A Political Biography of Henry Fielding

J. A. Downie

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Best known today as the author of three seminal novels, Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones and Amelia, Henry Fielding (1707–1754) was the most successful playwright of his day until Walpole put an end to politics on the stage by passing the theatrical Licensing Act of 1737.
Turning to political journalism, Fielding wrote the lead essays for periodicals such as The Champion (1739–41), The True Patriot (1745–6) and The Jacobite's Journal (1747–8), as well as swingeing political satire in prose and verse. Although scholars agree that Fielding subscribed to revolution principles, existing accounts of his political ideas are insufficiently aware not only of the structure of politics in the first half of the eighteenth century, but of the ways in which the various strands of Whig political ideology developed during the sixty years following the Revolution of 1688. This political biography explains and illustrates what 'being a Whig' meant to Fielding.

"'In its detailed explications of the interactions between [differing] faces of Fielding's politics, Mr Downie's account is extremely helpful and clarifying, perhaps the most through reading of the evidence to date—and especially notable for reading the silences too. It will likely remain the definitive account.'"

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A Political Biography of Henry Fielding

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

CONTENTS
pp v-vi

Acknowledgements
pp vii-vii

Dedication
pp viii-viii

Author's Note
pp ix-x

Introduction
pp 1-12

1 - ‘So Dissipated, Though Well Born and Well-Educated a Youth’
pp 13-20

2 - ‘Unshap'd Monsters of a Wanton Brain!’: 1728–1731
pp 21-54

3 - ‘Court Poet’?: 1732–1735
pp 55-68

4 - ‘Dramatick Satire’: 1736–1739
pp 69-88

5 - ‘Writ in Defence of the Rights of the People’: 1739–1741
pp 89-110

6 - The Political Significance of The Opposition. A Vision
pp 111-124

7 - ‘There are Several Boobies who are Squires’: 1742–1745
pp 125-146

8 - ‘A Strenuous Advocate for the Ministry’: 1745–1748
pp 147-172

9 - ‘A Hearty Well-Wisher to the Glorious Cause of Liberty’: Tom Jones and the Forty-Five
pp 173-184

10 - ‘This Botcher in Law and Politics’: 1749–1754
pp 185-202

Conclusion
pp 203-208

Notes
pp 209-246

Works Cited
pp 247-260

Index
pp 261-269

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A Political Biography of Henry Fielding

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