how is joseph andrews a universal novel?

The theme in Joseph Andrews are as applicable today, as they were in the time the novel was written. Fielding addresses the corruption of leaders in authority, the decline of morality, charity, religion, the question of human goodness, the movement of people from the violence and poveryy in cities to the safety of more rural locations.

Felding also addresses hypocrisy, people who preach virtue while living in sin. Think about the scandals attached to political or religious figure in our modern world. He also speaks to the difficulty of moving between economic levels, which can be seen today in the inability of many to improve their lot.