A STUDY OF HENRY FIELDING’S NOVEL – TOM JONES (1749)

For latest job updates visit https://recruitmentportalngr.com/

 INTRODUCTION

In this article, we are going to study another English novel, Tom Jones by Henry Fielding who is another great novelist of the 18th Century who contributed immensely to the development of the novel. The novel is presented in a tightly structured plot in which every “every detail has a purpose” thus the sense of structure becomes Fielding’s contribution to the development of the English novel and he influenced other novelists. Some critics refer to Tom Jones as one of the best plotted novels in English despite a lengthy story it presents with interpolating incidents. Fielding relates the novel to the classical epic in an attempt to give dignity and status to the new genre of the novel. Fielding believed that the purpose of art is to entertain and educate. Henry Fielding is one of the pioneer English novelists who contributed to the development of the English novel. In this unit, we will study one of his novels.

Background of the Author

Henry Fielding was an aristocrat, born in 1707 and educated at Eton and later in Poland with Classical education in Latin and Greek. He started his writing career as a playwright, his plays were mainly comedies and political satire; the government was ridiculed in some of his plays. In reaction, the government decided to protect itself from further embarrassment and enacted The Walpole’s Theatrical License Act of 1737 which placed theatre under the Lord Chamberlain and effectively prevented Fielding from writing for the stage and producing his plays again. He then turned to journalism and novel writing.

His experience as a playwright influenced his novels tremendously because most of his novels present individual scenes which rise to a climax or surprising reversals before resolution as we find in the plays. Also, he developed his dialogue effectively, presenting comic characters and works through the medium of parody. Fielding’s interest in the novel was aroused by Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and he wrote a brilliant parody of Pamela with the title, Shamela in 1740. He started writing serious novels after that and became so engrossed with the novel as a genre of literature that he propounded a theory of form and structure of the novel which influenced the main tradition of the English novel and some novelists through the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. His other novels are Joseph Andrews (1742) Jonathan Wilde (1743), Tom Jones (1749) and Amelia (1751)

Plot

In Tom Jones, the story revolves around the adventures of Tom Jones who is the hero of the novel. The author is able to manage the array of characters in a story that is filled with intrigue, suspense and a lot of surprises. As the story begins, it appears as if Tom Jones is an outsider in the Allworthy family because Allworthy discovers him as a baby and is made to believe that his parents are a local woman, Jenny and her tutor, Mr. Partridge. He sends the ‘parents’ away and decides to bring up the boy as Tom Jones despite criticisms from the parish.

His sister, Bridget Allworthy, gets married later and gives birth to another boy Blifil but her husband dies shortly afterwards. So Blifil and Tom are raised together in the family but Tom is despised while Blifil is adored by almost all the members of the household except Allworthy who treats both consistently with kindness. Tom is seen as wild and Blifil, pious. Tom confides in Blifil who relates his secrets to their uncle and also their tutor, Thwackum, and Tom gets in trouble all the time.

Meanwhile, Tom’s generosity highlights his noble and generous nature and he starts winning the admiration of the people of the parish who have also taken note of Blifil’s sneaky nature. The daughter of poor Black George, Molly, becomes pregnant and Tom accepts responsibility for it to save Molly from going to prison. Meanwhile, another lady Sophia and Tom fall in love with each other and Tom begins to resent his relationship with Molly but remains with her out of honour.

However, he discovers later that Molly has been having affairs with other men. He concludes that he is not the father of her child, leaves her and decides to love Sophia but later he encounters Molly by chance and makes love to her. Tom’s noble nature manifests itself again when Allworthy falls gravely ill. Tom becomes so upset that he hardly leaves his bedside until he recovers but his sister, Bridget dies suddenly. Mrs. Western, Sophia’s aunt decides with the Squire Western to marry Sophia to Blifil and prevails on Sophia to accept Blifil as a suitor. Blifil manages to convince Allworthy that Sophia is love with him though Sophia rejects the proposal.

Squire Western becomes violent towards her while Blifil tells Allworthy that Tom is a rascal who cavorted drunkenly about the house, and Allworthy banishes Tom from the county. Tom leaves reluctantly because he does not want to leave Sophia. In Bristol, he meets Patridge who becomes his loyal servant and also saves Mrs. Waters from a robbery attack. He begins an affair with her in an inn. Meanwhile, Sophia runs away to escape from a forceful marriage to Blifil and stops at the inn only to discover Tom and his lover. She avoids him but leaves leaves her muff in Tom’s bed so that he knows she has been there. Tom finds the muff and sets out to search for her. Fitzpatrick arrives at the inn searching for his wife, and Western arrives searching for Sophia.

Sophia goes to London where she stays with her lady relative Lady Bellaston. Later, Tom and Partridge arrive in London and stay in the house of Mrs. Miller and her daughters, one of whom is named Nancy. Tom and Nancy fall in love. Nancy becomes pregnant and Tom convinces Nightingale to marry her. Lady Bellaston and Tom begin an affair, but Tom continues to pursue Sophia secretly. He succeeds and they reconcile, and Tom breaks off the relationship with Lady Bellaston but the Lady is bent on destroying the love between Tom and Sophia which made her to encourage another young man, Lord Fellamar, to rape Sophia.

The major actors in the story are brought together at the climactic moment of the story as Squire Western, Mrs. Western, Blifil, and Allworthy arrive in London, and Squire Western locks Sophia in her bedroom. Mr. Fitzpatrick challenges Tom to a duel thinking the he is his wife’s lover. In the duel, Fitzpatrick is wounded and Tom is thrown into the jail where later he is informed by Partridge that Mrs. Waters is the same person as Jenny Jones, the presumed mother of Tom Jones.

In the resolution of the story, Mrs. Waters inform Allworthy that Fitzpatrick is still alive and has admitted that he initiated the duel. She reveals also that she was persuaded to conspire against Tom by Blifil. The greatest surprise is the revelation that Bridget Allworthy is Tom Jones’ mother. Allworthy also learns Tom’s concerns for his well-being when he was sick. Tom is released from the jail and is reunited with his uncle, Allworthy who decides never to speak to Blifil again. However, Tom takes pity on Blifil and provides him with an annuity. Squire Western consents to the marriage between Tom and Sophia since he has become Allworthy’s heir. Sophia and Tom are married and live happily on Western’s estate with their two children and are benevolent towards their neighbours.

Themes

The major theme explored in the novel is that of hypocrisy. The author satirised the hypocritical attitude of the age. The 18th Century’ claim of convention, elegant manners and social stability is questioned. Bridget Allworthy hides the birth of her illegitimate child from his brother. Squire Western does not want Tom to marry Sophia but changes his mind when he realises that Tom is Allworthy’s heir. Blifil’s pretensions are exposed in the end. The author contends that the age has its problems and failings. Another theme is the theme of virtue. People of that age pretend to be living virtuous lives. The author satirises them and opines that people should live their normal lives making their mistakes and learning from them. He therefore prefers Tom Jones who exhibits human weakness in his affairs with numerous women but in a more practical sense, he is a better person.

Characterisation

Critics are divided on the appropriateness of Fielding’s method of characterisation in which he gives a lengthy sketch of each character before presenting his activities, and the “…characters do not develop beyond the limits of the sketches” (Palmer 1986, 69). Fielding rarely goes into the minds of his characters to analyse their thoughts and shows the motives of their actions like the omniscient narrator. When compared with Richardson a critic say that Fielding has the habit of staying on the outside of his characters while Richardson has the ability to penetrate into their minds. Fielding obviously accepts this particular critical principle, for in the preface to book three of Joseph Andrews he writes, “I declare here once for all, I describe not men, but manners, not an individual but species”. This shows that he is interested in portraying character types. This is obvious in this novel which is epic and comic, dealing with the manners, not the passions of men. He therefore establishes the main traits of the character and then exposes him to society in order to see how he misinterprets society or how society misunderstands him. He creates these characters in order to make specific points.

Tom Jones: Tom Jones is seen in the beginning of the story as a bastard raised by the philanthropic Allworthy but as the novel ends, we discover that he is actually Allworthy’s nephew. He is impudent and in terms of chastity and fidelity, he could be said to be morally bankrupt. However, he is very generous, has a noble heart and takes care of the poor. He is very handsome and this with his gallantry wins him the love and affection of women throughout the countryside. He carries himself with dignity even when he was regarded as a bastard.

Sophia Western: Sophia Western is the heroine and like the hero is very generous and kindhearted. He is beautiful and treats people with respect irrespective of their social class. She is courageous and steadfast. She is patient with Tom and in the end is able to reconcile her love for Tom and her filial duty to her father. Sophia’s natural modesty is contrasted with her Aunt Western’s false and pretentious manners.

Mr. Allworthy: Mr. Allworthy is a benevolent gentleman and he is indeed worthy of emulation. He is generous, selfless and so good natured that he fails to see the evil in others but this helps to propel the plot. The novelist uses him as the moral yardstick of the novel.

Master Blifil: Blifil is the antagonist and a foil to Tom Jones. He is the acclaimed legitimate heir of Mr. Allworthy, his uncle. He represents the 18th Century man who appears to be pious, virtuous and principled but underneath is ruled by greed and avarice but his hypocrisy is exposed in

the end.

Jenny Jones: Initially, Jenny Jones who later appears as Mrs. Waters is presumed to be Tom’s mother and is banished by Allworthy. She seduces Tom and in the end aided the resolution of the novel through important revelations about Tom’s true mother, Blifil’s true character, and the information about the duel that facilitates Tom’s release from prison. She later marries Parson Supple.

Bridget Allworthy: Bridget Allworthy is the real mother of Blifil and Tom. She is unattractive so resents beautiful women. After the birth of Blifil, she is undecided on the level of her affection to each child but before she dies, she becomes devoted to Tom mainly because of his good looks and gallantry and perhaps, she has seen through Blifil’s hypocrisy. Other characters in the novel include Lady Bellaston Harriet Fitzpatrick, Mr. Fitzpatrick,Mr. Dowling, Square, Mrs. Miller and many others.

Technique

Fielding tries to adhere to 18th Century conventions of decorum and good sense in literature. His presents his story in the comic mode and using a satirical style he explores issues of social concern like the society’s hypocrisy, follies, foibles and vices of his age. Another technique he adopts in the novel is the commentary on his characters and the presentation of introductory prefaces to explain certain issues. This technique is criticised by some scholars who feel that such description destroys the illusion of reality in the novel. He also uses the narrator.

CONCLUSION

Henry Fielding was a great 18th Century novelist who contributed immensely to the development of the English novel. His technique allows for a panorama of his society and also for him to make comments on his characters. This authorial comment reminds the reader that he/she is reading a novel but is seen as a flaw by some critics because it destroys the element of verisimilitude in the novel.

In this article we have studied another 18th Century novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. In the novel, he exposes the widespread snobbery that was prevalent in a society which is rigidly stratified, where deference is paid to people with titles and the poor snubbed. Unfortunately, even those who are much lower down the social ladder try to be patronising to those they see as their social inferiors. With the character Tom Jones, he introduced a new kind of fictional hero in the form of a good hearted, well intentioned, generous young man with ordinary human weakness who yields to temptation and commits errors in judgment like any human.

Download all job past questions & answers here to get ahead of others in getting that your dream job – Download here now!

63 Comments

  1. су тасушы қыз текст, он алты
    қыз текст контрактубекс отзывы врачей, скар-делайн
    аналоги маркетингті жоспарлау және бақылау, халықаралық
    маркетинг характеристики iphone 8 plus 128gb, sulpak iphone 8 plus 64gb

  2. улану кезіндегі алғашқы медициналық
    көмек, улану кезіндегі алғашқы көмек реферат
    автоакустика алматы, сабвуфер алматы
    бір бөлмеде 9 свеча, адеби жумбактар tourador x force
    a/t производитель, tourador x force a/t 2 отзывы

  3. укажите льготный период кредитования по программе
    даму-лизинг:, кредит для бизнеса с нуля структура уголовного процесса, принципы уголовного процесса сіздің әлеуметтік желідегі
    вконтакте парақшаңызды, әлеуметтік желідегі менің аккаунтым эссе ата
    заң туралы сұрақтар, бала құқығы туралы сұрақтар

  4. be famous караоке меню, la караоке христиан
    елдері, христиан дінін ұстанатын елдер тізімі энмг алматы адрес, энмг сункар
    allart, психология стенд қазақша

  5. 2025 жылға дейінгі ұлттық даму жоспары презентация, қазақстан
    2050 стратегиясы 7 бағыты кітаптың 60
    беті бар. оқушы оның, тжб 3 сынып математика 1 тоқсан виды треугольников и их свойства 7 класс,
    основные элементы треугольника алматы желтоксан,
    желтоксан жели

  6. көне түркі жазуының ескерткіштері авторы,
    көне түркі жазбалары эссе пікірсайыс презентация, қарар тақырыптары
    абайский район семей, абайская область семей индекс комбинаторика
    есептер 10 сынып, комбинаторика қосу ережесі

  7. центр города алматы улицы, 2gis алматы
    ыбырай алтынсарин өлеңдері скачать, ыбырай
    алтынсарин өлеңдері ананың сүюі үш литрлік
    және бес литрлік суды қалай өлшеуге болады, сыйымдылығы 8л және 5л ыдыс состав сборной казахстана по тяжелой атлетике, чм по тяжелой атлетике 2022

  8. 3d модельдеу реферат, обьектілердің 3d
    модельдері археолог туралы мақал мәтелдер, дизайнер туралы мақал мәтелдер гдз кыргыз тили
    9 класс иманов беш плюс, кыргыз
    тил 9 класс 108 конугуу аппарат для
    гальванизации и электрофореза поток-01м, поток-1 медтехника

  9. смотреть матч португалия, прямой эфир футбол чемпионат мира намаз уақыты ақтөбе, таң намазы уақыты ақтөбе
    өнер білім бар жұрттар 3 сынып презентация, өнер білім бар жұрттар 5 сынып қмж жер ана туралы ертегі, жер туралы аңыз
    әңгімелер

  10. көктем қалай әсер етеді, көктем мезгілін сипаттау мрт кызылорда, олимп мрт кызылорда
    ддос атака на телефон, ddos-атака это простыми словами тоқылдақ туралы сипаттау мәтіні, тоқылдақ пайымдау мәтіні

  11. marketing kimep, kimep login баланың жеке даму картасы 2-3 жас,
    баланың жеке даму картасы 2 жас қазақ тілі 5 сынып, қмж 472 бұйрық қазақ тілі 5 сынып адам өмір
    жасы ұзақ ел, ең ұзақ өмір сүрген адам

  12. ресторан с классической музыкой, кафе с живой музыкой алматы қазақстан мен өзбекстан шекарасы ұзындығы,
    қазақстан шекарасы қашан бекітілді бауыр қызметі, бауыр анализдері шәкірт ойы қандай,
    шәкірт ойы жанры қандай

  13. тарихтың шертіп пернесін бжб,
    бжб 11 сынып қазақ әдебиеті
    жмб түріктер діні, отқа табыну қалай аталады среднее
    арифметическое вариационного ряда, амплитуда
    мода медиана среднее арифметическое даусы жоқ музыка,
    қазақша хит әндер скачать mp3 бесплатно

  14. 3d принтер түрлері, күнделікті тұрмыста 3d принтерді қандай мақсатта қолдануға болады экскаватор дыбыстық
    талдау, э э дыбысы мен әрпі сагынамын сени кинамашы мени,
    сагынамын сени кинамашы мени текст шаңырақ туралы қанатты сөздер,
    отбасы туралы нақыл сөздер

  15. Hi, I do think this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it
    😉 I am going to revisit once again since i have saved as a favorite it.
    Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

  16. I have been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts in this kind of area .
    Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this web
    site. Reading this information So i’m happy to exhibit that I’ve a very good
    uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I such a lot without a doubt will make sure to do not omit this website and provides it
    a glance on a continuing basis.

  17. After going over a number of the articles on your web site, I truly appreciate your way of writing a blog.
    I saved as a favorite it to my bookmark website list and will be
    checking back in the near future. Take a look at my
    web site as well and let me know what you think.

  18. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.

    I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to
    a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!

  19. Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long)
    so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new
    to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for beginner blog writers?
    I’d certainly appreciate it.

  20. I’m amazed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and interesting, and let me tell you,
    you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something too few folks are
    speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that
    I came across this during my hunt for something relating to this.

  21. I blog frequently and I really thank you for your content.
    This great article has truly peaked my interest. I will bookmark your blog and
    keep checking for new details about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.

  22. I do accept as true with all of the ideas you’ve introduced in your
    post. They’re very convincing and can certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too quick for novices.
    May just you please extend them a little from next time?
    Thanks for the post.

  23. Wow, fantastic blog format! How lengthy have you been blogging for?
    you made running a blog look easy. The overall look of your web site is excellent, let alone the content material!

  24. Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
    Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! However,
    how can we communicate?

  25. Hi this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have
    to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
    Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  26. I will immediately clutch your rss as I can not to find your email subscription link
    or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly allow me recognize so that
    I may subscribe. Thanks.

  27. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    After all I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

  28. Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog
    and I am impressed! Very useful info particularly the last part 🙂 I
    care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a very long time.
    Thank you and good luck.

  29. I used to be suggested this web site by means of my cousin. I’m not positive whether this
    publish is written through him as nobody else realize
    such targeted about my problem. You’re incredible!

    Thanks!

  30. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I may revisit yet again since I bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

  31. My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net
    from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the
    costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am
    anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard fantastic things
    about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  32. Excellent way of describing, and good article to
    obtain information on the topic of my presentation subject, which i am going to convey in academy.

  33. Good day I am so excited I found your webpage, I really found you by accident, while I
    was searching on Askjeeve for something else, Anyways I am
    here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a fantastic post and a
    all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I
    will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the
    great work.

  34. LAVITA RICCA INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT*
    ♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
    ♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
    *NO MORE EXCUSES*

    1. I don’t have money
    2. I can’t talk to people
    3. I don’t do stuff like this
    4. I’m too Busy

    Your excuses may be legit but they won’t improve your Life.

    • *Lavita Ricca Investment is Fully Registered with with FGN. with RC NO 1582489( For those Who Think Lavita Ricca is Not Registered)* *Contact Administrator Management Mrs. Elizabeth Tina On *(09036369810)

    *Lavita Ricca Investment is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45 minutes you will get back your money double*

    ?phone=+2349036369810

    *Lavita Ricca PACKAGE’S*

    *N20,000====N40,000*
    *N40,000====N80,000*
    *N50,000====N100,000*
    *N100,000====N200,000*
    *N200,000 ====N400,000*
    *N400,000====N800,000*
    *======== = = ========*

    *I know you are skeptical about this because of the negative experience a lot of issues as regards scamming in the MMM. I assure you 101% that you won’t lose your money this is because I know the risk of this profit oriented business and I know how to avoid them using my trading skills and signals to make only wins and no losses.*

    *Are u a worker?*

     *Are u a student looking for your school fees? Are u a woman looking for money to pay your children school fees?*

     *Are u jobless and u need where u can make source of income?*..

     *Lavita Ricca Investment is here for you! With a little amount u can earn and make more more source of income without any problems*..

     *Lavita Ricca Investment is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
    *Thank you for your time you can click on the link below to get started, please only serious minded people are expected to message the administrator.( 09036369810 )

  35. *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM*
    ♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
    ♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
    *NO MORE EXCUSES*

    1. I don’t have money
    2. I can’t talk to people
    3. I don’t do stuff like this
    4. I’m too Busy

    Your excuses may be legit but they won’t improve your Life.

    • *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is Fully Registered with CAC. WHICH IS COOPERATE AFFAIR COMMISSION( For those Who Think LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT is Not Registered)*

    *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*

    CONTACT:- +2349036369810

    *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM PACKAGE’S*

    *N20,000====N40,000*

    *N30, 000====N60,000*
    *N50,000====N100,000*

    *N100,000====N200,000*

    *N200,000 ====N400,000*

    *N400,000====N800,000*

    *==============*

    *I know you are skeptical about this because of the negative experience a lot of issues as regards scamming in the global world. I assure you 101% that you won’t lose your money this is because I know the risk of this profit oriented business and I know how to avoid them using my trading skills and signals to make only wins and no losses.*

    *Are u a worker?*

    ♊ *Are u a student looking for your school fees? Are u a woman looking for money to pay your children school fees?*..

    ♊ *Are u jobless and u need where u can make source of income?*

    ♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is here for you! With a little amount u can earn and make more more source of income without any problems*

    ♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
    *Thank you for your time you can click on the link below to get started, please only serious minded People are expected to message the administrator.*

    CONTACT NAME Mrs. ELIZABETH TINA
    CONTACT:- 09036369810…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*