The Adventures of David Simple

by Fielding, Sarah; Bree, Linda; Bree, Linda

• ISBN13: 9780140437478
• ISBN10: 0140437479
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-24
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

The Adventures of David Simpleis the story of one man's search for truth, honesty, and friendship in a corrupt world. Following the literary model of Don Quixote, the novel is both a witty and engaging satire of eighteenth-century London life and a serious examination of the moral and social issues facing men and women of the day. Fielding draws upon her own experiences as an impoverished, unmarried gentlewoman to portray her two heroines, Cynthia and Camilla, and infuses the novel with provocative feminist ideas as she makes a pointed critique of the position of women. This Penguin Classics edition includes a critical introduction, suggestions for further reading, a chronology, notes, and a glossary. It also includes two appendixes: Henry Fielding's preface to the second edition and a note about the currency of eighteenth-century England. Edited with an introduction and notes by Linda Bree.

Author Biography

Sarah Fielding (1710-1768), the sister of Henry Fielding, turned to writing to support herself financially. In addition to The Adventures of David Simple, her first and most popular novel, she published many other books, including a critical study of her friend Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa and a translation from the Greek of Xenophon.

Linda Bree has lectured at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, and the University of Essex. Now a commissioning editor at Cambridge University Press, she is the author of the study Sarah Fielding.