Q)
Discuss the form, structure and style used and adopted by Henry Fielding in his
classic novel Joseph Andrews.
Among the pioneer
writers of the novels, the name Henry Fielding can only be omitted by some
unwanted chance of ignorance. Famous for his classic Joseph Andrews, Fielding
appears to formulate his own genre of writing which can neither be said as
picaresque or epistolary, alone. Unlike many other writers, Fielding himself
debates extensively on the genre, style and form of this novel in the preface
of Joseph Andrews as well as through different chapters of the novel as and
when required. Among the characteristics stated by the writer, a few to be
mentioned include: comic epic in prose, satire, division of the novel and
digressions. However, debating on it’s from, style and structure; a lot more
other characteristics can be made part of the debate when it comes to Joseph
Andrews. This essay shall discuss the novel Joseph Andrews in the terms of its
form, structure, style and genre as depicted by the writer Henry Fielding.
As for the form of the
novel, Fielding has introduced a completely new idea and has himself claimed
that the form of novel he is intending to write has not been “intended before”
and which he does not “remember to have seen hitherto attempted in our
language” (Author’s Preface). Fielding calls his novel Joseph Andrews a “Comic
Epic in Prose”, since according to him this novel contains all the other parts
of an epic including “fable, action, characters, sentiments, and diction, and
is deficient in meter only” (Author’s Preface). A lot of references can be
picked from this novel, that befit the claims made by Fielding about this novel
being an epic in prose. Since, it is in the form of prose, therefore we cannot
expect the novel to have some rhyme or meter. Considering the rest of the
elements of an epic, we find them as we turn the pages going through different
happenings and events of the novel.
Joseph Andrews has a
fable which is not teemed with magic or supernatural elements; rather it is of
more realistic sort. However, we do come across the idea of spirit or ghost at
a point when Parson Adams, Joseph Andrews and Fanny are chased by the robbers.
They ran for their lives but to their sorrow and surprise, the shadows stopped
for a moment, and then disappeared (Fielding 183). The next element of an epic found in this
novel is the action. The action can be seen in various situations; however,
unlike an epic poem, the action in Joseph Andrews is mild. In the twelfth
chapter of the first book when Joseph leaves Lady Booby’s house, we come across
a fight scene between Joseph and the robbers. Joseph tries to fight the robbers
as they attempt to strip him naked, intending to rob him completely; however, one
of the robbers “damning his eyes, snapped a pistol at his head; which he had no
sooner done that the other leveled a blow at him with his stick” (Fielding 39).
When Joseph tried to defend himself, he received a blow from the other robber
“which felled him to the ground, and totally deprived him of his senses”
(Fielding 39-40). Some other events containing action can be also be included
which Parson Adam meets Fanny first and saves her from being raped. Likewise,
the event in the last book where Fanny encounters Beaus, who allegedly attempts
to harass her sexually, she is saved by Joseph at the eleventh hour by fighting
with Beaus. In addition to these, sentiments are also an integral part of
Joseph Andrews. The extreme sentiments of passion and love can be seen when
Joseph meets Fanny at the in having her in his arms. Fanny inquires with
affection: “Are you Joseph Andrews?” – “Art thou my Fanny?” Joseph answers and
pulls Fanny to his heart. However, the sentiments in the novel not comprise of
love, rather the sentiments of anger (Lady Booby), hatred (Slipslop), jealousy
(Betty), generosity (Parson Adams) and a diverse range of others can also be
found. Moreover, the diction and language, that are important elements of an
epic, can be observed within this novel. Although, Fielding remains quite
simple and clear in his writing, yet we see the allusions and references made
to different languages and people, use of phrases borrowed from other
languages, literary devices and archaic language. When Parson Adams meets
Parson Trulliber, the submissiveness of Mrs. Trulliber has been depicted by the
allusion of Sarah – the wife of Abraham. Aeschylus has been repeatedly talked
of within the novel, and we find Parson Adams keeping a copy of it with him all
the time. References to Homer have been made in book 3 and has been regarded as
“the father of drama as well as the epic; not of tragedy only, but of comedy
also” (Fielding 187). Greek language has been emphasized at various occasions
and we find Fielding expressing his love for this language through the words of
Mr. Wilson as: “Why, truly, there is a dignity in the Greek language which I
think no modern tongue can reach” (Fielding 187). In addition to this, the
device of personification has been employed in order to pen down a lively
debate on the vices such as vanity (Fielding 57). Other epic elements include
theme, discovery and characters. The theme, or purpose, of this novel as
selected by the writer is primarily ‘the reformation of society’ from the ills
of vanity, hypocrisy and affectation. We also come across certain discoveries
made by different characters, particularly the one made by Joseph Andrews about
his and Pamela’s and Pamela’s and Fanny’s relation. And for the characters,
Fielding introduces us to a number of characters from different classes of the
society including clergies, lawyers, surgeon, book-seller, judge, footman,
inn-keepers, ladyships, chamber women, squire, soldier and many other
characters belonging to different classes and professions. Many of these
characters can be met in the in the twelfth chapter of the first book which is
the crux of the novel.
Besides being an epic,
Joseph Andrews also reflects characteristics of a picaresque form of novel.
The picaresque novel (Spanish: "picaresca," from
"pícaro," for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of
prose fiction which depicts the adventures of a roguish hero of low social
class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society. Following this definition of a
picaresque novel, we find Joseph Andrews a
true example of a picaresque novel. We have Joseph Andrews as the roguish hero
who belongs to a low social class as we see he is presented as Lady Booby’s
footman as the novel opens. When Joseph leaves Booby house and sets on his
journey to find his Fanny, the reader finds Joseph at the mercy of corrupt
society of 18th century England. A detailed face of this corrupt society is
revealed to the reader within the twelfth chapter of the first book, where
Joseph is maltreated by different people including coachman, lady, old
gentleman, and a lawyer (Fielding 40). It is also one of the characteristics of
a picaresque novel that it talks of people from lower class and from different
professions. In Joseph Andrews, this
characteristic can be quite vividly seen as we see a coachman who, after seeing
Joseph lying lifeless, says: “Go on, sirrah, we are confounded late, and have
no time to look after dead men” (40). The comments of a noble lady follow those
of the coachman as she discovers that Joseph is naked: “O J – sus! A naked man!
Dear coachman, drive on and leave him” (40). An old gentleman, on finding that
Joseph was robbed, adds: “Robbed! Let us make all the haste imaginable, or we
shall be robbed too” (40). And the lawyer, no less in his meanness, suggested
that they must help Joseph since they all “might be proved to have been last in
his company; if he should die they might be called to some account for his
murder” (40). Furthermore, we meet clergies including Parson Adams, Parson
Barnabas and Parson Trulliber who depict no religious inspiration rather serve
as a satire on the clergymen. Nearly all
the afore-mentioned characters are from varying professions as well as from the
lower class. Yet another element of picaresque novel, i.e. realism, is an
integral part of Joseph Andrews.
Realism (or naturalism) in the arts is
the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and
avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements.
In this novel, the vices of the society have been presented in a real setting
rather than a superficial one. It can easily be discerned that Fielding intends
to present 18th century England, and this fact is evident from the
choice of places, names, costumes, designations and religion. Furthermore, the
characters themselves show a real picture of the age Fielding intends to satire
on. Some critics are of the view that Joseph
Andrews doesn’t become a picaresque novel till Joseph leaves Booby House
which is a good chunk of eleven chapters of the first book.
However, despite containing elements of
a picaresque novel, Joseph Andrews also shows qualification of an epistolary
novel. An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series
of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper
clippings and other documents are sometimes used. The first two letters appear
in the very first book of Joseph Andrews,
written by Joseph himself to his sister Pamela Andrews. In the first letter he
tells Pamela about Lady Booby’s intentions and what passed between them in Lady
Booby’s room (Fielding 17). The next letter is also addressed to Pamela in
which Joseph tells her that his “mistress is fallen in love with” him (Fielding
34). Later on we see letters written by Leonora and Horatio within a digression
chapter 4 of the second book (Fielding 92, 93), and a few others in the later
chapters.
Comprising of such unique form, the
structure of this novel is no less special in its construction. Fielding
selects to divide the novel into various books, and the books into subsequent
chapters. This element may also be regarded as trait of an epic, since we find
the great epic works in poetry being divided into certain books. Being unique
in his style, Fielding always endeavors to justify his style and actions
employed in his novel. Likewise, dedicating almost an entire chapter to the
idea of division of the novel, Fielding lists a number of logical reasons that
govern this idea. The first chapter of the second book under the heading Of Divisions in Authors, Fielding
enlists the factors which include: to “consult the advantage of reader”
(Fielding 75), “little spaces between our chapters may be looked upon as an inn
or resting-place where” the reader “may stop and take a glass or any other
refreshment as it pleases him” (Fielding 76), the reader can stay “sometime to
repose himself, and consider of what he hath seen in the parts he hath
already passed through” (76), the reader
may know from the headings of the chapters “what entertainment he is to expect,
which if he likes not, may travel to the next” (76), “it prevents spoiling the
beauty of a book by turning down its leaves, when” the readers “return to their
study after half-an-hour’s absence, to forget where they left off” (76) and
lastly the writer says that “even dictionaries are divided and exhibited
piecemeal to the public” (76).
Debating further on the structure of the
novel, it can clearly be viewed that Fielding remained quite scientific in
writing the content and building the structure of Joseph Andrews. The writer, in this novel, intends to conduct a
sort of research on the society and intends to reform it. It is, therefore,
more like a social research conducted by a sociologist. Sociology is a
scientific discipline and a sub-branch of Social Sciences. Therefore, the
research conducted within this discipline ought to be empirical, rational and scientific
in its nature. A scientific work or research is organized in its structure. For
Joseph Andrews, we see Fielding being
organized as he divides his novel into four books and the books into further
chapters, where the story in every following chapter clearly follows the
continuity of what was happening early in the preceding chapters. Secondly, a
scientific method releases a hypothesis or a tentative statement as to inform
what the experiment or research shall follow. Likewise, we find a tentative statement
or a heading at the beginning of each chapter (sometimes a hint at the end of
each chapter), signaling what the reader should expect to find in the next
under that statement or tentative phrase. Like a scientific experiment,
Fielding describes his apparatus at the beginning of the chapter or a book that
he intends to use in the remaining part. Thirdly, a scientific research picks
the samples from the population at random without targeting a specific
individual. Fielding also clearly states in the book 3, chapter 1 that “I
declare here, once for all, I describe not men, but manners; not an individual,
but a species” (Fielding 179). Furthermore, when Fielding says that he describe
a specie rather than an individual, he continues to follow the scientific
method as the purpose of scientific method is to do a good to a humanity at
large and to learn the behavior of a specie rather than that of an individual. Fielding
also intends to reform the society rather than mocking the individuals of the
society. For Fielding, the reasons that he incorporated so many vices are: (1)
vices always come in discussion of humans (2) come accidentally in the course
of happening (3) to arise dislike rather than ridicule in reader (4) serve as a
reference to something (5) vices or taboos not be openly described. Lastly, a
scientific research is not for the sake of the researcher, rather it is for
other’s betterment. Similarly, Joseph
Andrews, is not an autobiography of Fielding, rather it a novel intending
to reform the society through the adventures of a boy.
Some people may argue that if Fielding
be scientific and organized in his writing, why did he incorporate the
digressions in his novel? The answer to it is as obvious as the inquisition
itself. Firstly, the digressions incorporated by Fielding, though not directly
linked to the main plot of the story, serve the main purpose of the novel i.e.
to reform society from the vices. The digression of Leonora in chapter 4 of the
second book depicts the greed and selfishness in human nature, the digression
of Mr. Wilson in chapter 3 of the third book serves to give a detailed account
of the hero and a few other concepts such as debate over significance or
insignificance of lineage, and the “The history of two friends” in chapter 10 of
the fourth book “may afford an useful lesson to all those persons who happen to
take up their residence in married families”. Secondly, these digressions in
the novel have been incorporated with such an art, that though they serve the
primary purpose of the novel, if they are skipped while continuing with the
main story, they shall in no way harm the main plot of the novel. Therefore,
Fielding had been much organized and witty when it came to the digressions.
Furthermore, the digressions were part of the epic poetry and admired by the
readers of the time. Since, Fielding calls his novel “Comic Epic in Prose”,
therefore, these digressions are not merely a forced surplus in order to
increase the volume of the novel; rather they are carefully written plots, finely
incorporated within the novel.
Not only the plot and the structure have
been artfully constructed, rather the style of writing adopted by the writer is
very convincing, yet very light and humorous. Fielding’s style of writing is
very simple, explanatory and vivid. We do not find many literary terms, heavy
vocabulary or artificial use of elevated language in this novel. Perhaps, since
Fielding’s intention was the reformation of the society, therefore, he remained
simple in his writing as to make the lay-man understand his writing. He remains
a realist while writing this novel and mentions in the preface that “no other
species of writing can differ more widely than the comic and the burlesque. The
later is ever the exhibition of what is monstrous and unnatural”, whereas “the
former we should ever confine ourselves strictly to nature” (Authors Preface).
Fielding adopts the tool of mockery
while writing this novel. Joseph Andrews is
a mockery of Richardson’s Pamela,
where in the later we find the emphasis on the female chastity and male
chastity in the former one. In one of the concluding chapters of the last book
we clearly see this mockery when we find Pamela’s comments about Fanny in these
words: “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 Fielding’s style, we see
self-reflexivesness, yet an intentional distance created by the writer between
the characters of the novel and the readers. Fielding wants the readers to
understand the vices he has sugar coated with humor, instead of sympathizing or
empathizing with the characters, forgetting the purpose of the novel. He has
pointed out some serious vices of a corrupt society in a very light and
humorous manner. He has made people laugh on their own follies and made them
realize their vices in a friendlier manner. He doesn’t intend to offend or
humiliate, rather to correct and reform. In the first chapter of book 3, he
states the difference between a satirist and a libeler: “for the former
privately corrects the fault for the benefit of the person, like a parent; the
later publickly exposes the person himself, as an example to others, like an
executioner” (Fielding 180). Fielding considers himself a satirist rather than
a libeler. Therefore, he remains light and humorous while pointing out the
vices in the human beings.
Moreover, the style of the writer is not
didactic, rather he is more suggestive and leaves the reader to reflect and
compare themselves with what depiction of human beings Fielding has given
within the novel. Perhaps, this is the reason why Fielding has introduced such
a vast variety of characters in his novel, instead of generalizing a lot with
merely a hand full of characters. People from all sorts of classes, relation
and professions can see their reflection in one or the other way within
Fielding’s characters. They can then evaluate themselves and may correct their
personality without a feeling of being ridiculed or dictated.
A lot more may be debated regarding the
form, structure and style of Joseph
Andrews. Although this novel was written when the genre of novel was in its
infancy and different writers were experimenting with it in different forms and
style. Yet, Henry Fielding appears to be a master of this genre even at its
early stage and is quite much a perfectionist and has successfully produced a
classical that is unique in its form, well organized in its structure and
convincing in its style. The writers of the contemporary era certainly owe a
great deal to Fielding for producing a classic piece of writing as Joseph Andrews that is mature and
perfect in every manner.
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