ABSTRACT
In the following pages, I explore Henry Fielding’s transition from playwright and theatrical impresario to prose fiction writer as an introduction to the subsequent chapters in this section. First, I provide a short account of what the writer lost when his career on the stage ended upon the passing of the Licensing Act of 1737 and what the novel as a genre offered him in the early 1740s that rendered it an attractive alternative. Next, I point at two key themes closely related to Fielding’s interest in the social and moral dimensions of marriage that have a stronger presence in his prose fictions than in his plays: religion and the law. Finally, I attend to some considerations of terminology, addressing potential problems and advantages of referring to his early works as novels.
