Joseph Andrews is a novel—an early example of the genre in English literature. Although entirely fictional, Fielding writes the work in the style of a historical biography, treating his subject—Joseph Andrews—as though he is a real historical figure, as in Book 1, Chapter 1:
The authentic History with which I now present the public is an Instance of the great Good that Book is likely to do, and of the Prevalence of Example which I have just observed since it will appear that it was by keeping the excellent Pattern of his Sister’s Virtues before his Eyes, that Mr Joseph Andrews was chiefly enabled to preserve his Purity in the midst of such great Temptations;
In presenting his novel as a biography, Fielding hopes to capitalize on the moralizing effects of real biographies written about virtuous people—although this entire characterization is quite playful. In Fielding's preface to Joseph Andrews, he defines his own work as a "comic Epic-Poem in Prose," and, sure enough, Fielding's work is both decidedly comedic and often playfully overwrought in the manner of the satirical mock-epics of the 18th century. As their name suggests, these mock-epics parodied the style and syntax of classical epic poetry. Joseph Andrews is thus a synthetic novel, displaying Fielding's keen awareness of literary conventions of his era and his ability to subvert the format of the novel through the constant invocation of other genres.
