Is Joseph Andrews merely a rambling story or has it a definite design behind it?
Or,
Write a critical note on the plot construction and structure of Joseph Andrews.
Or,
Why is Joseph Andrews regarded as a successful novel despite its lack of organic unity?
Answer: Joseph Andrews is considered one of the most successful novels for the magnetic beauty of its structure. Though it does not have any united plot, it has a plot different from a plot in a literary work such as a play or a novel. In this novel, Henry Fielding has brought different issues altogether and thus presents life itself. He has also projected the events in the shape of a journey that Adams experienced in the novel. The very name of the leading character as Adams is also important. His experience through the journey somehow carries the Biblical reference in Joseph Andrews. Now, I will evaluate the issue in detail.
The plot or story as narrated above is, indeed, thin. But the loose plot is unified by the themes which run through Joseph Andrews. The center of interest lies in the highway adventures with Adams playing the pivotal role. It is true that the plot of Joseph Andrews is not logically coherent; the episodes are not organically connected with one another. But Fielding uses structure in Joseph Andrews as a means to articulate his theme. It is the theme that imparts unity and meaning and cohesiveness to the loosely strung adventures and episodes of the novel. The two poles of values are the country world and the city, neither is perfect, but the former is superior to the latter because it is more honest and simple. In the first book, the relative honesty of the country Joseph and, having resisted corruption there, is reinforced in its withdrawal by another of its representatives, Parson Adams. In the last book, the relative hypocrisy of the city world (Lady Booby, Beau Didapper, etc.) invades the country and is again defeated. The action alternates, back and forth, between country and city symbols. Throughout the story, these basic poles of value have been kept before us, in every adventure that overtakes Adams and Joseph. The basic form of the journey itself contributes to unity.
Plot and character are not related by a cause-effect scheme in Joseph Andrews. The characters are not the cause of the actions. It is also an essential aspect of the comic mode of writing. Characters do not determine the course of the action. Characters are revealed in the course of the action, and through the revelation of character comes about the exposure of the ridiculous. An instance is that of Joseph being robbed. The incident may not have much to do with his character but it does provide the author with the opportunity to reveal the social pretensions and hypocritical attitudes of so-called respectable society.
The influence of Fielding's dramatic practice is evident in his plot construction. Aurelien Digeon has observed that the four books of Joseph Andrews can be seen to correspond to the four acts of a drama. The first contains the exposition and the knot of the problem. The second and third books contain the incidents. The fourth gives the Denouement. The first few chapters present to us the characters in turn-Adams after Joseph, then Mrs. Slipslop, then Lady Booby. These characters meet and the impending struggle between them is faintly hinted at and then declared in all its violence. Joseph Andrews has three digressions. The two major ones are the story of Leonara and Mr. Wilson's account. The third digression, namely the story of Paul and Leonard, told by Adams's son, is a minor one of little importance. Fielding himself discusses the relevance of digressions in the prefatory chapter of Book II. He declares that digressions can be removed "without any injury to the whole". With typical irony, he says this just before launching into the first digression of the words at face value, for, the digressions do have a thematic relevance to the novel, though they do not contribute to the development of action. Critics have offered various defenses for their presence.
The major theme of the novel is the exposure of affectation and the upholding of simplicity and the doctrine of charity. Through the device of the journey, across the English countryside, Fielding derives the full benefit of the chance to satirize society and human follies, in general. The two major digressions contribute to this theme fairly well. In both, we have the continuation of the city-country, vanity-virtue polarity. Both, Leonara and Wilson, are guilty of vanity, a form of affectation. Both realize their folly, Leonara slightly late for amends, and Wilson in time, in which we have an attraction to the values of sophisticated city life. There is yet another interesting aspect to these digressions. While they are being narrated, there is an opportunity, for the characters in the novel, to express themselves in their own typical manners. Each one's responses and interruptions are characteristic-Mrs. Graveairs is suitable acidic on the 'forward' of a Leonara, and Mrs. Slipslop contributes her own particular versions of 'Learned' words. Adams provides some typically comic responses to the story of Mr. Wilson.
If we summarize the causes of the success of Joseph Andrews, we can say that this novel has attained its tremendous success because of its good storytelling, comic spirit and humor, parody and satire, moral content, and the picture of contemporary England it provides. Furthermore, characters such as Joseph, Adams, Lady Booby, and Mrs. Slipslop are immortal characters in fiction and have made the novel a hit. The situations invented by the novelist make it all the more engaging preserving the aroma of drama with its funny ingredients and surprises. The loose structure and digressions are overlooked in the best of the novels pre-eminently because of their readability. Joseph Andrews is a very much readable novel. Above all, the style and the mock-heroic element, the epic-like qualities, and the fusion of the fiction and the mock-heroic manners have made it a living novel. Further, the message of Christianity conveyed through Parson Adams makes the novel solid and more appealing. The character of Parson Adams is Quixotic.
However, the major faults of the plot of Joseph Andrews are quite obvious. Loose structure, incorporation of intermediary chapters in the narration, and inclusion of interpolating tales of Leonara and Mr. Wilson are sufficient digressions and blemishes. But Fielding's wit, comedy, parody, satire, burlesque style and diction, a novelty in characterization, and realism make up for the loss and make the novel a great success.
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