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Book 2, Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Joseph Andrews, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Hypocrisy
Lust vs. Chastity
Social Class
Religion and Charity
Summary
Analysis
The narrator claims that biography is a much higher genre than mere history. He writes that many of the worthiest works ever written are biographies, like Don Quixote. The narrator claims that in this current novel, he has written more or less what he’s really seen. He says that his characters are meant to satirize not individuals but broad groups of people who share similar qualities. The narrator writes that he’s mused long enough and encourages the reader to continue the tale.
The narrator’s monologue here is partly sarcastic. For example, Don Quixote is actually a work of fiction, not a biography (although like Joseph Andrews, it is structured like a biography, pretending that Don Quixote was a real person). But not all of the narrator’s claims are sarcastic, and some of his comments about the purpose of satire seem to honestly describe the novel’s intentions.
Themes
Literary Devices
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