Knowra Henry Fielding Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (1707–1754) was an English novelist, playwright, and magistrate whose comic novels, especially Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones , helped shape the English novel.
Tom Jones : A comic novel by Henry Fielding, published in 1749, tracing its foundling hero’s adventures toward recognition and marriage. Fielding’s most celebrated novel brings together his comic plotting and broad social panorama.
The Tragedy of Tragedies : A burlesque play by Henry Fielding, first staged in 1731, that parodies heroic tragedy and contemporary theatrical conventions. This stage success shows the theatrical satire Fielding wrote before his major novels.
Samuel Richardson : An English novelist whose epistolary works include Pamela and Clarissa . Richardson’s moral and sentimental fiction differs sharply from Fielding’s comic narrative voice.
Augustan literature : English writing of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, marked by classical models, satire, and formal balance. Fielding’s satire and classical allusions belong to this literary culture.
History of the Novel : The development of prose fiction as a major literary form across different periods and cultures. Fielding’s self-conscious narrative style became part of the novel’s formal history.
Joseph Andrews : A comic novel by Henry Fielding, published in 1742, about a virtuous young footman and his travels with Parson Adams. Fielding first called this work a comic epic poem in prose.
The Historical Register for the Year 1736 : A satirical play by Henry Fielding that mocked political corruption and contemporary public life. Its political satire contributed to the controversy surrounding Fielding’s theatrical career.
Charlotte Lennox : An English novelist and playwright whose works include The Female Quixote . Lennox’s fiction, like Fielding’s, satirized literary conventions and readers’ expectations.
The Licensing Act 1737 : A British law that subjected new plays to official licensing and restricted theatrical performance. The law curtailed the theatrical environment in which Fielding had built his early career.
Omniscient narrator : A narrator who can report events and characters’ thoughts beyond any single participant’s knowledge. Fielding’s narrators interrupt the story to comment on its structure, characters, and moral interpretation.
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