SOURCE: Varey, Simon. “Shamela and Joseph Andrews.” In Henry Fielding, pp. 46-52. London: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

In the following excerpt, Varey examines the parody of Pamela which Fielding uses in Shamela as a forerunner of the parodical elements in Joseph Andrews.

Samuel Richardson's first novel, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded was published in November 1740. It was a triumph, a sensation. Perpetually tinkering with his text, Richardson brought out four revised editions in less than a year. He soon added a sequel (Pamela in her Exalted Condition) and later virtually rewrote the whole novel twice more. Pamela had also provoked other writers to take up their pens. Like most literary triumphs, this novel was subjected to spurious sequels, adaptations, imitations, and parodies. One of the parodists was Fielding, who hated Pamela with a passion. Five months after the first appearance of Richardson's long novel, Fielding reacted with a short pamphlet...