51 pages 1 hour read

Henry Fielding

The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1742

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Book 2, Chapters 8-17

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 2, Chapter 8 Summary: “A notable dissertation by Mr. Abraham Adams; wherein that gentleman appears in a political light”

In their conversation, Adams tells the partridge hunter about his experiences with politicians, as well as his desire to get his son ordained.

Book 2, Chapter 9 Summary: “In which the gentleman discants on bravery and heroic virtue, till an unlucky accident puts an end to the discourse”

The hunter invites Adams to his house and, on the way, continues to tell Adams the importance of bravery and sacrifice for one’s country. When night falls, the men hear a woman screaming. Adams rushes to help, but the man proves to be a coward and runs way toward his house. Adams goes to help the woman, who is struggling against a man who is trying to rape her. Adams fights the man and beats him to the point where he thinks he may have killed him. The woman recounts the story the attempted rape to Adams, who considers whether he should turn himself in for killing her attacker.

Book 2, Chapter 10 Summary: “Giving an account of the strange catastrophe of the preceding adventure, which drew poor Adams into fresh calamities; and who the woman was who owed the preservation of her chastity to his victorious arm”

A group of young men approaches Adams and the woman, and Adams tells them what happened. The attacker regains consciousness and tells the young men that Adams was the one who attacked him, and the woman was his accomplice. The young men look at Adams and the woman, decide they have “villainous” (100) and guilty faces, and judge that Adams and the woman are the attackers. They take Adams and the woman prisoner and bring them before a judge.

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