59-431: In 1752, Henry Fielding started a "paper war", a long-term dispute with constant publication of pamphlets attacking other writers, between the various authors on London's Grub Street . Although it began as a dispute between Fielding and John Hill , other authors, such as Christopher Smart , Bonnell Thornton , William Kenrick , Arthur Murphy and Tobias Smollett , were soon dedicating their works to aid various sides of
118-422: A "comic epic poem in prouse", he blended two classical traditions: that of the epic, which had been poetic, and that of the drama, but emphasizing the comic rather than the tragic. Another distinction of Joseph Andrews and the novels to come was use of everyday reality of character and action, as opposed to the fables of the past. While begun as a parody, it developed into an accomplished novel in its own right and
177-544: A Foundling was a seminal work in the genre. Along with Samuel Richardson , Fielding is seen as the founder of the traditional English novel. He also played an important role in the history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom , using his authority as a magistrate to found the Bow Street Runners , London's first professional police force . Henry Fielding was born on 22 April 1707 at Sharpham Park,
236-461: A Wit tried to provoke further response from Smart. However, Smart stopped responding to either of these assaults. Soon after, Hill ended his attacks with the final shot in December 1752. Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel The History of Tom Jones,
295-563: A development of possibilities already encoded in Richardson's work, rather than a simple attack. Another novel by Fielding parodying Pamela , albeit not so explicitly, is The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend, Mr. Abraham Adams (February 1742), more commonly known as Joseph Andrews . Also, as the title and paratexts make clear, Shamela is also a spoof against Colley Cibber's Apology ( An Apology for
354-459: A famous Surgeon, who absolutely cured one Mrs Amelia Booth, of a violent Hurt in her Nose, insomuch, that she had scarce a Scar left on it, intends to bring Actions against several ill-meaning and slanderous People, who have reported that the said Lady had no Nose, merely because the Author of her History, in a Hurry, forgot to inform his Readers of that Particular. Hill was not the only one to attack
413-605: A fortnightly, The Covent-Garden Journal , published under the pseudonym "Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knt., Censor of Great Britain" until November of that year. Here Fielding challenged the "armies of Grub Street " and periodical writers of the day in a conflict that became the Paper War of 1752–1753 . Fielding then published Examples of the Interposition of Providence in the Detection and Punishment of Murder (1752),
472-410: A friend of Smart, to attack Fielding and Hill. However, Hill had previously aided Fielding in this matter. Later, Hill attacked both Fielding and Smart, 13 August 1752, in the only issue of The Impertinent to be produced. Although the work was published anonymously, it was commonly known that it was produced by Hill, and he soon followed up the pamphlet with his 25 August 1752 The Inspector column in
531-403: A girl's chastity has eventual value as a commodity – as well as the awkwardness of the epistolary form in dealing with ongoing events, and the triviality of the detail which the form necessitates, were some of the main targets of Fielding's travesty. Recent criticism has explored the ways in which Pamela in fact dramatises its own weaknesses. From this perspective, Fielding's work may be seen as
590-564: A minor piece in his life's work, it reflects his preoccupation with fraud, shamming and masks. His greatest work is The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), a meticulous comic novel with elements of the picaresque and the Bildungsroman , telling a convoluted tale of how a foundling came into a fortune. The novel tells of Tom's alienation from his foster father, Squire Allworthy, and his sweetheart, Sophia Western, and his reconciliation with them after lively and dangerous adventures on
649-484: A political follower of Chesterfield. The other prominent opposition paper, Common Sense , founded by Chesterfield and Lyttelton, was named after a character in Fielding's Pasquin (1736). Fielding wrote at least two articles for it in 1737 and 1738. Fielding continued to air political views in satirical articles and newspapers in the late 1730s and early 1740s. He was the main writer and editor from 1739 to 1740 for
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#1732773060361708-647: A production called Fun and proceeded to defend Fielding. Charles Macklin followed suit by holding a benefit on 8 April 1752 at the Covent Garden with a two-act play called The Covent Garden Theater, or Pasquin Turn'd Drawcansir ; the play portrayed Fielding attacking the Hill and his followers, the "Town". A pamphlet in the London Daily Advertiser published on 29 January 1752 called The March of
767-523: A proposal for abolishing public hangings. This did not, however, imply opposition to capital punishment as such – as is evident, for example, in his presiding in 1751 over the trial of the notorious criminal James Field , finding him guilty in a robbery and sentencing him to hang. John Fielding, despite being blind by then, succeeded his older brother as chief magistrate, becoming known as the "Blind Beak of Bow Street" for his ability to recognise criminals by their voices alone. In January 1752 Fielding started
826-516: A rileggere Pamela attraverso una lente deformante. Un dato testo è sovvertito, dissacrato, ma anche riscritto in una forma suscettibile di rivelarne, oltre agli aspetti risibili, le implicazioni nascoste, gettendo magari le basi di uno sviluppo futuro. Fielding's parody revises the conversational exchanges between Pamela and B. into a condensed, degraded pastiche that exposes the truly sordid nature of Richardson's dialogue. ... readers of Shamela who return to Pamela often feel themselves to be reading
885-574: A successful writer. Her novel The Governess, or The Little Female Academy (1749) is thought to be the first in English aimed expressly at children. Fielding married Charlotte Craddock in 1734 at the Church of St Mary in Charlcombe , Somerset. She died in 1744, and he later modelled the heroines of Tom Jones and of Amelia on her. They had five children; their only daughter Henrietta died at
944-641: A treatise rejecting deistic and materialistic visions of the world in favour of belief in God's presence and divine judgement, arguing that the murder rate was rising due to neglect of the Christian religion. In 1753 he wrote Proposals for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor . Fielding's humanitarian commitment to justice in the 1750s (for instance in support of Elizabeth Canning ) coincided with rapid deterioration in his health. Gout , asthma and cirrhosis of
1003-500: A wealthy benefactor, on whom Squire Allworthy in Tom Jones would be based. Allen went on to provide for the education and support of Fielding's children after the writer's death. Fielding never stopped writing political satire and satires of current arts and letters. The Tragedy of Tragedies (for which Hogarth designed the frontispiece) was, for example, quite successful as a printed play. Based on his earlier Tom Thumb , this
1062-564: Is a sustained parody of, and direct response to, the stylistic failings and moral hypocrisy that Fielding saw in Richardson's Pamela . Reading Shamela amounts to re-reading Pamela through a deforming magnifying glass ; Richardson's text is rewritten in a way that reveals its hidden implications, to subvert and desecrate it. Richardson's epistolary tale of a resolute servant girl, armed only with her 'virtue' to battle against her master's attempts at seduction, had become an overnight literary sensation in 1741. The implicit moral message – that
1121-481: Is composed, like Pamela , in epistolary form. Shamela was originally published anonymously on 4 April 1741 and sold for one shilling and sixpence. A second edition came out on 3 November that same year which was partly reimpressed and partly reset where emendations were made. A pirated edition was printed in Dublin in 1741 as well. Reprint editions have subsequently appeared as texts for academic study. Shamela
1180-482: Is in fact a wicked and lascivious creature—daughter to a London prostitute—who schemes to entrap her master, Squire Booby, into marriage. Later, however, it was discovered Shamela was having an affair with the Reverend. The verbal and physical violence of Richardson's "Mr. B" (whose name is revealed to be Booby) to his servant maid are hyperbolized, rendering their supposed love-match contemptible and absurd. The novel
1239-639: Is seen as Fielding's debut as a serious novelist. In 1743, he published a novel in the Miscellanies volume III (which was the first volume of the Miscellanies): The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great , which is sometimes counted as his first, as he almost certainly began it before he wrote Shamela and Joseph Andrews . It is a satire of Walpole equating him and Jonathan Wild , the gang leader and highwayman. He implicitly compares
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#17327730603611298-464: Is written as a shocking revelation of the true events which took place in the life of Pamela Andrews, the main heroine of Pamela . Shamela starts with a letter from a Parson Thomas Tickletext to his friend, Parson J. Oliver, in which Tickletext is completely smitten by Pamela , and insists Oliver gives the book a read. In response, however, Oliver reveals her true nature is not so virtuous, and he has letters to prove her real character. The rest of
1357-533: The Church of England led to his appointment a year later as Westminster's chief magistrate , while his literary career went from strength to strength. Most of his work concerned London's criminal population of thieves, informers, gamblers and prostitutes. Though living in a corrupt and callous society, he became noted for impartial judgements, incorruptibility and compassion for those whom social inequities led into crime. The income from his office ("the dirtiest money upon earth") dwindled as he refused to take money from
1416-608: The Gray's Inn Journal . Following Murphy, Thornton attacked both Hill and Fielding in The Spring-Garden Journal on 16 November 1752. The Gentleman's Journal issue of November 1752 came out with a quick retort and claimed that those who supported Hill "espoused the cause of Gentleman" and those who sided with Fielding espoused the cause "of the comedian." This essay accomplished little but to polarise both sides even more. Hill then responded to Murphy, and their dispute
1475-485: The London Daily Advertiser . With the column, he harshly criticized Smart's Poems on Several Occasions . Fielding eventually left the dispute after the sixth issue of The Covent-Garden Journal was published. Although it is quite possible that the first work in the "war" was produced by Smart on 29 April 1751, it is also possible that the origins of the dispute could be traced even further back to Hill's publications between February and March 1751. Fielding's first paper in
1534-534: The Whig party in Parliament with a gang of thieves run by Walpole, whose constant desire to be a "Great Man" (a common epithet with Walpole) ought to culminate in the antithesis of greatness: hanging. Fielding's anonymous The Female Husband (1746) fictionalizes a case in which a female transvestite was tried for duping another woman into marriage; this was one of several small pamphlets costing sixpence. Though
1593-792: The "war" was also the first issue of The Covent-Garden Journal on 4 January 1752. In it, Fielding attacked all of the writers of Grub Street, which brought a quick response. Hill responded twice and claimed that Fielding was planning a fake dispute on 9 January 1752, Smollet attacked Hill's piece on 15 January 1752, and Thornton soon responded against Fielding in Have At You All: or, The Drury Lane Journal on 16 January 1752. During this time, personal works, such as Fielding's Amelia , became targets. On 11 January 1752, Fielding responded to Hill and those who supported his view of Amelia in The Covent-Garden Journal by stating:
1652-508: The Books and Fielding pretended to be a military leader that would lead "English VETERANS" against those who were compared to characters from the Greek and Roman classics along with those from modern French literature. However, he changed roles on the fourth issue, produced on 14 January 1752, and transformed himself into a "judge". By February, Kenrick joined in and "dramatized" the "Paper War" in
1711-478: The Life of Colley Cibber, Comedian ), published the same year, as well as a dig at Conyers Middleton , whose Life of Cicero , written at the request of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey , was perceived by opposition authors as a panegyric of sorts for the controversial administration of Robert Walpole . Some critics have pointed out that the popularity of Richardson's Pamela and Cibber's Apology alerted Fielding to
1770-503: The Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews , or simply Shamela , as it is more commonly known, is a satirical burlesque novella by English writer Henry Fielding . It was first published in April 1741 under the name of Mr. Conny Keyber . Fielding never admitted to writing the work, but it is widely considered to be his. It is a direct attack on the then-popular novel Pamela (1740) by Fielding's contemporary and rival Samuel Richardson and
1829-558: The Lion links various authors involved in the war and is the first to introduce Smart via a reference to his "Mrs. Mary Midnight" pseudonym, although Smart was not yet a participant. However, Smart did begin directly participating in the matter 4 August 1752 with the publication in The Midwife of a parody on Hill's "Inspector" persona. In the piece, Smart responded to Hill's attack on Smart's "Old Woman's Oratory" show and Hill's claim that
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1888-661: The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole . His patron was the opposition Whig MP George Lyttelton , a boyhood friend from Eton to whom he later dedicated Tom Jones . Lyttelton followed his leader Lord Cobham in forming a Whig opposition to Walpole's government called the Cobhamites , which included another of Fielding's Eton friends, William Pitt. In The Craftsman , Fielding voiced an opposition attack on bribery and corruption in British politics. Despite writing for
1947-438: The age of 23, having already been "in deep decline" when she married a military engineer, James Gabriel Montresor , some months before. Three years after Charlotte's death, Fielding disregarded public opinion by marrying her former maid Mary Daniel, who was pregnant. Mary bore five children: three daughters who died young, and two sons, William and Allen. Despite the scandal, Fielding's consistent anti-Jacobitism and support for
2006-413: The conflict. The dispute lasted until 1753 and involved many of London's periodicals. It eventually resulted in countless essays, poems, and even a series of mock epic poems starting with Smart's The Hilliad . Although it is unknown what actually started the dispute, it resulted in a divide of authors who either supported Fielding or supported Hill, and few in between. Fielding started a "paper war" in
2065-524: The eighteenth century. Henry Fielding would construct "the non-ironic pseudonym such as Addison and Steele used in the Spectator, and the ironic mask or Persona , such as Swift used in A Modest Proposal." The Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737 is said to be a direct response to his activities in writing for the theatre. Although the play that triggered the act was the unproduced, anonymously authored The Golden Rump , Fielding's dramatic satires had set
2124-546: The first issue of The Covent-Garden Journal (4 January 1752) by declaring war against "hack writers". In response, John Hill claimed in the London Daily Advertiser (9 January 1752) Fielding had met with him prior to January and proposed what would be a fake paper war that would involve London writers "giving Blows that would not hurt, and sharing the Advantage in Silence." Such a meeting between Fielding and Hill to discuss
2183-585: The latter, if he had rejected it." Regardless of the merits of Hill's claim, a war was soon started: by the third issue of The Covent-Garden Journal , Fielding narrowed his satire upon John Hill. Although Hill, Fielding, Smart, Thornton, Kenrick, Murphy, and Smollett were all involved in the dispute, not all of them used their actual names; instead, many preferred to use pseudonyms along with attacks under their own name: Fielding wrote as "Sir Alexander Drawcansir"; Hill wrote as "The Inspector"; Thornton wrote as "Madam Roxanna"; and Smart wrote as "Mrs. Mary Midnight". It
2242-520: The liver left him on crutches, and with other afflictions sent him to Portugal in 1754 to seek a cure, only to die two months later in Lisbon , reportedly in pain and mental distress. His tomb there is in the British Cemetery ( Cemitério Inglês ), the graveyard of St. George's Church, Lisbon . Further Adaptations An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews An Apology for
2301-589: The opposition to Walpole, which included Tories as well as Whigs, Fielding was "unshakably a Whig " and often praised Whig heroes such as the Duke of Marlborough and Gilbert Burnet . Fielding dedicated his play Don Quixote in England to the opposition Whig leader Lord Chesterfield . It appeared on 17 April 1734, the same day writs were issued for the general election . He dedicated his 1735 play The Universal Gallant to Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough ,
2360-575: The other critics are the prosecutors and it is they, not Amelia , that are truly put on trial. The Covent-Garden Journal served Fielding well and he used it in his attacks upon Hill and Hill's supporters in the Journal piece called "Journal of the present Paper War between the Forces under Sir Alexander Drawcansir, and the Army of Grub-street". The work was modelled after Jonathan Swift 's The Battle of
2419-450: The pamphlet Habbakkuk Hilding anonymously on 15 January 1752. Although there were many attacks against Fielding's novel, there was some support for the work, and an anonymous pamphlet was written to attack "Hill and 'the Town'" while praising Amelia . On 25 January 1752, Fielding defended his work again by bringing the novel before the imaginary "Court of Censorial Enquiry", in which Hill and
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2478-403: The pamphlet in the London Daily Advertiser . With his 25 August 1752 The Inspector column, Hill harshly criticised Smart's Poems on Several Occasions . Although Hill claimed to praise Smart, he did so in a manner, as Betty Rizzo claims, "that managed to insult and degrade Smart with patronizing encouragement." Arthur Murphy responded to this essay, and to Hill, in the 21 October 1752 edition of
2537-661: The possibilities of prose fiction for influencing the taste and morals of his contemporaries. Shamela , then, went far beyond satirizing Richardson and his supporters, for it allowed Fielding to rework, now in novelistic format, the topics that fascinated him as a satirical playwright, before the Licensing Act drove him away from drama. Un esempio canonico: quando Fielding trasforma la virtuosa servetta di Richardson prima in una spudorata arrampicatrice, poi in un irreprensibile garzone concupito dalla padrona, fa una parodia. Leggere Shamela e Joseph Andrews equivale pressapoco
2596-428: The proposed war is believed to have occurred (if it occurred) on 28 December 1751. It is known that Hill met Fielding for legal business between 26 and 28 December 1751 after Hill was robbed. Before Hill had revealed this information, he attacked Fielding's Amelia in the London Daily Advertiser on 8 January 1752. The book's title character, Amelia, was involved in an accident that damaged her face, and Hill, mocking
2655-470: The road and in London. It triumphs as a presentation of English life and character in the mid-18th century. Every social type is represented and through them every shade of moral behaviour. Fielding's varied style tempers the basic seriousness of the novel and his authorial comment before each chapter adds a dimension to a conventional, straightforward narrative. Fielding's younger sister, Sarah , also became
2714-538: The satirical paper The Champion , which was sharply critical of Walpole's government and of pro-government literary and political writers. He sought to evade libel charges by making its political attacks so funny or embarrassing to the victim that a publicized court case would seem even worse. He later became chief writer for the Whig government of Henry Pelham . Fielding took to novel writing in 1741, angered by Samuel Richardson 's success with Pamela . His first success
2773-893: The seat of his mother's family in Sharpham , Somerset. He was the son of Lt.-Gen. Edmund Fielding and Sarah Gould, daughter of Sir Henry Gould. A scion of the Earl of Denbigh , his father was nephew of William Fielding, 3rd Earl of Denbigh. Educated at Eton College , Fielding began a lifelong friendship with William Pitt the Elder . His mother died when he was 11. A suit for custody was brought by his grandmother against his charming but irresponsible father, Lt Gen. Edmund Fielding . The settlement placed Henry in his grandmother's care, but he continued to see his father in London. In 1725, Henry tried to abduct his cousin Sarah Andrews (with whom he
2832-435: The show was dead. Hill was quick to respond; he attacked both Fielding and Smart in a piece published on 13 August 1752 in the only issue of The Impertinent . In the work, Hill claimed that authors either write because "they have wit" or "they are hungry". He further claimed that Smart, wears a ridiculous comicalness of aspect, that makes people smile when they see him at a distance: His mouth opens, because he must be fed; and
2891-488: The story is told in letters between the major characters, such as Shamela, her mother, Henrietta Maria Honora Andrews—who is unwed in this version—Master Booby, Mrs. Jewkes, Mrs. Jervis, and Rev. Arthur Williams, much like in Pamela . In this version, however, her father is not present at all. In Shamela we also learn that, instead of being a kind, humble and chaste servant-girl, Pamela (whose true name turns out to be Shamela)
2950-502: The tone. Once it was passed, political satire on stage became all but impossible. Fielding retired from the theatre and resumed his legal career to support his wife Charlotte Craddock and two children by becoming a barrister , joining the Middle Temple in 1737 and being called to the bar there in 1740. Fielding's lack of financial acumen meant the family often endured periods of poverty, but they were helped by Ralph Allen ,
3009-457: The very poor. Joined by his younger half-brother John , he helped found what some call London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners , in 1749. According to the historian G. M. Trevelyan , the Fieldings were two of the best magistrates in 18th-century London, who did much to enhance judicial reform and improve prison conditions. Fielding's influential pamphlets and enquiries included
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#17327730603613068-614: The way Fielding described the scene, claimed that she "could charm the World without the Help of a Nose." In response to both the revelation and personal attacks, Fielding wrote on 11 January 1752: "If the Betrayer of a private Treaty could ever deserve the least Credit, yet his Lowness here must proclaim himself either a Liar, or a Fool. None can doubt that he is the former, if he hath feigned this Treaty, and I think few would scruple to call him
3127-519: The work; Thornton wrote satires of Amelia in the Drury-Lane Journal . Thornton's satires were first published on 16 January 1752 and included a fake advertisement for a parody novel called "Shamelia", playing off of title of Fielding's parody Shamela . He later parodied Amelia again on 13 February 1752 in a piece called "A New Chapter in Amelia ." Tobias Smollett joined in and published
3186-442: The world often joins with the philosopher in laughing at the insensibility and obstinancy that make him prick his lips with thistles." The work was published anonymously. Some tried to claim that Samuel Johnson was the author and Hill tried to hide his authorship by attacking the essay in the 25 August 1752 "The Inspector" (No. 464). However, he was soon exposed and it became commonly known that Hill produced both and he soon followed up
3245-479: Was an anonymous parody of that novel, called Shamela . This follows the model of Tory satirists of the previous generation, notably Swift and Gay. Fielding followed this with Joseph Andrews (1742), an original work supposedly dealing with Pamela's brother, Joseph. His purpose, however, was more than parody, for as stated in the preface, he intended a "kind of writing which I do not remember to have seen hitherto attempted in our language." In what Fielding called
3304-469: Was another of Fielding's irregular plays published under the name of H. Scriblerus Secundus, a pseudonym intended to link himself ideally with the Scriblerus Club of literary satirists founded by Jonathan Swift , Alexander Pope and John Gay . He also contributed several works to journals. From 1734 to 1739, Fielding wrote anonymously for the leading Tory periodical, The Craftsman , against
3363-478: Was infatuated) while she was on her way to church. He fled to avoid prosecution. In 1728, Fielding travelled to Leiden to study classics and law at the university. However, penury forced him back to London, where he began writing for the theatre. Some of his work savagely criticised the government of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole . According to George R. Levine, Henry Fielding, in his first writings used two forms of "rhetorical poses" that were popular during
3422-478: Was printed in a supplement of the December issue of the Gentleman's Journal . On 1 February 1753, Smart published The Hilliad , an attack upon Hill that one critic, Lance Bertelsen, describes as the "loudest broadside" of the war. The response to The Hilliad was swift: Samuel Derrick responded directly with his The Smartiad , Arthur Murphy criticized Smart for his personally attacking Hill, and Rules for Being
3481-512: Was under these pseudonyms that various authors soon responded to Fielding's attacks and to Fielding's plan for a "Universal Register Office", a planned center of advertisement of jobs, goods for sale, and other items. If this was not enough, Fielding started a dispute, just a few months before, with Philip D'Halluin, a former employee who established the competing "Public Register Office" in King Street, Covent Garden , who hired Bonnell Thorton,
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