Sir Thomas Booby dies in London, leaving Lady Booby free to act on her attraction to Joseph.

Lady Booby dismisses Joseph from her service after he repeatedly refuses her subtle sexual advances.

Joseph is ambushed by two robbers on the road, beaten, stripped of his clothes, and left for dead.

Stagecoach passengers debate whether to help the naked, dying Joseph and eventually take him to a nearby inn.

Parson Adams arrives at the inn where Joseph is recovering and discovers he forgot his sermons at home.

Adams abandons his London trip and decides to travel back to the country parish alongside Joseph.

Adams rushes into the woods to rescue a screaming woman and beats her attacker into submission.

Adams realizes the woman he has just rescued from assault is Fanny Goodwill, Joseph's sweetheart.

Joseph and Fanny are joyfully reunited at an alehouse after separately making their way toward each other.

Adams, Joseph, and Fanny take shelter with the Wilson family, a kind couple living quietly in the countryside.

The squire's men overpower Adams and Joseph at an inn, tie them to bedposts, and abduct Fanny.

Peter Pounce passes by chance on the road, takes the squire's captain prisoner, and rescues Fanny.

Mr. Booby arrives with his wife Pamela and intervenes at court to release Joseph and Fanny from sentencing.

The peddler reveals at a pub that Fanny was kidnapped as an infant and her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Andrews.

Joseph and Fanny are married after their true parentage is confirmed and Mr. Wilson is revealed as Joseph's father.

Joseph Andrews is fired from Lady Booby's London household and sets out on foot to find his sweetheart Fanny in the country parish. He is robbed and left for dead on the road, rescued by self-interested coach passengers, and reunited with his mentor Parson Adams at a roadside inn. The two travel together, eventually rescuing Fanny from a violent attacker and continuing their journey as a trio. After surviving kidnapping, a corrupt court, and Lady Booby's ongoing scheming, Joseph and Fanny face sentencing until Mr. Booby intervenes. A traveling peddler then delivers a shocking revelation about Fanny's true origins, unraveling a decades-old mystery. The novel closes with Joseph and Fanny finally married, their constancy and virtue fully rewarded.

The headline journey from London to the country parish and its resolution.

Joseph Andrews begins working as Lady Booby's footman at seventeen after impressing her with his horse-riding skills.

Parson Adams recognizes Joseph's exceptional virtue and wisdom and announces his desire to teach Joseph Latin.

Mrs. Slipslop confesses her passion to Joseph, who innocently compares his affection for her to that for a mother.

Joseph writes a letter to his sister Pamela declaring his intention to stay chaste despite advances from Lady Booby.

The postilion, a young man with a history of thievery, is the only coach passenger willing to lend Joseph a coat.

Betty the inn maid kindly brings Joseph tea after Mrs. Tow-wouse refuses to give the injured stranger any.

Betty confesses her passion for Joseph at the inn and he turns her out of his room and locks the door.

The thief who robbed and beat Joseph escapes from custody overnight because the constable is drunk and negligent.

The tale of Leonora, who abandoned her devoted fiancé for a vain stranger and ended up alone, is told in the stagecoach.

Adams visits Parson Trulliber to borrow money for an inn bill, but Trulliber refuses and denies Adams is a real clergyman.

A poor peddler at the inn generously offers every last coin he has to pay the group's outstanding bill.

The group meets a squire who warmly promises food and horses, then sends word the following day that he is away from home.

A group of hunters sets their dogs on Adams for amusement before noticing Fanny's beauty and inviting the group to dinner.

Lady Booby hires lawyer Scout to legally prevent Joseph from settling in the parish and have Fanny banished from it.

Mr. Wilson arrives in the parish as he had promised Adams and is joyfully reunited with Joseph, his long-lost son.

These events trace the backgrounds, minor adventures, and supporting characters that give the novel its satirical texture. Joseph's early career as a footman and Adams's scholarly ambitions are established before the road journey begins, while failed seduction attempts by Mrs. Slipslop and Betty illustrate the novel's running commentary on lust and virtue. The stagecoach journey is enriched by the morality tale of Leonora, a woman who abandoned her true love for vanity and lost everything. Along the road the group encounters hypocritical clergymen, a generous peddler, a con-artist squire, and a pack of hunting dogs, all of which reveal how charity and class operate in Fielding's world. Lady Booby's legal scheme to remove Fanny from the parish raises the stakes before the story reaches its resolution. The pool closes with Mr. Wilson's arrival in the parish and his joyful reunion with Joseph, confirming that goodness and loyalty are ultimately rewarded.

Supporting moments and secondary characters that enrich the satirical journey.

Lady Booby invites Joseph to her bedchamber and attempts to seduce him, but Joseph fails to recognize her advances.

Lady Booby fires Joseph, falsely accusing him of misconstruing her innocent gestures toward him as sexual interest.

Joseph leaves Lady Booby's London house that evening and begins the long journey to the country parish on foot.

Adams discovers his saddlebags contain only shirts instead of his sermons, leaving him with no purpose in continuing to London.

Mrs. Slipslop's stagecoach arrives by coincidence and she pays the debt holding Joseph's horse, allowing him to travel onward.

Miss Grave-airs refuses to allow the injured Joseph to ride in the stagecoach because he holds the rank of footman.

The partridge hunter, who loudly praised bravery and sacrifice all afternoon, runs away the moment a woman screams for help.

A drunk judge plans to imprison Adams and Fanny until a squire in the room vouches for Adams's identity and good character.

Lady Booby summons Adams and threatens to strip him of his livelihood if he does not stop Joseph and Fanny's marriage.

Mr. Booby dresses Joseph in gentlemanly clothes and, swayed by Lady Booby, urges Joseph to abandon Fanny for a better match.

Joseph refuses to break his engagement to Fanny despite pressure from Mr. Booby, his sister Pamela, and Lady Booby.

Adams lectures Joseph on submitting to God's providence, then collapses in grief upon hearing his youngest son has drowned.

Beau Didapper sneaks into the wrong bedroom at night and climbs into bed with Mrs. Slipslop instead of Fanny.

Adams accidentally crawls into Fanny's bed in the dark, and Joseph discovers the two together the following morning.

Mrs. Andrews confirms that Fanny is her kidnapped daughter and that the infant boy left in her place was raised as Joseph Andrews.

These events mark the moments where characters are tested, exposed, or forced to change course entirely. Lady Booby's bedroom confrontation and her decision to fire Joseph set the entire plot in motion, while Adams's discovery of his missing sermons redirects both men back toward the country. Encounters with a cowardly hunter, a drunk judge, and the class-obsessed Miss Grave-airs strip away pretension at every social level. Lady Booby's scheming and the Booby family's pressure on Joseph test his loyalty to Fanny, which he steadfastly refuses to surrender. The farcical night of mistaken bedrooms provides comic relief as the mystery of Joseph and Fanny's true origins reaches its climax. Mrs. Andrews's confession delivers the novel's defining revelation, confirming that Joseph and Fanny are not siblings and that providence has guided both their families toward a reunion all along.

Key decisions, discoveries, and reversals that drive the story's pivotal moments.