The subgenre of the sentimentalist novel was specifically associated with 18th-century British literature: it emphasized sensitivity, emotion, and virtue . Although Henry Fielding, an 18th-century British playwright and novelist, believed that people should be virtuous and honestly good, he satirized the falsity of the sentimentalists because the basis of the relationships between the characters in a sentimental novel was based solely on passion. For example, in Pamela by Samuel Richardson, Pamela's pursuer, Mr. B— has a burning passion for her and after he cannot sleep with her out of desire, he forces her to marry and the relationship works. Fielding's response was the novel Joseph Andrews, a satire which, through various examples of failed and successful relationships, distinguishes the fleeting advantages and sometimes disastrous results of pursuing a relationship out of naked passion and without rationality and the advantages of long term that arise when reason is the basis of a relationship. Fielding believes that passion is weak and unreliable while rationality should be the primary basis for choice and action. Fielding uses Lady Booby to symbolize passion and Joseph Andrews to symbolize reason in the relationship between the mistress and the footman. At the beginning of the story between Lady Booby and Joseph, it is evident that Lady Booby is not acting reasonably when she attempts to seduce Joseph in his bedroom. She exposes herself and flirts with Joseph, exclaiming after exposing her skin: “I confided in a alone man, naked in a bed” (25). Passion guides her actions because she is convinced, not knowing enough, that a handsome young man would not give up the opportunity to sleep with his mistress. Lady Booby ... middle of paper ... relationship. Mr. Adams Parson, the utterly virtuous man and mentor of Joseph, preaches that "all passions are criminal in their excess" and that "...love can make us blind..." to our duty when Joseph is distraught by the kidnapping of Fanny (257). Although Mr. Parson, the symbol of the virtuous ideal, the Christian man teaches that reason is better than passion, he also shows that he cannot completely obey his own ideas. Mr. Parson lets his passions overwhelm him and cloud his reason when he discovers that his youngest son, Jacky, has drowned. He is beside himself with grief and passion. However, he justifies his passion with rationality. The passion that invades him comes from a filial bond (271). Fielding shows that although Mr. Parson's outburst is due to passion, rightly so, sometimes as humans it is necessary and inevitable to surrender to passion..