Henry Fielding

''Kissing, Joseph, is but a prologue to a Play. Can I believe a young fellow of your Age and Complexion will be content with Kissing?''Henry Fielding''s riotous tale of innocents in a corrupt world was one of the earliest English novels, blending bawdy slapstick, philosophical musing and pointed social satire to create a work of moral complexity and generous, life-affirming humanity. Published in 1742, it tells the story of the chaste servant Joseph Andrews who, after being sacked for spurning the advances of the lascivious Lady Booby, takes to the road, accompanied by his beloved Fanny Goodwill and the absent-minded, much put-upon Parson Adams. There they encounter robbers, tricksters, seducers, mishaps and strange twists of fortune, in a series of adventures filled with exuberant comedy.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

The kindly gentleman, Mr Allworthy, returns home from a voyage to find that someone has left a baby boy in his house. He adopts the foundling, giving him the name Tom Jones. Mr Allworthy's sister, Bridget, has a son called Master Blifil. While Tom grows into a wild but honest young man, Blifil becomes a scheming hypocrite. But what happens when Tom falls in love with a neighbouring gentleman.s daughter, Sophia, whose family wish her to marry Blifil?

Thomas Keymer is a 2011 Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada.''I beg as soon as you get Fielding''s Joseph Andrews, I fear in Ridicule of your Pamela and of Virtue in the Notion of Don Quixote''s Manner, you would send it to me by the very first Coach.''(George Cheyne in a letter to Samuel Richardson, February 1742)Both Joseph Andrews (1742) and Shamela (1741) were prompted by the success of Richardson''s Pamela (1740), of which Shamela is a splendidly bawdy parody. But in Shamela Fielding also demonstrates his concern for the corruption of contemporary society, politics, religion, morality, and taste. The same themes - together with a presentation of love as charity, as friendship, and in its sexual taste - are present in Joseph Andrews, Fielding''s first novel. It is a work of considerable literary sophistication and satirical verve, but its appeal lies also in its spirit of comic affirmation, epitomized in the celebrated character of Parson Adams.This revised and expanded edition follows the text of Joseph Andrews established by Martin C. Battestin for the definitive Wesleyan Edition of Fielding''s works. The text of Shamela is based on the first edition, and two substantial appendices reprint the preliminary matter from Conyers Middleton''s Life of Cicero and the second edition of Richardson''s Pamela (both closely parodied in Shamela). A new introduction by Thomas Keymer situates Fielding''s works in their critical and historical contexts.

TOM JONES

First published in 1749, "A Journey from This World to the Next" is a fictional work by Henry Fielding in which he purports to discover a portion of manuscript which appears to be the work of a recently deceased spirit describing their experiences after death. The narrator (probably not Fielding) has just died, in the first sentence, and has left his old body through its nose. Through relating his travels in the afterlife, he gently satirizes life here on earth. Other notable books by Henry Fielding include "Tom Jones", "Joseph Andrews", and "The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon".

First published in 1751, Amelia is a sentimental novel, the fourth and final novel written by Henry Fielding.Amelia follows a young woman who marries a man against her familys wishes. The couple moves to another city to start a new life togetherRaising questions about married life, gender equality, and justice, Ameliais one of Fieldings most popular novels. It also contains many interesting allusions to classical literature.Fielding, an 18th-century novelist who wrote literary fiction and romance, is remembered for his satire, humor, and sharp, insightful writing. Before writing novels, Fielding worked as a magistrate and helped to form Londons first police force, the Bow Street Runners.

"The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" is a 1749 novel by Henry Fielding. It has been hailed as one of the great comic novels of English literature and Fieldings masterpiece. The novel is divided into eighteen books and aims to explore human nature, covering a wide variety of social themes and literary styles.A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squirethough he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" is one of the most ambitious comic novels in English literature.

Joseph Andrews es un libro que ha de leerse como quien escucha m#sica y al escucharla busca no tanto dejarse arrastrar por la armon#a de los sonidos como percibir con la mente el dise#o total que da forma a la composici#n. Esta novela refleja la vida, introduce la Inglaterra del siglo XVIII y nos descubre el mundo creado por Fielding. De la f#rmula poema #pico-c#mico en prosa que Fielding (1707-1754) elige para encuadrar Joseph Andrews dentro de la tradici#n literaria cl#sica, el elemento m#s significativo es sin duda el adjetivo c#mico. A partir de la figura de Don Quijote y con la creaci#n del vicario Adams, Fielding consigue mantener el afecto de los lectores hacia el personaje, a pesar de su absurdo comportamiento, gracias a las virtudes que lo adornan. El autor no hace el menor esfuerzo por pasar inadvertido: no nos ofrece el placer de la simulaci#n de la realidad, sino el espect#culo del arte y de la inteligencia es fruct#fera conjunci#n. Quiz# lo m#s destacable de Joseph Andrews sea la presencia de ese narrador que se muestra alternativamente ir#nico y moralista, que jam#s se identifica plenamente con ninguno de los puntos de vista que expone y que se obstina en su independencia sin concedernos otra segurid