English Literature

The title page of Henry Fielding�s first novel reads as, �The history of the adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his friend Mr. Abraham Adams, Written in imitation of the Manner of Cervantes, Author of Don Quixote.� The allusion to Cervantes and his masterpiece Don Quixote is significant as it shows Fielding�s indebtedness to Cervantes . Parson Adams is indeed a truly Quixotic figure, and the structure of the book also follows Cervantes� picaresque model. Joseph Andrews is a novel of adventures met while travelling on the road. Joseph loses his employment in Lady Booby�s service in London, on his way home to the country to his sweetheart Fanny, he meets Parson Adams. Together they run all kinds of adventures meeting a host of characters from low and middle-class layers of society: innkeepers, chambermaids, country squires and clergymen. The picaresque tradition belongs to Spain and derived from the word �picaro� , meaning a rogue or a villain. The picaresque originally involved the mi...