Description

The real-life Jonathan Wild, gangland godfather and self-styled "Thieftaker General", controlled much of the London underworld until he was executed for his crimes in 1725. Even during his lifetime his achievements attracted attention; after his death balladeers sang of his exploits, and satirists made connections between his success and the triumph of corruption in high places. Fielding built on these narratives to produce one of the greatest sustained satires in the English language. Published in 1743, at a time when the modern novel had yet to establish itself as a fixed literary form, Jonathan Wild is at the same time a brilliant black comedy, an incisive political satire, and a profoundly serious exploration of human "greatness" and "goodness", as relevant today as it ever was.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Features

• This is the only edition of Jonathan Wild, Fielding's incisive political satire about a gangland thief and corruption in high places with plenty of parallels with today's political scene.
• The text is that of the first (1743) edition, unlike most editions since Fielding's lifetime, restoring the narrative's freshness and direct criticisms of the Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. It comes from the Wesleyan edition of Fielding's works, published by OUP, and regarded as the definitive edition.
• Claude Rawson, the introducer, is recognized as a leading expert on satire in general, and Fielding in particular. His introduction places the novel in historical and biographical context, and explores the book's contemporary allusions and ambivalent attitude to its villainous hero.
• The annotation explains the many references to classical, literary, and contemporary people and events, and provides information on social and cultural aspects of the novel.
• Additional features include: a map of Jonathan Wild's London; glossary of eighteenth-century language (including thieves' cant); a contemporary account of the life of the real Jonathan Wild; a list of textual variants between first and second editions; a note on eighteenth-century money.

Product Details

352 pages; 1 map; ISBN13: 978-0-19-954975-7ISBN10: 0-19-954975-3

About the Author(s)