ABSTRACT
On March 2, 1754, before moving to Bath and before Henry's journey to Portugal, Fielding published an ambitious and innovative work: The Cry, A New Dramatic Fable. Although The Cry was unsigned, Fielding—without question—played a substantial role in its creation. The best evidence suggests that Collier played an important, but subordinate, role in the composition of The Cry. Samuel Richardson was one of the few writers to praise The Cry's innovative narrative form. He described the work as a "new Species of Writing", but he questioned Fielding's depiction of Portia and Ferdinand's reconciliation. Informed readers, like Portia, not only have the ability to avoid the pitfalls that trap characters like the Cry and Oliver in hazardous egotism, but they can also rescue valuable works, such as Pope's poetry, from caustic misreadings. Fielding's continued rebukes of Prior also helps explain one of the most puzzling aspects of The Cry: Ferdinand's seemingly unnecessary deception of Portia prior to their eventual marriage.
