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CP de literatur englez

4.4. Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Tom Jones is considered one of the first prose works describable as a novel. The novel is divided
into 18 smaller books. Tom Jones is a foundling discovered on the property of a very kind,
wealthy landowner, Squire Allworthy. Tom grows into a vigorous and lusty, yet honest and kind-
hearted, youth. He develops affection for his neighbor's daughter, Sophia Western. On one hand,
their love reflects the romantic comedy genre popular in 18th-century Britain. However, Tom's
status as a bastard causes Sophia's father and Allworthy to oppose their love; this criticism of
class friction in society acted as a biting social commentary. The inclusion of prostitution and
sexual promiscuity in the plot was also original for its time, and also acted as the foundation for
criticism of the book's "lowness."

Fielding began writing Tom Jones in 1746. It was a wildly ambitious book which, in attempting
to portray the nuances of real life, angered many but ultimately delighted generations of readers
through both its influence and sprawling narrative.

The book's conception owes much to Fielding's personal life. At the time, he was deeply
traumatized by the 1744 death of his wife Charlotte Cradock, and his lingering affection is
evident in his assertion that the character of Sophia Western is based on her. There are wistful
comments from the narrator regarding the immortalization of the writer and his muse, and
Sophias gentility and resolve makes her a fitting monument to Charlotte. The novel was not
completed until 1748, almost a year after Fielding married Mary Daniel, his former wifes maid.
She was pregnant by Fielding, and despite the gossip and social criticism, he stood proudly by
his new wife. There are elements of this happy union in the happy marriage of Nightingale and
Nancy Miller later in the novel.

Tom Jones, like its eponymous hero, was heavily condemned upon its debut. Fielding's
exploration of a new form of writing and entertainment was labeled as corrupt and vicious, even
though his purpose was clearly to present human nature for exploration and comment by the
reader, rather than to protest against its various weaknesses. Thomas Sherlock, the Bishop of
London, protested that the earthquakes which rocked London in February and March of 1750
were divine punishment for the publication of this, and other, immoral texts. References to the

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episodes of casual sex were frequently cited as inappropriate, despite Fielding's intent (as stated
in the Preface) "to recommend goodness and innocence." (37)

Despite its critics, the novel was a success and has retained an eminent place in the literary
canon. Its popularity was evident immediately. The first edition - printed in 2,000 copies - was
sold out before the actual publication date was reached, and it went on to sell 10,000 copies
within its first year.

The novel was innovative in its clear description and characterization, which offered more
authentic representations of people and situations than texts of the time. Fielding's ambition in
crafting the work was great. He was aware of the depth and breadth of Shakespeare's work, and
endeavored to capture such complexity in his own writing. His purpose, to present human nature
to the reader, is expertly managed, and those who criticize the novel are perhaps as blind to the
realities of human behavior as they are to great literature. Fielding wanted Tom Jones to be a
realistic hero a man with appetites, strengths, failings and feelings whose transition into virtue
took time and struggle, rather than being accepted as fact. Tom Jones is a process of character
development, a comedy narrative, and an exploration of writing. The endeavor was bold,
ambitious, dramatic and ultimately successful in forever changing the course of literature. Tom
Jones might not have been responsible for any earthquakes, but it did bring a new freshness and
stylistic diversity which was to entertain and challenge readers and writers for decades to come.

The narrator provides that his purpose in the text will be to explore "human nature." As such, his
story veers between several extremes - comedy and tragedy, low and high society, moral and
base.

Book IVpage 3 of 3

Chapter VIII

Sophia is at church and is touched by Molly's beauty. Sophia later calls on Black George to tell
him she would like to hire Molly as her maid servant. Black George is secretly shocked that
Sophia has not noticed that Molly is pregnant. He heads home for advice from his wife, but the
family is in an uproar over what happened at church, when the women assaulted Molly with
"Dirt and Rubbish." In retaliation, Molly knocked out the leader of the pack and cleared herself a
path using a skull and thighbone from the graveyard as her weapons. The narrator tells the story
in an ironic Virgilian style, listing the names of the men and women who fell victim to Molly.
Goody Brown is the only woman to fight back. She attacks Molly and tears out her hair. The

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narrator observes that since women never fail to aim for each other's breasts when fighting,
Goody Brown, who is flat-chested, has the upper hand. Tom's arrival quells the fight.

Squire Western and Sophia are at church too. Sophia is impressed to see an attractive girl like
Molly making the best of her donation, and asks for Molly to be recruited as her maid. Black
George considers how to manage this request, as Molly is clearly unable to take on the job while
pregnant.

As the gentry leave the church, the other girls set about Molly, attacking her from their envy.
Blifil sees the mob and asks what is happening. On hearing Mollys name, Tom alights from his
horse and aggressively whips the assailants away. He then sends a servant to collect a sidesaddle
for Molly so she can be taken home.

Tom Jones

Tom Jones, Fielding's imperfect and "mortal" hero, is the character through whom Fielding gives
voice to his philosophy of Virtue. In contrast to the moral philosophizing of many of Fielding's
contemporaries, Fielding does not suggest that Tom's affairs with Molly Seagrim, Mrs. Waters,
and Lady Bellaston should reflect badly on his character. Rather, keeping with the Romantic
genre, Fielding seems to admire Tom's adherence to the principles of Gallantry, which require
that a man return the interest of a woman. Interestingly, all of Tom's love affairs, including his
relationship with Sophia, his true love, are initiated by the woman in question, which is
Fielding's way of excusing Tom from the charge of lustful depravity.

Moreover, the fact that Tom's lovers include a feisty, unfeminine wench and two middle-aged
women suggest that his motives are various. Tom also treats women with the utmost respect,
obliging their desire to be courted by pretending to be the seducer even when they are seducing
him. Tom refuses to abandon Molly for Sophia and is plagued by his obligations to Lady
Bellaston. Nonetheless, Tom's refusal of the tempting marriage proposal of Arabella Hunt
whose last name underscores the fact that Tom is hunted more often than he is the hunter
indicates that he has mended his wild ways and is ready to become Sophia's husband. Tom's
gallantry reveals itself in his relationships with men as well as women, however. This spirit is

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evident in Tom's insistence on paying the drinking bill for the army men at Bristol, and in his
gallant defense of himself in the duel.

The narrator skips forward twelve years. Blifil and Tom Jones have been brought up together, but
receive vastly different treatment from the other members of the household. Allworthy is the only
person who shows consistent affection for Tom. The philosopher Square and the reverend
Thwackum, the boys' tutors, despise Tom and adore Blifil, since Tom is wild and Blifil is pious.
Tom frequently steals apples and ducks to support the family of Black George, one of
Allworthy's servants. Tom tells all of his secrets to Blifil, who then relates these to Thwackum or
Allworthy, thereby getting Tom into trouble. The people of the parish, hearing of Tom's
generosity to Black George, begin to speak kindly of Tom while condemning Blifil for his
sneakiness.

Tom Jones % - Tom Jones, a "bastard" raised by the philanthropic Allworthy, is the novel's
eponymous hero and protagonist. Although Tom's faults (namely, his imprudence and his lack of
chastity) prevent him from being a perfect hero, his good heart and generosity make him
Fielding's avatar of Virtue, along with Allworthy. Tom's handsome face and gallantry win him
the love and affection of women throughout the countryside. His dignified, though natural air
induces characters to assume that he is a gentlemanwhich ultimately turns out to be true.

The narrator is essentially omniscient and fluctuates between the minds of

various characters.

The narrator's tone is constantly ironic. There has been much debate,
however, about what kind of irony Fielding employs, and critics have coined
various terms to describe the narrative tone, which is unique to Fielding.

This is part of an ongoing project in which I will record and post one chapter per week of Henry Fielding's
Tom Jones over the course of four years.

After last week's short chapter, this one is what students of the Classics call, "a real humdinger."

Where to begin? First off, the main action of the chapter involves a battle fought between Moll Seagrim
and the congregation of her church, for the crime of wearing clothes above her station (presumably, in the
mind of the mob, this means she thinks she's better than all of them). What makes this such a bizarre
battle is that it's fought in the church's graveyard, and involves Molly fighting off her attackers with
whatever weapons are at hand, namely a thigh bone and a skull!

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Add to that, the carnivalesque combination of the high writing style (in this case, calling upon the
Homerical Epic, complete with an invocation of the Muse) with the low status of the actors in the scene
(country peasants fighting over a dress). When mixed in with the grotesque use of human remains, we
get something truly special!

Also, I must make a note on accent, here. As you may or may not have noticed, I've been recording this
novel with my normal American accent. It's not altogether appropriate for the material, but tough noogies.
However, we come, in this chapter, to something new for this book: dialogue that is specifically written in a
low dialect (mostly it comes down to Fielding substituting the letter "v" for the letter "f"). I've chosen to do
these lines of dialogue in a more appropriate accent, as these lines are specifically marked as such. This
will continue to a much greater extent in the next chapter of the book.

The limited perspective also makes gives us a sense of closeness and intimacy with the
narrator. He's willing to admit to us when he's not totally sure of something, which
makes us feel (weirdly) more confident that he is telling the truth. The narrator is a lot
more willing to admit his own flaws than, say, Squire Western or Lady Bellaston (those
two would rather swallow hot coals than admit that they were wrong). So we often like
the narrator better than the characters he describes.

But most of all, this narrative perspective adds to Tom Jones's overall sense of realism.
No one knows everything, not even the narrator of a novel. By admitting to the limits on
his own understanding, the narrator reminds us that he is supposed to be human. His
limited point of view makes him seem more three-dimensional and believable as a
character.

hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?

Witty, Sarcastic, Affectionate
The narrator admits that he plays favorites with his characters. For example, he confesses an "inclination
of partiality" (16.6.2) to Sophia. In other words, he likes her better than a lot of his other inventions. The
fact that the narrator can talk about how much he prefers some characters to other characters? That's a
sign of how affectionate the tone of this novel is.

The narrator talks about these characters as though he knows them personally. He never describes any
of them objectively (except maybe the forgettable "landladies" at every innthose seem pretty abstract to
us). And even the ones he doesn't like, such as Lady Bellaston or Mr. Blifil, never come across neutrally.
The narrator's tone is emotional, even when he's being negative about the villains in the novel.

Still, even if the narrator talks about most of his characters like they are real people who he knows and
loves, he doesn't deny their flaws. And that gets us to the other half of the tone of Tom Jones: the narrator
is affectionate, but he's also sarcastic. So, for example, the narrator always calls Mr. Thwackum and Mr.
Square "learned personages" (3.6.1), even though they are obviously both idiots.

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Or, the narrator says that Bridget Allworthy speaks "with a voice sweet as the evening breeze of Boreas in
the pleasant month of November" (1.8.5). Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind, and, unless you're in
the southern hemisphere, where north = warm, and November = spring Boreas's name implies coldness
and bitterness. So a voice that sounds like the north wind in November? That's going to be anything but
"sweet."

The narrator often describes something in one way while strongly implying that it's the exact opposite. So
while the narrator may like a lot of these characters, the overall tone of the novel still comes across as
witty, darkly funny, and really sarcastic.

One of Tom's serious problems in this novel is that he doesn't know who his parents are. This lack of a
definite origin story really matters in a social world where a person's parents (and their fortunes)
determine that person's own social status. Tom's uncertain birth makes it impossible for him to marry
Sophia, and it keeps his relationship with Squire Allworthy unstable and insecure.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tomjones/summary.html