<DIV><p>'Kissing, Joseph, is but a Prologue to a Play. Can I believe a young Fellow of your Age and Complexion will be content with Kissing?'</p> <p><b>Joseph Andrews</b>, Henry Fielding's first full-length novel, depicts the many colourful and often hilarious adventures of a comically chaste servant. After being sacked for spurning the lascivious Lady Booby, Joseph takes to the road, accompanied by his beloved Fanny Goodwill, a much-put-upon foundling girl, and Parson Adams, a man often duped and humiliated, but still a model of Christian charity. In the boisterous short tale <b>Shamela</b>, a brilliant parody of Richardson's <b>Pamela</b>, the spirited and sexually honest heroine uses coyness and mock modesty to catch herself a rich husband. Together these works anticipate Fielding's great comic epic <b>Tom Jones</b>, with their amiable good humour and pointed social satire.</p> <p>Judith Hawley's introduction compares the works of Fielding and Richardson, and discusses sex and class relations, and the literary and political world of the time. This volume also includes a chronology and suggestions for further reading.<BR> </p> </div>