Previous
Book 1, Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Joseph Andrews, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Hypocrisy
Lust vs. Chastity
Social Class
Religion and Charity
Summary
Analysis
Mrs. Slipslop stews over her failure with Joseph Andrews as she goes to her mistress, Lady Booby. She tells Lady Booby that Joseph is a wild young man, always swearing, drinking, and gambling. Lady Booby doesn’t believe it, but Mrs. Slipslop says he has sex with every woman around except her. This upsets Lady Booby, who says she’ll fire Joseph. Mrs. Slipslop backtracks and says that maybe Joseph can learn to behave better.
Mrs. Slipslop has a scheming personality, but she doesn’t always think her schemes through. She is angry at Joseph for rejecting her, which is why she spreads untrue rumors about him. She only realizes too late that these rumors are self-sabotaging and will actually just drive Joseph further away from her.
Themes
Literary Devices
Lady Booby says she’d like Mrs. Slipslop to bring her Joseph Andrews. Lady Booby begins wondering how she should look and what she should tell Joseph when he arrives. The narrator opines about how love makes people crazy and says that the next chapter will really prove it.
Like Mrs. Slipslop, Lady Booby also has conflicting feelings about Joseph. Her passion for him has to compete with her anger at being rejected, leaving her uncertain how to feel about the situation.
Themes
Literary Devices
