In all these, delight is mixed with instruction, and the we reader is almost as much improved as entertained

Answer: This is an extract from the first chapter of Joseph Andrews, a prose satire by Henry Fielding. Here the writer throws some light on his mission in writing this novel.

It is typical for Henry Fielding to present various issues relating to morality and Christianity through his writing. This comic prose epic also has projected various themes to give us instructions about what is right and what is wrong. Though there are some other related and subsidiary issues that promote the mainstream, the central characters, such as Parson Adams, Joseph, and Fanny are good in nature and they preach the moral note as stated by Fielding. These characters are used as the vehicle for expressing the writer’s concept of morality. Through their participation, the writer makes a journey on the chaotic road of the earth where they face many troubles. This journey motif of the text is somehow important for its progress and growth of it. The idea of preaching is important in the text where the theme of charity is established by Parson Adam’s preaching of that lesson. The writer has also depicted Joseph and Fanny as a couple embodying chastity and purity. Thus, the writer presents his moral vision of writing Joseph Andrews in the above-mentioned lines in the opening chapter of the text.