Your topics of
interest: Joseph Andrews
1) action at inns thought they are described as resting places
2) authorial voice
3) humor
4) episodic structure
5) emphasis on social commentary
6) role of religion
7) Joseph as non-hero
8) Joseph as non-man
9) Role of association, both social and mental
10) Didacticism
11) Book learning vs. experience
12) Role of common people
13) Source of human value
14) Lack of interiority
15) Presence of violence and comedy, often together
16) Source of morality
Our tentative
groupings thus far:
Action at inns; Joseph as non-hero; Joseph as non-man
Authorial voice; episodic structure; lack of interiority; role of association
Humor; violence and comedy
Social commentary; the common people; religion; books vs. experience
Source of value; source of morality
Our hypotheses thus
far:
This novel has an episodic structure because it aims to
reflect life, which has no master plot; however, this complicates Fielding’s desire to promote any religion that depends on
belief in
The episodic structure is a function of the polyglot, didactic, authorial, intrusive voice.
This novel’s realism is a function of that same authorial voice.