is among Fielding’s least-read novels for one simple reason: it wears its agenda on its sleeve. The book is neither fish nor fowl—or in this case, novel or history—as the ‘hero’ of the book, the real-life villain, Jonathan Wild, bears only the flimsiest likeness to his fictional counterpart. Perhaps a better way to understand its genre would be to consider the stage, which Fielding had abandoned prior to the novel’s publication in 1743. The world of applause and greasepaint can be glimpsed in its numerous breakaway dialogues (such as the famous scene between Wild and his wife in Book 3, Chapter 8), madcap pacing, and stock characters. There is good reason that Fielding would borrow from the stage as he wrote his first extended work of fiction; in…
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Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 October 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=362, accessed 23 November 2024.]
