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
Joseph Andrews has uneasily put up with Beau Didapper (who despite trying to rape Fanny earlier is now talking freely with her). When he touches Fanny too freely, Joseph hits him on the ear. Joseph says he’ll fight Didapper however he likes. Lady Booby and Squire Booby chastise Joseph’s violence, but Abraham Adams stands up for Joseph’s character. They continue arguing with him; Pamela scolds Fanny for believing she’s a suitable match for Joseph, and Fanny starts to cry.
Beau Didapper’s casual appearance at the dinner table suggests once again how the wealthy are able to avoid facing the consequences of their actions. Seeing the injustice of this, Joseph tries to take matters into his own hands—while noted fighter Abraham Adams takes Joseph’s side, the other characters care more about politeness than about justice.
Themes
Joseph Andrews leaves with Fanny, and Lady Booby’s group leaves soon afterward. One of Abraham Adams’s daughters complains that all the strangers took food away from the Adams family’s table, but Dick says he’d happily give Fanny all his bread and cheese. Adams says that Dick is a good Christian, and that he loves him best. Joseph, Fanny, and the pedlar return, and Adams offers them dinner.
Adams’s son Dick seems to think like him, while his daughter acts more like Mrs. Adams, perhaps reflecting how the children have been socialized to learn their different roles in society from a young age. While Adams’s daughter may seem less charitable, she is also maybe more practical, since Adams frequently lives outside his own means and has to take on debts.
Themes
