Joseph Andrews” as a Picaresque Novel“

________________________________________________

What is a picaresque novel? The term picaresque has been

derived from the Spanish word picaro which means a rogue or a
villain. Originally, a type of romance that dealt with rogues or villains
was called picaresque. A picaresque novel presented , in an
extravagant style, a series of adventures , and misadventures , mostly
on the highways . The earliest examples of the picaresque novel are
Lizaritle de Tormes and Guzman de Alfarachi. Fielding was
considerably influenced by Gil Blass and Don Quixote. In fact there
are marked resemblance between Joseph Andrews and Don Quixote.
.Parson Adam is clearly a Quixotic figure
The Picaresque element in the novel is introduced in Book
1 chapter 10 with Joseph setting out on his journey in the moonlight.
From here onwards to the end of Book 111, it follows the picaresque
tradition closely. Joseph soon gets robbed and is thrown into a ditch ,
stripped and half dead. The stage – coach episode provides Fielding
with an opportunity to expose their hypocrisy and callousness of the
respected people. Joseph and Parson Adams run into the picaresque
journey that began with satirical exposure of the society assumes a
.partially humors tone
In a part of the book 1 and the middle two Books where the
picaresque motif is followed, Fielding brings his major characters in
contact with different strata of society- country squires, divines and
philosophers , lawyers and surgeons , landladies , beggars and
highway men- and exposes the contemporary social evils as well as
.human follies and foibles of a more general nature
Finally , the rambling or destructive narrative of Joseph Andrews also
enforces the picaresque motif of the novel. Fielding employs here a
very lose plot, for his purpose is the depiction of the society and the
.plot is not given much importance
How does Fielding as a satirist project his moral
.vision? / Discuss Joseph Andrews as a social document
Fielding is considered to be the pioneer of the realistic novel in
England. Defoe’s novels, apparently grounded in reality , are romantic
in spirit. In fact, Fielding based all his novels on actual experience. In
“Joseph Andrews”, Fielding presents a very realistic picture of the life
of the English countryside in the first half of the 18th century. The first
thing that strikes us about the society is its extra- ordinary callousness,
even downright cruelty. Most of the members are selfish, insensible
and hard- hearted. The stage-coach episode where Joseph , half killed
and stripped naked by robbers , is reluctantly rescued by the
passengers in the stage coach, but receives no sympathy or comfort
from any except the poor postilion, full brings out this callous temper.
The surgeon refuses to leave his bed to attend Joseph just because he
has no means of paying HIS FEE. Mrs. Tow-Wouse forbids her
husband to lend him a shirt . Parson Trulliber can’t afford even 14
shillings to assist Parson Adams; on the contrary , he accuses him of
being a vagabond. Lawyer Scout is of the opinion that there are far too
many poor, and that we’ we ought to have an Act to hang or transport
”.half of them
The novel also depicts the wide gulf that seems to separate the
high people from the low people. The distinction between these two
groups is quite rigid. Lady Booby refers to her country neighbors as
brutes. She grossly insults Adams on his insistence on publishing the
.banns of marriage
These high class people show utter disregard of the rights and
interests of the poor people. For example, Lady Booby is not
.concerned whether pr not servants get their wages in time