Joseph Andrews and Shamela

The first novel of English magistrate Henry Fielding, "Joseph Andrews" was written in 1742 as a complete extension of the author's pamphlet "Shamela." The latter contains an impressively coarse parody of "Pamela," the Samuel Richardson novel that rewards a servant girl with marriage for protecting her virtue. Shamela, however, utilizes a coy and artificial modesty to procure for herself a husband of wealth. Fielding went on to write "Joseph Andrews," a work relating the adventures of a foot...