Joseph Andrews and Shamela: Henry Fielding

Shamela is a brilliant parody of Samuel Richardson`s Pamela, in which a virtuous servant girl long resists her master`s advances and is eventually `rewarded` with marriage. Fielding`s far more spirited and sexually honest heroine, by contrast, merely uses coyness and mock modesty as techniques to catch a rich husband. Joseph Andrews, Fielding`s first full-length novel, can also be seen as a response to Richardson, as the lascivious Lady Booby sets out to seduce her comically chaste servant Joseph, (himself in love with the much-put-upon Fanny Goodwill). As in Tom Jones, Fielding takes a huge cast of characters out on the road and exposes them to many colourful and often hilarious adventures.