In Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews, vanity plays a large role in the interactions between characters. Throughout their trip, Joseph Andrews, Franny, and Abraham Adams confront many vain people. Many claim to hold a characteristic that they do not hold, and they often hold the opposite of their desired characteristic. On page 103, Fielding directly addresses Vanity, saying “O Vanity! How little is thy Force acknowledged, or they Operations discerned? How wantonly dost though deceive mankind …showed first 75 words of 456 total…

…showed last 75 words of 456 total…down the offer of love with Lady Booby, “Having therefor quitted her Presence, he retired into his own Garret and entered himself into an Ejaculation on the numberless Calamities which attended Beauty, and the Misfortune it was to be Handsomer than one’s Neighbours.(84)” Here, Joseph Andrews shows an “excessive pride in one’s appearence, qualities, abilities, achievements etc.(Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language,pg. 2105). This is the definition of Vanity.