How does Joseph Andrews begin as a parody of Pamela?

Henry Fielding’s 1742 novel, Joseph Andrews, begins as a burlesque of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. Fielding establishes this connection by portraying the protagonist, Joseph Andrews, as the brother of Pamela, the heroine of Richardson’s work.1

This parodic approach served as a continuation of Fielding’s earlier hostility toward Richardson’s sexual ethics, which he had previously attacked in his 1741 travesty, An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews. By using Pamela as a starting point, Fielding initially sought to mock the moral and narrative framework of his contemporary’s novel. However, the parodic intention quickly becomes secondary as Joseph Andrews develops its own momentum, evolving into a sophisticated work of social criticism and irony centered on the character of Parson Adams.21