Henry Fielding's Concept of Morality in 'Joseph Andrews'

Richardson in his most popular novel "Pamela" presented his own moral point of view. According to him, chastity was the only virtue. But Henry fielding did not accept his point of view. In Joseph Andrews, he presented his own concept of morality. According to a clear him moral standard of Richardson was indication of narrow-mindedness. It was not right to think that chastity was the only virtue. According to Fielding, the standard of chastity propounded by Richardson was just a saleable commodity. Mere respectability, and chastity without the goodness of heart was not virtue. Fielding opines that a chaste man who abhors needy persons, or who has no tinge of humanity in him, is worse than an unchaste woman who is good at heart. While estimating any person from moral or ethical point of view, we should be liberal-minded. We should judge a man by his intentions, impulses and his overall attitude towards life and human beings. He condemns chastity without goodness of heart. H