journey started, the first adventure happened as Joseph was beaten by robbers and thrown naked in a ditch where he was in the midst of life and death. It is a true example of adventure and misadventure as he was beaten it was adventure but misadventure in a way that he was fighting with his wounds. A stagecoach was passing and the passengers of that stagecoach saw him and they reluctantly helped him and left him in the Inn. He stayed at another Inn whose owner was Tom-wouse where he met Betty who was a servant at the inn. She helps Joseph because doctors refuse to examine him without getting money or their fee and the owner of the inn also does not agree to give him a place in his Inn as he has no money but a poor servant girl nurses Joseph and cares for him a lot. In a scene, Parson Adam rescues Fanny from being assaulted, he hits the man so badly that he thought the man was dead but he was not dead. The fight is a little bit similar to the picaresque novel So, Fielding just suggests us to consider the comparison occasionally.

Adam Abraham and Fanny Goodwill stay at Inn and meet with Joseph there but they do not have money for paying the fare that's why Abraham Adam goes to Trulliber but he refuses to lend him money but a poor peddler helps them and pays the fare of Inn.

In their journey, they reach Mr.Wilson's home. Mr. Wilson entertains them and tells his story to them.

Most of the actions took place on the road in this novel. This is a clear imitation of  Don Quixote. Besides, Lord Byron called Fielding, “the prose Homer of human nature”. We find a number of characters on a high scale from the lower class to a higher class. Which are: coachman, inn-keeper, thieves, surgeon, country clergyman, squire, maids, aristocrats, etc.  

During these adventures, we can also realize another characteristic of a picaresque novel that is comic which is just about the satire on society. Fielding satires on the social conditions of society. He showed virtue and Hippocratic characters. As he is the author who likes realism and showed his characters real. There is nothing hidden or nothing beyond. If a character is bad, he shows the character bad, and if there is goodness he shows the goodness of character, but no character is diplomatic. There is no diplomacy in them. He satirizes society as first he shows the weakness of women. Lady Booby and Slipslop are great examples of the weakened woman who cannot control their passions. He showed the people like robbers who robbed and beat him because it was common in the society of that time, He showed the vulgarity of doctors that how the doctors do not want to see the people without getting fee even they knew that the person can go to death, He showed innkeepers who were not letting him go as he promised them to pay money but they did not believe in Tom-wouse inn, Parson Adam requested and promised but the owner did not believe even they did not see that he is a religious person. After that Parson Adam goes to Trulliber but he also refuses to help but he was a peddler who helped and gave money while he was poor. Fielding shows here the class difference and the attitude of the people. If we see the plot of the novel that is also loose because after the journey when all reach Lady Booby’s home and Lady Booby too.  We see no change in her. She did not want Joseph and Fanny to get married.

As the novel has the elements of a picaresque novel and in many sections, Henry Fielding followed the picaresque tradition so Joseph Andrews can be said to be a Picaresque novel.