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Article: Works of Henry Fielding: Critical Commentary, Bibliography
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Fielding, Henry
Monarch Notes
01-01-1963
Critical Commentary, Bibliography
Critical Commentary
Early Reception:
Joseph Andrews, when it first appeared in 1742, enjoyed a measure of
popular success but did not evoke nearly as much interest as Richardson's
Pamela, and comments by contemporaries of literary distinction are few. We do
have, however, the interesting reactions of the poet Thomas Gray and his
friend Richard West. On the whole, Gray did not care for the book, and
although he allowed that "the characters have a great deal of nature" he
thought "the incidents ill laid and without invention." West, who had
recommended the book to Gray, chided him gently for his preference for the
fantasies ...