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Synopsis: Joseph Andrews, Book 2
Ch. 1 — Fielding informs the reader that there is an art to dividing novels up into chapters and books; he compares it (satirically) to the butcher’s art.
Ch. 2 — When Adams discovers that he actually doesn’t have his sermons with him (his wife packed shirts instead), he decides to walk back home with Joseph after all. He and Joseph start out, sharing a horse by the “ride and tie” method, which separates them most of the time. Adams walks first, leaving Joseph behind to learn that Adams forgot to pay the bill for the horse’s board and feed. Adams has been walking for some time when he realizes that Joseph has not yet caught up to him; worried (and wet, because he waded through a puddle), he stops at a Tavern to wait for him.
Ch. 3 — Adams learns from two lawyers that Joseph is detained back at the Inn with no way to pay for the horse’s feed and lodging. While waiting for a storm to pass, he converses with the two lawyers and the Tavernkeeper. A coach pulls up, and Adams is surprised to learn that a woman in the coach has paid the horse-bill and released Joseph from the Inn — and is even more surprised to learn that the woman is Mrs. Slipslop, heading back to the Booby country estate. Joseph rides up, Adams is given a seat on the coach, and they travel on. In the coach, Adams and Slipslop gossip about Lady Booby’s passion for Joseph. They pass a house that another woman in the coach identifies as the home of “the unfortunate Leonora.”
Ch. 4 — The story of Leonora is told by the lady in the coach — a romance in which a frivolous young woman abandons her fiancé (Horatio), a good man who truly loves her, for a handsome rascal (Bellarmine). The two men fight a duel, Bellarmine is wounded, and Leonora is torn between them. The story is interrupted when the coach makes a dinner stop at an Inn.
Ch. 5 — At the Inn, they find Joseph already there, having a bruised leg (from a fall from his horse) tended by the Hostess. The Host angrily tells his wife to see to the other guests, getting into an argument with Joseph. Adams defends Joseph by getting into a fistfight with the Host. The Hostess defends her husband by hitting Adams with a pan full of pig’s blood. Mrs. Slipslop attacks the Hostess. The brawl is stopped by some passersby. Joseph takes Adams’s place in the coach and they travel on, Adams supposedly riding ahead on the horse.
Ch. 6 — The story of Leonora resumes. She has chosen the wounded Bellarmine over the noble Horatio, but when Bellarmine tries to negotiate her dowry with her father, he refuses to give her any money until after his death. Bellarmine abandons Leonora. The story ends with her living sad and alone, as does the jilted Horatio.
Ch. 7 — The people in the coach are surprised to catch up with Adams, who is walking rather than riding. He has forgotten the horse, and, seeing the coach, playfully tries to outrun it. He takes a wrong turn and gets lost. Sitting down to rest, he begins a conversation with a passing hunter.
Ch. 8 — Adams tells a rambling story about the difficulty of raising children in a world where who you know is more important than what you know.
Ch. 9 — Adams realizes that he is on the wrong road and the coach has passed him by. It’s growing dark, and the hunter (a gentleman) invites Adams to spend the night at his house. They hear female screams and discover a young woman being attacked by a man. The Hunter, frightened, runs away, but Adams fights with the attacker and eventually succeeds in knocking him out. He learns from the young woman that she had been traveling to London when she was attacked.
Ch. 10 — Some passing young men discover Adams and the young woman. The injured attacker accuses them of attacking him, and the passersby believe him. They discover a purse of gold on the girl, and assume she stole it. The group of young men take Adams and the girl to the Justice of the Peace. Along the way, Adams discovers that the girl is Fanny, Joseph’s sweetheart, headed for London to find him. Fanny pretends for a moment not to care that Joseph was going to home to find her, but Adams realizes that she really does love him.
Ch. 11 — The Justice and the young men, all ignorant and drunk, make fun of Adams and Fanny. One of the company finally recognizes Adams and assures the Justice that he’s an honest man. Adams and Fanny are released, and Fanny begs Adams to walk with her to the Inn where Joseph’s stage-coach has stopped.
Ch. 12 — They must take shelter from a rainstorm, and the narrator takes advantage of the pause to describe Fanny’s not-quite-perfect, but charming beauty in great detail. They hear a beautiful song coming from the other room, and Fanny realizes that it’s Joseph’s voice. They reunite happily, with many kisses, for which the narrator apologizes. Mrs. Slipslop, witnessing the reunion, is jealous.
Ch. 13 — Fielding discusses the difference between “High” and “Low” people, ironically noting that the behavior of “High” people is only “high” in their own opinion. Mrs. Slipslop says some nasty things about Fanny and Adams defends her, saying he wished certain highborn people (meaning Lady Booby) were as pure as Fanny. Slipslop leaves in a carriage sent for her by Lady Booby. Adams, Fanny and Joseph are left in the Inn’s parlor. Adams conveniently falls asleep and Joseph proposes to Fanny, wakes up Adams, and begs him to marry them on the spot. Both Adams and Fanny have to convince him to follow the custom of announcing the date of a wedding (the “banns”) three weeks ahead of time. They prepare to leave but find themselves once again short of money. Adams proposes to go to a fellow clergyman’s house next door and borrow some money.
Ch. 14 — Adams finds the clergyman, Parson Trulliber, feeding his hogs. Trulliber invites Adams to have breakfast with him, but is not a very gracious host, grabbing all the food and ale before Adams can get any. Adams asks Trulliber, as a fellow man of God, to loan him seven shillings. Trulliber refuses angrily and Adams leaves to avoid a fight.
Ch. 15 — Joseph asks the Hostess of the Inn to let them leave with a promise to repay her later. She agrees because she mistook Adams when he called her neighbor, Trulliber, his “brother” (meaning spiritual brother). Learning her mistake, she then refuses to trust them for the money. A poor traveling salesman overhearing the discussion offers to lend Adams the money, illustrating Fielding’s theory that poor people are often more generous than rich ones.
Ch. 16 — Walking along, they pass a beautiful house whose owner invites them in. The Squire, as he is called, is exceedingly friendly, and ends up offering Adams a lucrative position and inviting the travelers to stay with him for a few days at his larger country estate a little ways off, so that he can order his carriage to take them to their home. Adams accepts delightedly, only to be told that the Squire has forgotten that his house is closed up, and that he’ll put them up at the Inn for the night and send horses for them the next morning. In the morning, they are informed that the horses the Squire has promised them are lame. They then learn that the Squire has left town, that they have been stranded, and are left with yet another Inn-bill to pay. Adams is mystified as to why someone would promise kindness to total strangers and then fail to deliver, but Joseph assures him that this kind of behavior happens in London all the time — people like to appear generous but don’t like to actually give anything away. The Host of the Inn then informs Adams that this Squire plays this trick on travelers all the time. This Host, unlike the previous Hostess, is willing to let them travel on with a promise to pay later. He invites Adams to have a drink with him.
Ch. 17 — The Host relates a tale to Adams about how the Squire had once promised to use his influence to help find him a position in the Navy, but later was revealed to have no such connections at all. The Host and Adams then get into an argument about whether you can tell a person’s character from his face (Physiognomy). The Host begins to make snide remarks about clergymen, but Fanny and Joseph arrive in time to prevent Adams from fighting with the Host, and they travel on.
