SHORT ANSWERS - JOSEPH ANDREWS BY HENRY FIELDING

SHORT ANSWERS 

JOSEPH ANDREWS BY HENRY FIELDING

QUESTION NO. 1

Answer the following questions. 

(i) What is a novel?

Ans. A novel is a long narrative, normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen and "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens are famous English novels.

(ii) What is Fielding's concept of novel?

Ans. In his preface to "Joseph Andrews", Fielding claims that novel is a genre of writing "which I do not remember to have been hitherto attempted in our language". He defined it as the "comic epic-poem in prose": a work of prose fiction, epic in length and variety of incident and character, in the hypothetical spirit of Homer's lost comic poem Margites.

(iii) Write the names of four novels of Fielding.

Ans. Joseph Andrews (1742), Jonathan Wild (1748), Tom Jones (1749) and Amelia (1751) are the famous novels of Henry Fielding.

(iv) What factors influenced Fielding in his conception and composition of 'Joseph Andrews'?

Ans. Fielding's first venture into prose fiction came a year previously with the publication in pamphlet form of Shamela, a travesty of, and direct response to, the stylistic failing and moral hypocrisy that Fielding saw in Richardson's Pamela. The impetus of the novel, as Fielding claims in his preface, is the establishment of a genre of writing "which I do not remember to have been hitherto attempted in our language".  

(v) What is the purpose of the Author's Preface in 'Joseph Andrews'?

Ans. The purpose of Fielding's preface in "Joseph Andrews" is to define and defend his chosen genre, "comic-epic poem in prose". He is particularly concerned to differentiate the comic epic, and comedy generally, from burlesque. He also defends the various vices inserted in the novel.

(vi) How is the novel 'Joseph Andrews' related to 'Pamela'?

Ans. Fielding wrote "Shamela" as a satirical response to Richardson's "Pamela", and his longer and more serious "Joseph Andrews" likewise draws on Richardson's novel for an equivocal sort of inspiration. While "Shamela" is a straightforward travesty of "Pamlea", "Joseph Andrews" is something more complex, and its relation to "Pamela" is something other than the relation of parody to original. 

(vii) Define digression.

Ans. A digression is a stylistic device authors employ to create a temporary departure from the main subject of the narrative to focus on apparently unrelated topics, explaining background details. However, after this temporary shift, authors return to the main topic at the end of the narrative. There are several famous digressions in Homer, such as the "wall scene" in Book 3 of the "Iliad".

(viii) What is the purpose of digression in 'Joseph Andrews'?

Ans. It is perhaps a development of Fielding's verbose writing style that he includes so many digressions in "Joseph Andrews". There are three main interpolated tales in the novel. In regards to these interpolated tales, Fielding employs a variety of tactics to make the stories more believable. These inserted stories also illustrate other tensions related to writing a novel, such as control and interruption. 

(ix) Define the narrator?

Ans. A narrator is the voice that an author takes on to tell a story. This voice can have a personality quite different from the author's. For example, in his story "The Tell-Tale Heart", Edgar Allan Poe makes his narrator a raving lunatic.

(x) Define burlesque.

Ans. Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of the subjects. Contrasting examples of literary burlesque are Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" and Samuel Butler's "Hudibras". W.S. Gilbert's "Robert the Devil" is an example of theatrical burlesque.

(xi) What is bildungsroman?

Ans. Bildungsroman is a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from his or her youth to adulthood. "Tom Jones" by Henry Fielding and "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens are examples of bildungsroman.

(xii) What is important about the plot of the novel 'Joseph Andrews'?

Ans. "Joseph Andrews" is a picaresque novel in structure, for its plot-line is similar to the one-line structure of picaresque fiction. The plot of the novel progresses by "shutting', moving forward by "small oscillations of emotion", which, in the larger, all-over design, are small parts of a unified whole, episodic in nature. At times, events seem like reversals, followed by forward movement. 

(xiii) What are the major themes of 'Joseph Andrews'?

Ans. The vulnerability and power of goodness, charity and religion, town and country, class and birth, reality verses appearance, providence, affection, vanity, hypocrisy, and chastity are the major themes of "Joseph Andrews".

(xiv) According to Fielding, what are the proper roles of clergy?

Ans. One role of the clergy would be charity, clearly evident in the character of Parson Adams. Adams also illustrates the clergy's role in instructing the members of their parish, as well as demonstrating and modeling Christian morals and propriety. Adam's character is the epitome of honesty.

(xv) What is the significance of the letter from Joseph to his sister?

Ans. Joseph's letter to his sister Pamela is significant because it illustrates his innocence. He thinks that Lady Booby is perhaps pursuing him, but charitably ascribes this to distraction over the death of Sir Thomas. In any case, he anticipates his dismissal and advises Pamela of his return to the Booby country-seat.

Notes Prepared By: Prof. Shahbaz Asghar