Don Quixote and Joseph Andrews

In the midst of gaudy French Romance novels and harsh English satires stands an epic tale from a century earlier that comes from the country of Spain, which was in constant war with the Moors who had occupied it many centuries before.  Though it is a satire, it stood the test of time and is still well known to this day.  The piece of literature that I’m referring to is none other than Miguel de Cervantes’ The Life and Achievements of the Renowned Don Quixote.  From this work came one of many inspirations for Henry Fielding to write Joseph Andrews, which we will compare with Don Quixote in this essay.

Unlike his contemporaries, Don Quixote chooses to devote “himself to the neglected Profession of Knight-Errantry, to redress the Wrongs and Injuries” (Cervantes, 349).  In other words, he takes the life of the medieval knight, which he has only read about in books, and applies it in a quest to find his so-called princess Dulcinea.  However, due to chivalry being outdated by the 17^th century, Don Quixote’s actions often contradict with reality, therefore causing more harm than good to those around him.  A good example of this lies in how he dealt with the boy being abused by the rich farmer, who swore “by the Order of Knighthood, which has been conferred upon him” (Cervantes, 345).  Unfortunately, the farmer never lived up to his promise, and continued to abuse the boy shortly after Don Quixote left.

In comparison, Joseph Andrews is a poor boy employed by a rich man to work as his wife’s footman.  But shortly after her husband unexpectedly dies, the lady begins to try to seduce Joseph, and often calls him to her chambers.  Despite this, he resists her advancements because he is concerned for “the Chastity of his Family” (Fielding, 33), or his preference to not have sex before marriage.  This puts him at odds with the lady, who subsequently fires him, and leads him on a search for his true love Fanny.  Along the way, he comes across many challenges, such as the chambermaid at the inn he is forced to stay at due to being mugged by thieves, whom she considered “the handsomest Creature she had ever seen” (Fielding, 68) and tried to seduce him as well, though it ultimately backfires.

So when we take both Joseph Andrews and Don Quixote into consideration, there are many things these two heroes share in common.  For instance, both have highly romantic ideals, which are contrary to the beliefs of their contemporaries, which becomes a major source of conflict in their stories.  They also have an ideal woman who they are searching for, and the focal point of their journeys.  But there are also very strong differences that separate them.  While Don Quixote is seeing his world through a distorted lens and believing in his own world to the point of madness, Joseph Andrews sees what’s truly going on but uses his beliefs to counter them instead of ignoring them.  There is also a difference in the kinds of companions they have, with Joseph having a humanly priest who ends up playing a major role in finding Fanny, and a field worker who mostly ends up taking the brunt for Don Quixote’s mistakes with no reward.