Write a note on Fielding's concept of morality in Joseph Andrews.
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Comment on Fielding's concept of morality in Joseph Andrews. [NU 2002]
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Explain how Fielding exposes Richardson's concept of morality in Joseph Andrews.
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Comment on Fielding's purpose of giving a moral lesson in Joseph Andrews. Is he successful or not?
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Write a note on the didactic elements in Joseph Andrews.
Answer: Henry Fielding occupies a place of distinction in the history of literature in general and of English literature in particular. His greatness lies in his achievement as a writer of comic prose epic in English literature. He was a great master of the English novel.
The main purpose of Fielding as a novelist is to expose evil, hypocrisy, affectation, falsehood, and pretense. He advocates good nature and good deeds. He penetrates deep into the human heart and recommends man's judgment on the basis of his intentions. The moral intent is quite obvious in his plays. His attitude was not negative; his object was to replace a morbid with a healthy commonsense morality. He places sexual virtue and sexual vice in a broad moral perspective. Fielding being the advocate of good nature is a moralist in reality. In his essay on the knowledge of the characters of men, Fielding says, "Good nature is that benevolent and amiable temper of mind which disposes us to feel the misfortunes and enjoy the happiness of others... now good humor is nothing more than the triumph of the mind..." Fielding, therefore, opposes not so much the defilement of body but of spirit. Joseph Andrews attempts to keep his physical chastity intact and he does not allow Lady Booby to corrupt it. It is a clear example of Fielding's moral concern in matters of sex, too.
Joseph, Fanny, and Adams are moralists of high order in their own sense. They are the means of exposing vanity and hypocrisy. Adams' virtues make him stand out in complete contrast to those who take advantage of him.
En Fielding ruthlessly lashes at vanity and hypocrisy wherever he comes across them. It is hypocrisy to pretend to be a Christian but avoid Christian charity. It is hypocrisy to pretend discomfiture at the sight of a naked man and to deny him help in the name of virtue but to take pleasure in looking at his nude body stealthily. Most of the people Joseph and Adams come across during their Odyssey are vain and hypocritical, and Fielding exposes all of them. Leonara is subjected to ridicule on account of her vanity. Mr. Wilson suffers at the beginning of his career because of vanity. Fielding discovers a touch of vanity. Even the old Parson Adams-he is vain of his sermons and of his knowledge of books. Vanity is pretending to be what you are not: hypocrisy to concealing what you are under some respectable-looking mask. For Fielding, the worst form of hypocrisy, according to Irvin Ehrenpreis, 'is the deliberate deceit of those who have reason to trust you: that is, the taking advantage of people's good qualities in order to ruin them and obtain some pleasure of profit for yourself. Fielding is very critical of this type of malicious hypocrite. The ruffian who plans to attack Fanny and therefore, offers to accompany her over a lonely road is one such hypocrite.
Fielding in Joseph Andrews emphasizes the role of feeling in human life. The man who feels very keenly is capable of great happiness whether real or imaginary. He feels the joys of others as deeply as his own. The goodness of heart is essential for a man of feeling; in fact, it is an inevitable human condition for him. In Joseph Andrews, Adams is endowed with great feelings. He feels the joys and sufferings of Joseph and Fanny as if they were his own. When Fanny loses consciousness on recognizing Joseph's voice, Adams gets nervous. Adams is a person who feels things deeply and expresses his feeling naturally. He has a very good heart.
Fielding believes that charity is a test of man's morality and good behavior. Those who are good-hearted give graciously and liberally to the needy ones. But those who are evil reject charity in their lives. In Joseph Andrews, Fielding uses this test very often. Mrs. Tow-Wouse forbids her husband to lend a shirt to Joseph who has been stripped naked and half-killed. Parson Trulliber refuses to lend a few pennies to Adams and condemns him as a vagabond. The Doctor does not treat Joseph Andrews gently because he has no money. Peter Pounce believes that the distresses of mankind are mostly imaginary; hence it is folly to relieve them. The poor pedlar is really a good man because he offers whatever he has to relieve the distressed Adams and company. Adams, at one stage, is afraid that he may be considered unchristian because he has no money to relieve a poor priest.
Fielding's concept of religion is associated with his views on morality. He was not one to confine religion to the ritual of going to church on Sundays and conveniently forgetting it for the other days of the week. A man is what a man does, according to Fielding. Religion could help to promote goodness and resist evil. Religious faith indicated the belief in God or a Divine power, which is omniscient and omnipotent. The actions of man were watched over by this power. It would determine the rewards or punishments to be meted out according to the actions performed in this world. True religion must encourage good deeds as well as correct faith, according to Fielding.
Fielding criticizes two sorts of ethics. One belongs to the man who thinks that righteousness can exist without religion. In the story of Mr. Wilson, Fielding has an incident that exposes those who try to live virtuously and purely for the sake of being good, with no belief in divine command. It is significant that all these people turn out to be selfish and unable to resist immoral temptations. The other sort of ethics which is not approved of by Fielding is that which accepts the need for religion but insists that faith is more important than good deeds. If true goodness shows itself in active charity, true religion encourages both faith and good deeds. Parson Adams, naturally, is the best representative of the ideal, as Fielding conceives of it. He has faith and he performs his good actions without a thought for himself.
By and large, sex has little place in Fielding's conception of morality. His characters should be judged outside their sexual inducements. Scientifically too sex is a biological necessity. In the west nowadays a man is not judged on the basis of sexual relations but on the basis of his other virtues. Fielding was modern in this sense. In fact, to Fielding, the suppression of natural sex instincts is likely to produce unhealthy inhibitions as they do in Clarissa and are, therefore, immoral. Sex can be mere lust, perversity, or a natural human instinct, and accordingly, it cannot be condemned or approved of. Lady Booby represents lust; Mrs. Slipslop perversity; and Betty represents natural human instinct who is at once attracted by Joseph's youthful looks. Betty, at last on her failure to win Joseph, falls prey to Mr. Tow-Wouse and believes his passion to be genuine.
We can conclude that Fielding's is a kind of practical morality. His concept is liberal and healthy. He is somewhat of a modern concept of morality. That is why critics such as James A. Work, Baker, Middleton Murry, and a host of others do not condemn Fielding as an immoralist. Most modern critics find a deep moral note in his work.
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