The Theme of Vanity in Fieldings Joseph Andrews

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding was a parody of Samuel Richardsons Pamela;
- In the novel Joseph is introduced as the sister of the illustrious Pamela whose virtue is at present so famous (Fielding 2);
The novel is an epic comedy written on the model of Don Quixote;
Vanity is one of the main themes of the novel;
- Fielding mentions in the Introduction to the novel that the source of true Ridicule is Hypocrisy or vanity (Fielding xii).

Vanity is the pride in oneself;
Vanity of virtue is one of the main theme of the novel:
- Pamela was virtuous and so was Joseph Andrews but virtue (Fielding 2) is hypocritical according to Fielding;
- Parson Adams has vanity in bookish knowledge and contempt for lack of it;
- Slipslop has vanity of being the bridge between the two social strata.

Adams vanity lies in his pedagogic achievements:
- Adams believes that his knowledge gained from books is superior to those gained from experience;
- He boasts of his sons acumen, but is reality is found to be less than what he boasts;
In vanity of his bookish knowledge, Adams judges others:
- In chapter 17, the episode with the bookseller and the in-keeper shows Adams to be pompous about his knowledge (Fielding 27-33);
- In chapter 3 Adams is described by Fielding as a an excellent scholar but entirely ignorant of the ways of the world (Fielding 14).

Lady Booby has the vanity of social hierarchy:
- Fielding considers Vanity to be a virtue of affectation (Fielding xii);
- When Joseph rejects her plea for love, her vanity is hurt and she first throws him out of job them try to stop his marriage to Fanny;
- Vanity of rejection from a footman makes lady Booby become the villain of the novel;
- Lady booby is a satire on the virtue and chastity of the women of hierarchy who are hypocritical in their appearance to the world.

Mrs. Slipslop is addicted to her desire for social alleviation:

Slipslop feels she belongs to the higher class though she is a maid to Lady Booby;
Her vanity lies in her knowledge of the ways of the higher classes;
Her vanity was expressed in chapter 3 where she expressed her greater knowledge over Adams;
- Mrs. Slipslop, the waiting-gentlewoman, being herself the daughter of a curate, preserved some respect for Adams & always insisted on a deference to be paid to her understanding, as she had been frequently at London, and knew more of the world than a country parson could pretend to. (Fielding 6);
In her vanity she deliberately does not acknowledge Fannys courtesy and leaves the room.

Joseph is the male counterpart of Pamela in the beginning of the novel:

Guarding his chastity against the lusting Lady Booby, Mrs. Slipslop, and Betty;
His vanity was his innocence and ignorance;
- This was a satire that Fielding played on the Victorian concept of innocence and ignorance.

The theme of vanity in the novel arises from the treatment of hypocrisy:
- Lady Booby of her social hierarchical values and status;
- Pamela from her values of chastity and virtue;
- Mrs. Slipslops vanity lay in her acquaintance with the higher class is broken by her non-acceptance into the social hierarchy;
- Adams vanity in his knowledge is objected by his ignorance of the real world;
Though the vanities of the characters Fielding satirically depicts the futility of it all.