Joseph Andrews Timeline and Summary

•  Back
• More 

• As a little kid, Joseph has a great job: he scares away birds by singing.
• Joey gets recruited to be the new footman at Sir Thomas and Lady Booby's.
• Before long, it's off to London for Joseph. Hello, high-society life. Joseph enjoys himself, but he doesn't get too crazy.
• When Sir Thomas dies, Lady Booby gets a little too friendly with Joseph, if you know what we mean. Or, well, correction: she tries to get a little too friendly with Joseph.
• Joseph causes a bit of a stir with the London gossips, but he's totally unaware that Lady Booby's into him.
• In fact, Joseph has no idea what's going on when Lady Booby propositions him in her bedroom. That doesn't stop him from turning her down, though.
• Joseph's on a roll: Mrs. Slipslop also tries to proposition him, but he's not having it from her, either.
• In a fury, Slipslop tells false stories about Joseph to Lady Booby. Lady Booby promptly fires him—though not without trying one more time to get with him.
• Joseph hits the road on a quest to see his longtime love, Fanny Goodwill. She's employed at the Booby country estate. But he barely gets anywhere before he's robbed and beaten by a bunch of hoodlums.
• A coach grudgingly stops to help Joseph and deposits him at a nearby inn.
• There, Joseph is told by the surgeon that he's going to die of his injuries.
• Before that happens, Joseph's old pal Parson Adams shows up in a random coincidence.
• Joseph doesn't die. In fact, he hits the road with Adams.
• Adams and Joseph get separated due to their unconventional method of traveling.
• Adams rescues Fanny and brings her back to the inn where Joseph is staying. The reunion is truly awesome.
• The three travelers set out together.
• Along the way, the travelers stop at Mr. Wilson's house and hear his life story.
• The group encounters an evil squire who invites them over for dinner. They leave before dinner is over. That's a bad sign.
• Joseph tries to defend Fanny from the squire's henchmen but ends up being tied to the bedposts at an inn as Fanny is carried off.
• Luckily, Fanny is rescued, and Joseph gets to punch the guy who kidnapped her.
• The group finally makes its way to the Booby country house, where Joseph reunites with his beloved sister Pamela and her husband.
• Fanny and Joseph nearly get thrown in jail thanks to Lady Booby's scheming.
• A peddler reveals Joseph's true parentage: Mr. Wilson is his dad. Joseph's strawberry-shaped birthmark is the proof.
• Fanny and Joseph happily marry. Mr. B. gives them tons of money so that they can live happily ever after in the country.