Fiction and the Shape of Belief: A Study of Henry Fielding with Glances at Swift, Johnson and Richardson

Fiction and the Shape of Belief explores how eighteenth-century fiction negotiates the relationship between narrative form and ethical conviction. Sheldon Sacks develops a critical “grammar” of fictional types—satire, apologue, and action—and demonstrates how each embodies belief in distinct ways. With particular attention to Henry Fielding, and comparative glances at Swift, Johnson, and Richardson, Sacks reveals how narrative strategies shape the moral and intellectual content of prose fic...