V. Henry Fielding

　　1. 一般識記：His life & career

　　English author， born in Sharpham Park， England， April. 22. 1707， and died in Lisbon， Portugal， Oct. & 1754.

　　During his career as a dramatist， Fielding had attempted a considerable number of forms of plays. Witty comedies of manners or intrigues in the Restoration tradition， farce or ballad operas with political implication， & burlesques & satires that been heavily upon the status quo of England. Of all his plays， the best known are The coffee-House Politician （（1730）， The Tragedy of Tragedies （1730）， Pasquin （1736） & The Historical Register for the Year 1736（1737）。

　　Fielding started to write novels when he was preparing himself for the Bar. In 1742 appeared his first novel， The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews & of his friend Mr. Abraham Adams， Written in Imitation of the Manner of Cervantes， which was first intended as a burlesque of the dubious morality & false sentimentality of Richardson's Pamela. The next year came The History of Jonathan Wild the Great， a satiric biography that harks back to Fielding's early plays. The novel was followed by The History of Tom Jones， a Foundling （1749） & The History of Amelia （1751）。 The former is a masterpiece on the subject of human nature & the latter the story of the unfortunate life of an idealized woman， a maudlin picture of the social life at the time.

　　2. 識記： His major works

　　1） Joseph Andrews

　　In this novel， Joseph supposedly the young handsome & chaste brother of Richardson's virtuous heroine Pamela， is tempted by his amorous mistress， supposedly aunt of Pamela's husband， Mr. B. Here， instead of being rewarded for his virtue， Joseph is turned out of doors by his mistress. But the burlesque ends here； the book quickly turns into a great novel of the open road， a "comic epic in pr