Abstract

The 18th century was a period when British novel rose and developed rapidly. Henry Fielding (1707-1754), as an important founding writer in the 18th century, created a new writing form, comic epic in prose. Joseph Andrews, as his first book, reflected his new literary theory in a comprehensive way. This thesis analyzes Joseph Andrew from the aspect of this literary theory and makes an in-depth analysis of its structure, plot, character portraying and its diction in order to discuss the artist features of comic epic reflected in the story. Besides, the paper explores the artist value of Joseph Andrews.

Key words: Henry Fielding; Joseph Andrews; comic epic in prose; artist features

摘要

Henry Fielding作为英国现代小说重要奠基人之一，独创了“散文体喜剧性史诗”这一理论。Joseph Andrews作为这一新文体的开山之作，显然也鲜明地体现了这一文体的艺术特色。本文将Henry Fielding的“散文体喜剧性史诗”这一理论与其代表作Joseph Andrews相结合，理论联系实践，更深入地分析把握Henry Fielding的Joseph Andrews这部作品以及其中所体现的“散文体喜剧性史诗”这一文体的艺术特色。通过分析Joseph Andrews的故事架构、小说情节、人物塑造和语言特色等四个方面，来探讨其中所体现的“散文体喜剧性史诗”这种文体的艺术特色以及Joseph Andrews这部小说的现实主义艺术价值，同时更好地厘清英国小说发展初期的特征。

关键词：约瑟夫•安德鲁斯传; 亨利•菲尔丁;散文体喜剧性史诗; 艺术特色

Chapter I Introduction
Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was a famous British novelist and playwright. He was regarded as the Founding Father of British Novel. Besides his excellent works, his theory of a new writing form, comic epic in prose, was worth being admired. The new writing form was a dynamic integration of epic and comic which bears the characteristics of both and makes a great innovation. This theory and its practice created a new direction of novel writing and had consolidated the status of British novels.
Joseph Andrews, as his first published novel, has won him great fame. The book was at first written as a satire to Richardson’s Pamela, which was a popular novel then. Pamela, also named Virtue Rewarded, told a story of how an ordinary servant named Pamela get to the noble class with her chastity and virtue. Fielding regarded the chastity of Pamela as hypocrisy so he decided to write Joseph Andrews, Joseph Andrews talks about the story of a young man Joseph Andrews, an orphan, who was also the brother of Richardson’s Pamela. He was driven out of the manor he worked after his rejection to Lady Booby’s vamp. He then set up from London to find his true love Fanny during which he met different kind of incidents and finally had a happy ending with Fanny. The book was a great trial of his new theory and reflected the basic features of comic epic in prose.