SOURCE: Humphreys, A. R. Introduction to Joseph Andrews preceded by Shamela, by Henry Fielding, edited with an introduction by A. R. Humphreys, pp. vii-xi. London: J. M. Dent, 1973.

In the following excerpt, Humphreys argues that Shamela attacks a number of literary and political figures, and that Fielding's parody is a result of his irritation with the moralizing tone of some of his contemporaries, which was brought to a head with the publication of Pamela.

In April 1741, five months after Pamela appeared, Fielding disclosed his opinion of Richardson's book. An Apology for the Life of Mrs Shamela Andrews, while directed mainly against Pamela, purports, however, to be by ‘Conny Keyber’, a pseudonym aiming jointly at Conyers Middleton and Colley Cibber but hardly sufficing, either then or now, to conceal Fielding's authorship, which is evident in incontrovertible identity of phrase and outlook between this and his other works.¹ Middleton, librarian...