The History of Tom Jones, Foundling is an eighteenth-century comic novel. With the works of Samuel Richardson and Daniel Defoe, this novel is part of the early canon that defined the novel genre in English. The novel mixes slapstick comedy with farce, and it's also a satire of the England of Henry Fielding's time--delivered with good humor and a deft lightness of touch.
Overview: The History of Tom Jones
Tom Jones, a country boy, is discovered as a baby on the estate of Squire Allworthy, and is brought up in the Squire's household--as a son. Tom was a gregarious and fun-loving lad, and he managed to get into a number of scrapes. His inability to repel the advances of the opposite sex has something to do with his troubles, but Sophia is his own true love. Of course, this love is quickly quashed by Allworthy, who wants his daughter to marry well in society (specifically, the son of Allworthy's sister, Bilfil).
Bilfil--Tom's rival from childhood days--conspires to have Allworthy cast Tom out of his house. So, Tom is forced into a picaresque journey during which he seduces even more women (including Jenny Jones, whom everyone believes is his mother). All the while Tom pines for his Sophia.
In the final pages it seems that Tom's wayward ways have led him to the gallows, but a revelatory ending saves him from the noose--just as his true identity is brought to light. Far from being the son of Jenny Jones, he is Bilfil's illegitimate half-brother, Allworthy's nephew. So, he is the heir to a fortune worthy of Sophia's hand. Fortunately for Tom, it also means that he didn't sleep with his own mother.
Tom Jones, a country boy, is discovered as a baby on the estate of Squire Allworthy, and is brought up in the Squire's household--as a son. Tom was a gregarious and fun-loving lad, and he managed to get into a number of scrapes. His inability to repel the advances of the opposite sex has something to do with his troubles, but Sophia is his own true love. Of course, this love is quickly quashed by Allworthy, who wants his daughter to marry well in society (specifically, the son of Allworthy's sister, Bilfil).
Bilfil--Tom's rival from childhood days--conspires to have Allworthy cast Tom out of his house. So, Tom is forced into a picaresque journey during which he seduces even more women (including Jenny Jones, whom everyone believes is his mother). All the while Tom pines for his Sophia.
In the final pages it seems that Tom's wayward ways have led him to the gallows, but a revelatory ending saves him from the noose--just as his true identity is brought to light. Far from being the son of Jenny Jones, he is Bilfil's illegitimate half-brother, Allworthy's nephew. So, he is the heir to a fortune worthy of Sophia's hand. Fortunately for Tom, it also means that he didn't sleep with his own mother.
Discovery of the Lost Boy?: Tom Jones
The novel is a rip-roaring tale--with enough twists and turns to keep even the most impatient of modern readers in the grips of the adventure. But, Tom Jones is also a satire on societal organization and the class system. The central character is lost--without a mother or father. He resides outside of the class system--as an abandoned child, of uncertain parentage. He is an outsider. Based on his past--without the ensuing revelations--Tom would never be considered worthy to wed his true love, Sophia. Society cannot accept Tom as he is, even though the pillars of society (represented by Allworthy) think they possess complete moral probity.
Fielding's prose depicts characters as either utterly foolish (in the case of Allworthy), or highly hypocritical (in the case of Bilfil and his mother). Then there's Tom: he's the Trickster character. He leads a life of good-natured licentiousness--an utterly authentic and enjoyable way to live. With such fun-loving character, the revelations that elevate Tom to such a high state in society comes off as anti-climactic.
The novel is a rip-roaring tale--with enough twists and turns to keep even the most impatient of modern readers in the grips of the adventure. But, Tom Jones is also a satire on societal organization and the class system. The central character is lost--without a mother or father. He resides outside of the class system--as an abandoned child, of uncertain parentage. He is an outsider. Based on his past--without the ensuing revelations--Tom would never be considered worthy to wed his true love, Sophia. Society cannot accept Tom as he is, even though the pillars of society (represented by Allworthy) think they possess complete moral probity.
Fielding's prose depicts characters as either utterly foolish (in the case of Allworthy), or highly hypocritical (in the case of Bilfil and his mother). Then there's Tom: he's the Trickster character. He leads a life of good-natured licentiousness--an utterly authentic and enjoyable way to live. With such fun-loving character, the revelations that elevate Tom to such a high state in society comes off as anti-climactic.
And, the Author Speaks: The History of Tom Jones, Foundling
One of the delights of Fielding's novel is the voice of Fielding himself who--with his direct addresses to the reader--becomes a fully-fledged character in his own right. Not unlike Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, a classic novel published at a similar time, Fielding's narrator is enormously influential in setting the tone of Tom Jones, and is happy to pontificate on issues only tangentially related to its narrative. The narrator's voice wallows in the ironies that abound in the novel, and becomes a companion who the reader learns to trust and respect--much like we would a congenial friend who takes pleasure in guiding us through the world that he himself finds enormously amusing.
With its winding tales, burlesque humor, and central moral of living life the way you want, the novel still makes its relevance felt today--and is still amusing all who read it. Its deft use of comic techniques, rhetorical figures and mock heroic passages--a fight in a village is written as though it were a scene from the Iliadmakes it a wonderfully witty piece, that is able to mix coarse and highbrow humor without over-egging its comic pudding. Without a doubt, The History of Tom Jones, Foundling remains one of the most sparkling novels written in English.
One of the delights of Fielding's novel is the voice of Fielding himself who--with his direct addresses to the reader--becomes a fully-fledged character in his own right. Not unlike Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, a classic novel published at a similar time, Fielding's narrator is enormously influential in setting the tone of Tom Jones, and is happy to pontificate on issues only tangentially related to its narrative. The narrator's voice wallows in the ironies that abound in the novel, and becomes a companion who the reader learns to trust and respect--much like we would a congenial friend who takes pleasure in guiding us through the world that he himself finds enormously amusing.
With its winding tales, burlesque humor, and central moral of living life the way you want, the novel still makes its relevance felt today--and is still amusing all who read it. Its deft use of comic techniques, rhetorical figures and mock heroic passages--a fight in a village is written as though it were a scene from the Iliadmakes it a wonderfully witty piece, that is able to mix coarse and highbrow humor without over-egging its comic pudding. Without a doubt, The History of Tom Jones, Foundling remains one of the most sparkling novels written in English.
