Characters of Joseph Andrews:
Joseph Andrews is the protagonist of the novel. He is a young, handsome, but poor man who works as a footman in the household of Sir Thomas Booby, a nobleman. Joseph is an honest virtuous man who is noticed by Mr. Abraham Adams, a benevolent, absent-minded, impecunious, and somewhat vain curate in Lady Booby’s country parish. Abraham wishes to teach Latin to Joseph however, the Booby family moves to London before Joseph’s education could begin. Fanny Goodwill is a young milkmaid, an orphan poor but virtuous girl whom Joseph loves. Being a poor orphan, she faces many sexual predators but continues to safeguard herself. Sir Thomas Booby is a decent man but he is not very strongly virtuous and may compromise in his favor. He dies at an early age. Lady Booby is the widowed wife of Thomas Booby. She is a lascivious character who copes with the death of her husband by playing cards and propositioning servants. Mrs. Slipslop is an upper maid of Booby's household. She is hideous and sexually voracious and lusts for Joseph. Peter Pounce is another upper servant of Booby Hall who is very greedy but comes out for the rescue of Joseph and Fanny. Mr. Booby is a nephew of Thomas Booby. Mr. Booby is based on Samuel Richardson’s Mr. B from Pamela. He is a snobbish squire who marries his servant girl, Pamela Andrews. Pamela is Joseph’s virtuous and beautiful sister, from whom he derives inspiration for his resistance to Lady Booby’s sexual advances. She used to work for Mr. Booby who tried to sexually exploit her but she maintained her virtue and finally married her lascivious master. Fielding has adapted this character from the heroine of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. Mr. Two-wouse is the owner of an inn where Joseph takes a rest. Mrs. Two-wouse is his nagging greedy wife. Betty is a chambermaid in the inn of Mr. Two-wouse who is benevolent but lustful and tries to exploit Joseph. Leonora is a reclusive, frustrated girl who lives in a grand house. She once rejected the love proposal of Horatio, an honest, hardworking, industrious lawyer because he was poor. Bellarmine is a rich French businessman who is infatuated with Leonora. He impressed her with his wealth and made her reject Horatio but later, he got bored of Leonora and rejected her because Leonora’s greedy father declined to give a huge dowry in marriage. Mr. Wilson is an old man who used to be a rake during his turbulent youth. He fell in love with a beautiful woman and changed his ways to become a virtuous man. Beau Didapper is a corrupt official who tries to corrupt Fanny many times.
Summary of Joseph Andrews:
Book 1) The novel begins as the narrator introduces Joseph Andrews. He is the younger brother of Pamela Andrews, the character of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. He belongs to a poor family and at the age of 10, he begins working as a cattle grazer in the Booby estate owned by Sir Thomas Booby who is a decent man. Joseph meets Fanny Goodwill at the Booby estate and is attracted to her. She is a virtuous, beautiful but poor orphan girl living with an old farmer near the Booby estate. Joseph is healthy and he is growing into a young handsome man. Soon he attracts the erotic interest of Lady Booby, the lascivious wife of Thomas Booby. Lady Boob insists that Joseph should be working at her behest and thus, he becomes the footman of Booby household. The parson of the estate parish Mr. Abraham Adams notices Joseph and is impressed by his moral and intellectual potential. He decides to teach Joseph but before he could start a course in Latin instruction, Lady Booby and Thomas Booby move to London and Lady B insists that Joseph should come along with them. Joseph doesn’t wish to go as he has plans to marry Fanny but ParsonAbraham insists that they postpone marriage until they have the means to live comfortably. In London, Joseph meets other urban Footmen who try to influence him in corrupt ways. Lady Booby too continues trying to seduce him but Joseph remains adamant. He misses Fanny and feels that he loves her and would safeguard his virtue to return and marry her. After around a year, Thomas Booby dies of illness and after his death, Lady Booby becomes more demanding and libidinous. However, Joseph's Christian commitment to pre-marital chastity remains intact. This frustrates Lady Booby. Furthermore, Mrs. Slipslop, the higher maid of the Booby house too gets sexually attracted to Joseph but he elegantly avoids her too. Mrs. Slipslop fails to accept his rejection and to take revenge, she tells lies against him and complains to Lady Booby. Lady Booby knows that Mrs Slipslop is lying but she tries to take advantage of that complaint and tries to seduce Joseph again under the duress of complaining against him. Joseph maintains his innocent and his commitment to chastity and thus, Lady Booby dismisses him both from his job and lodging.
Joseph returns to London and on his way, he gets robbed by two ruffians who beat, strip, and rob him and leave him in a ditch to die. A stage-coach soon arrives there and though none of the passengers is willing to help Joseph, a lawyer among them suggests that they should take him to the nearby inn. The stage-coach leaves Joseph at an inn owned by Mr. Two-wouse who is a benevolent man. At the inn, chambermaid Betty takes good care of Joseph, and a surgeon visits to take care of his wounds. Joseph reunites with Parson Abraham who is going to London to sell three volumes of his sermons. The thief gets caught and is brought to the inn and thus Joseph gets back his belongings. Betty who took good care of Joseph falls for Joseph and tries to seduce her but he rejects her, claiming his love for Fanny the milkmaid. Betty feels heartbroken. Abraham has very little money which he gives to Joseph for his return journey while he decides to go to London to sell his sermons. However, he finds that his wife removed most of the books from his bag and replaced them with clothes, and thus decides to return with Joseph. Meanwhile, Mr. Tow-wouse who has been pursuing Betty silently for a long, tries to take his chance and enters her bed chamber. However, his wife Mrs. Two-wouse catches him red-handed and throws Betty out of her job and and the inn. Mr. Abraham somehow manages to calm down Mrs. Two-wouse who agrees to make peace with Mr. Two-wouse.
Book 2)
On their way back home, Adam gets a ride in a stagecoach in which an anonymous high-class lady is traveling along with Mrs. Slipslod, the high maid of Booby Hall. Joseph rides on Adam’s horse, following the stagecoach. The stagecoach passes beside a grand house that reminds the anonymous lady of a young girl Leonora who lives in that house and she begins to tell the story of Leonora ("The History of Leonora, or the Unfortunate Jilt").
After traveling for a long, they decide to take some rest at an inn. However, the inn-keeper and his wife are very quarrelsome and soon they decide to take the road again. This time, Joseph sits in the stagecoach while Abraham is supposed to take the horseback. But Abraham is so absent-minded that he forgets the horse and starts walking alone. The stagecoach runs forward while he keeps walking. After some time, he meets a hunter who is out to hunt some partridge. He boasts of his shooting capabilities and bravery. They hear some loud voices of a lady in distress asking for help. Soon they discover that a ruffian has attacked a young girl and is trying to rob her. The hunter gets frightened and runs away but Abraham bravely fights against the ruffian and saves the girl. Soon a group of travellers comes there and the ruffian starts blaming the girl and Abraham are thieves who are trying to rob him. The travelers catch Abraham and the girl and take them to the Justice of the Peace, hoping to get a reward for turning them in. Abraham notices that the girl he saved is not a stranger but she is Fanny Goodwill who came there in the hope of searching for Joseph who, she heard was attacked by ruffians. The Justice is a careless man who doesn’t hear what Abraham and Fanny say and decides to send them to prison. However, a bystander supporter of the justice recognizes Abraham and informs the Justice that he is a clergyman. The justice soon reverses his decision and sets Abraham and Fanny free but by that time, the actual ruffian had already fled the scene. Abraham and Fanny then travel towards the next inn where they hope to meet Joseph. Joseph, the anonymous Lady, and Mrs. Slipslop are taking a rest at the inn where Joseph and Fanny have a joyous reunion. Mrs. Slipslop still believes that she could seduce Joseph anyhow but when she sees the two young lovers meet, she gets too jealous and leaves them in a hurry. The next day, Adam, Fanny, and Joseph decide to leave the inn for their home but they still have to pay the inn bill while they have no money. Abraham goes out to meet a wealthy clergyman Parson Trulliber to take a loan. However, Parson Trullber insults Abraham and denies any loan. A local Peddler then comes to help and gives a loan to Abraham so that they may pay the bill and go to their home.
Book 3)
Abraham, Fanny, and Joseph continue to walk on the road for a few miles when a gregarious Squire sees them and offers them a ride in his stagecoach only to retract his offer and make fun of the three. They reach the next inn where they learn that the Squire is known for making such false promises and fun of people. After resting for a while, the three decide to walk again after the nightfall. Abraham notices some strange lights dancing in the dark and gets worried that these must be the ghosts. Fanny overhears approaching voices agree on "the murder of anyone they meet" and they realize that the lights must be the lanterns of ruffians. The three flee away from the spot and reach a local house to seek safety. The house owner is Mr. Wilson who welcomes them. Mr. Wilson and his family offer food for the three. Mr. Wilson used to be a rake himself but he met a girl and fell in love and decided to change his ways. Redeemed by the love of a good woman, he married her and came to the countryside to lead a virtuous life. Mr. Wilson informs that he and his wife have lost their eldest son to a gypsy abduction.
The three leave Mr. Wilson’s house in the morning and after walking for a distance, they decide to rest and take the meal that Mrs. Wilson packed for them. As they are taking their meal, a pack of hunting dogs attack them. Somehow, they fight back and save themselves but a few dogs are killed. These dogs were owned by a wealthy, corrupt, and sadistic Squire who was infamous as the ‘Hunter of Men’ in that area. He comes to know about the damage to his dogs and gets very angry. But when he sees beautiful Fanny with the two novice men, he sets his lustful eyes on her and invites the three to his mansion for dinner.
At his mansion, the Squire sends Joseph and Fanny to work in the kitchen while he takes dinner with Abraham. His servants and henchmen continue to tease and ridicule Abraham to the point that he gets offended and calls Fanny and Joseph out of the kitchen so that they may leave immediately. The Squire sends his hooligans behind them with instructions to abduct Fanny whom he wishes to rape. His men succeed in abducting Fanny while they leave Abraham and Joseph tied to a bedpost in the room of an inn. The Squire then visits the inn and blames Abraham and Joseph for abducting the beautiful innocent girl. Fortunately, Peter Pounce, the head servant of Mrs. Booby was on a tour to the Squire’s estate along with his men. He sees some hooligans taking away a girl forcefully and recognizes the girl as Fanny, the orphan milkmaid. He rescues Fanny with the help of his men and then he goes to the inn to rescue Joseph and Abraham. The Squire’s plan fails when Fanny reaches the inn and accuses him and his men of trying to abduct her. Peter Pounce, Joseph, Abraham, and Fanny complete the remainder of the journey to Booby Hall together.
Book 4) After returning to the Booby estate, Abraham announces the wedding banns of Joseph and Fanny. Mrs. Booby isn’t happy about that and she tries everything possible to stop the marriage. She takes the help of a lawyer to stop the marriage because both Fanny and Joseph are destitute and they will give birth to beggars. The Justice of Peace takes a bribe for helping Lady Booby. However, Mr. B and his newlywed wife Pamela Andrews arrive at the same time and stop the legal proceeding. Lady Booby tries to persuade Abraham to stop the marriage but he doesn’t agree. Then Lady Booby takes the help of a debauched official Beau Didapper who tries to rape Fanny before her marriage. But the same peddler who gave a loan to Abraham earlier arrives at the scene and saves Fanny. Later on, he meets Lady Booby and informs him that Fanny and Joseph cannot marry because Fanny is the daughter of Mr and Mrs. Andrews, parents of Pamela and Joseph who lost their daughter at the time of her birth. Thus, lady Booby stalls the marriage because Fanny and Joseph are siblings. The Justice of Peace then calls for Mr and Mrs. Andrews to attest. Joseph and Fanny commit that if they really are siblings, they will remain celibate throughout their lives. However, when Mr. and Mrs. Andrws arrive, they inform that though Fanny is actually their long lost daughter, Joseph is not their son, rather, he was a changeling baby whom they got when they lost their daughter just after her birth. When the Peddlar listens to this, it reminds him of the lost son of Mr. Wilson who was taken away by ruffians. That lost baby had a distinct birthmark on his chest. When Joseph’s chest is checked, it comes out that he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. This clears the way for the marriage of Fanny and Joseph. After their marriage, Mr. B and Pamela ask them to come with them to Mr. B’s estate which is near to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, his real parents. Mr. B- offers a decent dowry for Fanny and gives a respectable clerical job to Joseph. The newlywed couple start living happily with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and the novel ends.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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