A year later , in 1741, Henry Fielding writes a parody of Richardson’s PAMELA : “ An Apology
for the life of Mrs Shamela Andrews” , in which ,” the many notorious Falsehoods and
Misrepresentations of the book called PAMELA are exposed and refuted”. Fielding introduces the
comic–epic narration . The plot is no longer based on a simple sequence of events as in Defoe or
on a single story as in Richardson, but presents a well-knit combination of episodes , structured
and organized in an organic unit.
Any puritan idea is banished, the author does not want to be a moral teacher. He writes in the
Dedication of TOM JONES (1749): “ I have employed all the wit and humour of which I am a
master in the following history; wherein I have endeavoured to laugh mankind out of their favourite
follies and vices”. In the novel, the narrator is not a character in the story but makes his presence
felt all the same in a sort of ‘ confidential talk to the reader’ passages. He is omniscient and
knows everything about the characters but gradually moves them like puppets from one episode to
another to reveal the plot accompanied by his ‘epic tone of voice’ .
By the end of the novel , the narrator has communicated everything to the reader while being a
good entertainer.
