“Joseph Andrews” a comic epic in prose

It is true that we can term “Joseph Andrews” as a ‘comic epic poem in prose’ because it has almost all the prerequisites that are important for labeling it as a ‘comic epic poem in prose’.

Fielding himself termed it as a ‘comic epic poem in prose’ in the “Preface to Joseph Andrews”. The impetus for the novel, as Fielding claims in the preface, is the establishment of a genre of writing "which I do not remember to have been hitherto attempted in our language", defined as the "comic epic  in prose": a work of prose fiction, epic in length and variety of incident and character. Fielding has combined the ideal of ‘comic epic’ and the ‘prose epic’ to produce what he termed as ‘comic epic poem in prose’.The comic tone of the novel is enhanced by the mock-heroic style, for Fielding admitted burlesque in the diction. It is instrumental in heightening the ridiculous nature of situation and affectations.

A heroic epic has a towering hero, grand theme, a continuous action, a journey to underworld, wars, digressions, discovery, high seriousness, a high moral lesson and bombastic diction in it and in“Joseph Andrews” there is an ordinary hero, a journey from one place to another place, mock-wars, digressions, discovery, humour, a high moral and a bombastic diction in it. Unlike a heroic epic, the hero of “Joseph Andrews” is an ordinary boy. He is a foot-man of Lady Booby who has fallen in love with him. But Joseph is very virtuous and chaste and therfore is dismissed from his job. We can call “Joseph Andrews” as “The Odyssey on the road” because both the works, Homer’s “Odyssey” and Fielding’s “Joseph Andrews” in the first place involve a journey. Like Odysseus, Joseph Andrews after the displeasure of a lady, sets out on his way home and meets with many misfortunes on the way. So it would be fairly justified to call Joseph Andrews “ an epic of the highway full of adventures, horseplay and not too decent fun.”

Through the journey of Joseph, Fielding satirizes the society of the day and ridicules them. The corrupt and hypocritical clergy, Parson Trilluber and Parson Barnabas, individual like Lady Booby and Mrs. Slipslop, the Squire of Fools and the Squire of False Promises have been satirized.

The element of wars and conflicts is very important in an epic and it is no exception in “Joseph Andrews”. First of all, there is a conflict between lusty advances of lady Booby and Mrs. Slipslop and chastity of Joseph. Also there is a conflict between generosity of  Parson Adams and misely Parson Trulliber and Mrs. Tow- Wouse.Then  we see some real action in the form of a war in an inn where Joseph was insulted by the host. Parson Adams was annoyed and challenged the host. There started the first war between both the parties. The funny situation of the bloody fight in which Parson Adams gets doused in hog’s blood is described in Homeric terms. Then Parson Adams rescues Fanny from a ruffian and then, a squire attacks Parson Adams with his hounds and  a fierce battle is fought between hunter’s hounds and parson Adams. Joseph’s encounter with the dogs let loose on Parson Adams is  described in epic-style. Similarly There are many other epical elements in the novel to call it a comic epic.

Another epic convention is the use of digression. There are two major digressions in “Joseph Andrews”. There are, seemingly, irrelevant stories of Leonara and Mr. Wilson. Epic writers considered them as embellishments. Fielding, however, makes the interpolations thematically relevant. For, these are not irrelevant in reality.

The formula of discovery, as described by Aristotle, an essential element of an epic, has also been used by Fielding. In the end of the novel, we see that Joseph is recognized to be Mr. Wilson’s child and Fanny as the sister of virtuous Pamela.

High seriousness is an important element in epic. But in “Joseph Andrews” there is a great deal of comedy and humour, because it is a comic epic novel; indeed in Joseph Andrews the comic point of view is sustained throughout the novel. But behind this comedy, there lies a serious purpose of reformation. We have a gamut of vain and hypocritical characters in Parson Trilluber, Parson Barnabas, passengers in the stage-coach, Mr. Tow-wouse, Mrs. Slipslop, Peter Pounce and the various Squires. The surgeon and the lawyer and the magistrate are also some other example of hypocrisy and vanity. Each of these characters provides a great deal of humour and amusement under a serious purpose.

Every epic has a moral lesson in it and this is no exception with a comic epic. Fielding’s views on morality are practical, full of common sense and tolerance, liberal, flexible and more realistic. These are devoid of prudish and rigid codes. Fielding wanted to tear the veil of vanity and hypocrisy.

The use of grand, bombastic and elevated language is an important element in an epic. It has heroic diction. But in “Joseph Andrews” we see that Fielding has used prose for poetry because it brings us close to the real and actual life and it is much more suitable for Fielding’s purpose of dealing with comic epic. However, his use of prose is very good, up to the mark and apt for his novel.

So, we can conclude that the theory of the ‘comic epic poem in prose’ as described by Fielding in the preface of “Joseph Andrews” manifests itself in the novel. Fielding has assimilated the rules and adapted them to his way of writing so well that we are not consciously aware of the formal principles which give unity to his materials. According to Thornbury, “Joseph Andrews” by Fielding is:

“An art which conceals art, but is the art of a conscious artist.”

Humour in Joseph Andrews

Humour is defined as that quality of action, speech or writing which excites amusement, the faculty of perceiving what is ludicrous or amusing. Humour arises from the perception of the incongruities of life, from the writer’s awareness of the discrepancy between what is and what ought to be.

Henry Fielding, the father of English novel, is one of the greatest humourists in English Literature. Fielding’s humour is wide in range. It arises from the coarsest farce to the astonishing heights of the subtlest irony. Joseph Andrews which started as a parody of Richardson’s Pamela, ended as an excellent work of art in its own right.

There is plenty of humour in the novel. A number of characters are definitely humorous in their conception. Parson Adams and Mrs. Slipslop’s characters are the true sources of pure comedy.  In fact, Parson Adams’ character is fully exploited by Fielding. His very appearance is ridiculous. No body can believe that he is a parson. “He possesses a comical face, with bearded chin and deeply wrinkled cheeks,  a fist rather less than the knuckle of an ox, with a wrist which Hercules would not have been ashamed of. His legs are so long that they almost touch the ground when he drives on his horse’s back. He usually wears a tattered old cassock and a periwig on his head”.  We are also given funny sketch of Mrs. Slipslop’s appearance:

“She was not at this time remarkably handsome; being very short, and rather too corpulent in body, and somewhat red, with the addition of pimples in her face. Her nose was likewise too large, and her eyes too little; nor did she resemble a cow so much in her breath as in two brown globes which she carried before her.” In spite of all that she considers herself a lovable and rebukes Joseph when he does not reciprocate her love.

 Fielding’s professed aim in Joseph Andrews was to tear the veils of hypocricy and affectation. In his Preface to “Joseph Andrews", Fielding concludes that affectation is the source of the ridiculous, springing from vanity or hypocrisy. Fielding intends to laugh mankind out of its follies and foibles. Fielding, thus, employs ironical and satirical humour in several places.

Joseph Andrews has a large variety of humour. Farce is not excluded. Farce is humour arising from situation, and it evokes loud laughter. The keynote of a farce is exaggeration to excite boisterous laughter. Joseph Andrews is a string of farcical situations. Several situations such as the fight scene at the inn, Joseph falling from his horse and hurting his knee, Joseph sitting by the fireside while the hostess of the inn rubbing his knee, Parson Adams in a pan of hog’s blood, Parson Trulliber, mistaking Adams as a hog dealer and sending him into the hogs’ shed where he is thrashed by the hogs, the hounds of the Squire tearing at Parson Adams’ cassock, Mrs. tow-wouse discovering Betty in Tow-wouse’s bed,  Didapper mistaking the room and entering Mrs. Slipslop’s room and Adams mistaking Didapper for the distressed lady and getting hold of Mrs. Slipslop as the attacker, punching her mercilessly till Lady Booby arrives on the scene with a lighted-candle; Adam’s taking a wrong turn in Fanny’s bed and going to sleep; all these scenes are farcical.

There runs a fine streak of irony as well. For example, the patriot who boasts of his patriotism and wants to hang all the cowards , himself turns the tail and runs away in a critical situation. Even Adams himself is not spared of ironical humour. Adams’ learned advice to Joseph on moderation and philosophical acceptance of misfortune is thrown to the winds when his own son is reported to be drowned. He is vain enough to consider his sermon a masterpiece. There are, of course, sharp touches of irony in Mrs. Slipslop’s portraiture and Lady Booby’s affectation.

Fielding develops the satirical theme most effectively in the scene where each of the coach passengers is stripped spiritually naked in their confrontation with naked Joseph.The lady’s false delicacy, the old gentleman’s selfishness and the lawyer’s professional cautiousness, are all exposed in Fielding’s humourous tone.

Joseph Andrews abounds in humorous characterization. The most remarkable figure in Joseph Andrews,  Parson Adams is a creation of pure humour. He is eccentric, forgetful, absent-minded, and impractical man. He leaves for London to sell his sermons but forgets the precious manuscripts at home. Then he marches away completely forgetting the horse itself. In addition to his absent-mindedness, he has  odd gestures and funny mannerism. Adams never loses his dignity, however much of humour is involved in his portraiture – that speaks of Fielding's skill as a comic artist. Mrs. Slipslop is another entirely humorous character. Rearing pigs and being with them continuously has made Parson Trulliber appear increasingly like a pig.

In Joseph Andrews there is plenty of burlesque in diction. The mock-heroic technique produces plenty of humour in the novel. The funny situation of the bloody fight in which Parson Adams gets doused in hog’s blood is described in Homeric terms. Similarly Joseph’s encounter with the dogs let loose on Parson Adams is also described in epic-style. The discrepancy between the high style and the ridiculous situation produces laughter.

Summing up, Henry Fielding is a master of  various forms of humour—farce, satire, irony, humorous characterization, and the parody. At the same time, his humour is very much spontaneous. Humour arises naturally; it is never contrived. Coleridge is right when he compares Fielding’s humour with that of Richardson: “There is a cheerful, sunshiny, breezy spirit that prevails everywhere strongly contrasted with the close, hot, day-dreamy continuity of Richardson”. He grips the attention of the readers by his amusing situations and humour. He has been very appropriately called “a laughing philosopher”.