Joseph Andrews Characters

Sir Thomas Booby is the husband of Lady Booby, and he is the one who first notices Joseph Andrews at a young age and hires him. He dies early on, allowing Lady Booby to pursue her infatuation with Joseph.

Trulliber is a parson known for his immense size and his greediness with eating. He initially entertains parson Abraham Adams, but he throws Adams out of his house when he finds that Adams just wants a loan.

Mrs. Tow-wouse is Mr. Tow-wouse’s wife. Like him, she is selfish, showing little concern for the life of the gravely injured Joseph Andrews.

Bellarmine is a character in a story-within-the-story that a woman tells in a coach. He has just gotten back from Paris and makes a grand entrance at a ball, causing Leonora to drop her lover Horatio to pursue him instead.

Horatio is a character in a story-within-the-story that a woman tells in a coach. He loves Leonora and offers to marry her, but she dumps him for Bellarmine, and Horatio forgets about her.

Mr. Scout is a tricky country lawyer who advises Abraham Adams that the marriage of Joseph Andrews and Fanny will be legitimate, before turning back around and advising Lady Booby about the different ways she could stop the marriage form happening.

Mrs. Adams is Abraham Adams’s wife. Though she tries to be supportive, she sometimes doesn’t understand her husband and so makes his life difficult, as when she replaces his books of sermons (which he intended to sell) with extra shirts in his traveling bag.

Dick is the youngest (and seemingly favorite) child of Abraham Adams, in part because he is learning to read Latin like his father. Adams gets the news that Dick drowns, but it turns out that the pedlar saves Dick’s life.

Justice Frolick is a crooked justice who favors the rich and is willing to help Lady Booby prevent Joseph Andrews and Fanny’s marriage by sending them both to jail for stealing a twig.

There are a couple unnamed captains in the story, the most notable one being the captain whom the squire orders to attempt to kidnap Fanny.

The surgeon treats Joseph Andrews’s injuries at Mr. Tow-wouse’s inn, although he doesn’t predict good odds for Joseph and doesn’t seem to care, showing how people without money, like Joseph, get ignored.

The hunter is a man who exchanges stories on the road with parson Abraham Adams, each telling the other about their nephew. Adams is talking to the hunter when Adams hears Fanny being attacked and rushes to save her.

Many inns in the story have nameless hosts and hostesses. One of the most notable ones commiserates with Abraham Adams over a gentleman who never follows through on his promises to bestow gifts on other people.

Peter Pounce is one of Lady Booby’s servants. He first gives Joseph Andrews the news that he’s been fired by Lady Booby.

Leonard and Paul are characters in an early reading book that Dick reads aloud when Abraham Adams wants to show off his son’s skills.