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Chapter 5: In between the two parts of this oral narration, it constructs a slapstick-comedy (comicada 'torte in faccia') situation: while defending Joseph from the arrogance of an inn's host, Adams and the host start fighting. The host clearly shows his social pretensions: he thinks that these travelers are inferior to him and therefore not worthy of his respect; this is a kind of arrogance based on rank, mixed with vanity and hypocrisy, that we often encounter in the novel (see the character of Miss Grave-airs - another symbolic name - in the following pages). In this passage we have a further example of how Fielding's irony is based on euphemisms (the fight is described as an exchange of formalities: see Hawley's "Introduction") and hyperboles (the stream of blood) culminating in the host's wife throwing on Adams a full pot of hog's blood (sangue di maiale, sanguinaccio) with comic results.

Chapter 8-9: Adams meets a gentleman.

First Adams gives him a long speech on political elections (Hawley's "Introduction", pp. VII, XVII-XVIII, notices how Fielding's tends to mix classical allusions to permanent models with topical (of-his-day) issues). Then the gentleman begins a tirade (long speech) about the importance of nationalism and patriotism. Suddenly they hear a woman shouting from the woods because she is being raped; while Adams runs to her help, the gentleman vanishes, inspiring the narrator's irony. The description of the ensuing fight develops Fielding's criticism of would-be heroes. The underlined phrases represent ironic circumlocutions (giri di parole) through which Fielding, in short, describes heroes and leaders and army commanders as thick-headed, empty of rational faculties – in other words, less intelligent than ordinary people. Moreover, he implicitly compares these (usually respectable) figures to the present rapist, thus expressing a very negative moral judgement.

About them. (This irony on masculine, virile heroes in II.9 contrasts with the heroic model offered by Joseph – we will deal with this when we come to III.11).

Chapter 11: Other examples of social criticism, Adams and the nearly-raped young woman (she is none other than Fanny, Adams finds out!) are taken to a local magistrate who believes the attacker’s version of the events just because he looks more respectable. We are shown a parody of justice: this drunkenly judge behaves ignorantly and offensively towards the two real victims, until a local squire (signorotto, possidente) in the crowd recognizes Adams. Once again, rank and social class appear as the most important value in life – to which Fielding opposes humble characters like Fanny, who is described in chapter 12 as bearing “a natural gentility”.

Chapter 13: it sees the coincidental reunion of Adams and Fanny with Joseph – and with Mrs. Slipslop, again frustrated in her sexual purposes concerning Joseph.

Joseph and Fanny ask Adamsto marry them immediately, but he refuses and convinces them to follow the usual procedure. In theconcluding Chapters of Book II, the three protagonists find themselves in financial straits, lackingmoney to continue their journey back home. Adams first asks a loan from the local clergyman,parson Trulliber, who, like parson Barnabas, reveals himself very little charitable. Then they arehelped by the generosity of a simple peddler (venditore ambulante), who will later become veryimportant for the novel's plot. And so we come to the conclusion of Book II. Book III Chapter I: Book III is opened, once again, by a Chapter on a literary digression. Here we can find avery important statement by Fielding, which confirms his neo-classical orientation. What we havehere is a declaration of realism, where Fielding says: I am inspired not by single living individuals,but by models of behaviour I have seen in many people and that have been existing since ages. Thefactche sono vecchi, modelli eterni non li rende meno reali. Questo è collegato allo scopo didattico del suo lavoro. Fielding confronta la sua scrittura a uno specchio capace di mostrare ai lettori i loro difetti e peccati in modo compassionevole e gentile. Questo passaggio esemplifica la qualità amabile e di buon cuore dell'ironia di Fielding, che culmina nella sua descrizione positiva del parroco Adams nonostante tutti i suoi difetti (su questa qualità benevola dell'ironia di Fielding come particolarmente evidente in Adams, vedere anche l'introduzione di Hawley, p.XV. Secondo Hawley, Adams è da ammirare, ma non da seguire come modello. Lo stile ironico di Fielding serve anche a creare una distanza tra i personaggi e i lettori in questo senso.) Capitolo 2: i tre protagonisti continuano il loro viaggio. In più di un'occasione, Adams mostra la sua mancanza di orientamento (con effetti comici), mentre Joseph è molto più pratico e con i piedi per terra.

piedi per terra). Then they meet a kind gentleman, Mr. Wilson, who welcomes them and tells them the story of his life, which continues through chapter 3 and 4. Once again, Adams cannot refrain from intruding with his moralising comments. Just like “The History of Leonora” in Book II, Mr. Wilson’s tale could be defined an interpolated tale. Here, too, vanity is one of the key-concepts. Mr. Wilson’s youthful dissolute time in London is compared by many critics to the sequence “A Rake’s Progress” by the painter William Hogarth. It also re-affirms the opposition ‘immoral town vs. virtuous country life’, that we found in Book I. Differently from the story of Leonora, though, Mr. Wilson’s adventures will show, in Book IV, to have a direct and decisive connection with the three protagonists – read carefully Wilson’s tale.

Chapter 6: while proceeding with their journey, they are taken by surprise by a group of hunters with their

pack of dogs. Adams, who is asleep, is attacked by the frantic dogs, and Joseph bravely defends him. Then the narrator invokes the Muse to help his description of Joseph's valour; he describes the origin and the story of Joseph's cudgel (randello) – a passage that is often compared to the description of Achille's shield from Homer's Ilyad, in a clear example of neo-classical style (see note 13 of the Penguin edition edited by Hawley). The description of this fight is developed further. The first two underlined phrases reinforce the neo-classical suggestions of this excerpt: Joseph is almost described like a god descended on earth. The following ones are another example of Fielding's irony: the narrator claims that no simile (similitudine) is mentioned to describe Joseph because it would interrupt the description – whereas he is interrupting it in any case with this reflection (this is a sort of preterition, preterizione, when you declare that you

don't want to say/do something while saying/doing it at the same time). Finally, no fitting simile can be found to be compared to Joseph because Joseph is above all of them: therefore, he constitutes a simile himself, that other authors should use when describing their heroes. In a way, then, not only does Fielding's neo-classical inspiration aim at being inspired by past models, but it also aims at becoming a model itself for future authors (even though this, too, could be seen from the perspective of Fielding's irony).

Chapters 7-8-9-10: the people who led the hunting party, connected to an immoral local squire, invite the three protagonists and later kidnap the beautiful Fanny.

Chapter 11: we find Adams and Joseph tied together back to back. Joseph gives free rein to his despair. The following pages certainly bear ironic suggestions, especially when Adams goes into details about what might happen to Fanny (thus deepening Joseph's suffering) and then exhorts Joseph to

submit to God's will like a true Christian. But they also present Joseph under a heroic light. The underlined phrase above considers Joseph's tears as inappropriate for a hero, but he concludes this Chapter by quoting Shakespeare's Macbeth. This quotation is one of the passages in the novel where Joseph is presented as a peculiar kind of hero, as opposed to dominant conceptions of heroism (about which Fielding is often skeptical, as mentioned above). Joseph is masculine, strong and virile and rational as traditional heroes are supposed to be; at the same time, he is not afraid to show his feelings and his sufferings, which at the time were qualities usually associated to women. As a hero, then, Joseph is a mix of virtues that at the time were usually considered as polarized, separated, between the two biological sexes. Joseph's gender identity conciliates these traditionally opposed genders: he has, in other words, a cross-gender identity.

A more expansive definition of what masculine identity can be. (We are referring here to some gender interpretations of Joseph Andrews, such as Jill Campbell's essay "The exact picture of his mother: Recognizing Joseph Andrews" (ELH 55:3, 1988; you can find it in the online UniTo catalogue TUTTO) and Angela Smallwood's book Fielding and the Woman Question: The Novels of Henry Fielding and Feminist Debate, 1700-1750 (1989). According to Campbell, for example, Joseph's 'feminine' qualities were used for a satirical and parodic - anti-Pamela - purpose in the first Chapters of the book, whereas in its following parts Joseph acquires the stature of an original hero and a fully human, complex, cross-gender character. To grossly simplify, by gender criticism we mean an approach to literature which is concerned with the relationship between genders, the fluidity of gender identities and their relations with their historical/cultural context. See

also Hawley's "Introduction", p. II). Chapter 12: Fanny is saved by the arrival of Peter Pounce, Lady Booby's steward (maggiordomo, sovrintendente della servitù), who is traveling by stage-coach towards Lady Booby's country estate. Chapter 13: Pounce also gives Adams a lift, and they start a conversation on charity. Pounce, who is the epitome of the miser (avaro), is so convinced in his denial of the need to be charitable that he rejects the existence of suffering, to the point of comparing people to animals. From this point on, their conversations becomes more and more tense, until a disgusted Adams jumps out of the running coach – a hyperbolic and exaggerated example of the strict connection between his principles and his behavior. And so, we come to the conclusion of Book III. 03/03/20 Book IV The protagonists' wanderings are now over, and the plot is set back in Lady Booby's country estate, the parish where Adams works as parson. Chapter I:o her old ways, seeking pleasure and attention from other men. Lady Booby's character is portrayed as a complex and conflicted individual, struggling with her emotions and desires. Despite her initial anger towards Joseph, she cannot deny her attraction to him. This internal struggle adds depth to her character and creates tension in the story.