Tom Jones, Henry Fielding

About the author:

    Henry Fielding was an early-mid 18th century English playwright and novelist, known for his (often political) satirical wit and humor. He was a Tory, and his political satires are similar to the satirical works of famed Tory satirists of the previous generation such as Jonathan Swift (think Gulliver’s Travels and “A Modest Proposal”). The most important thing to know about Fielding is that his novel Tom Jones is one of the first actual “novels,” in that Fielding unashamedly propounded it as fictional (whereas others in his time period, such as Daniel Defoe, tried to pretend that their works were based in fact).

About his work:

    The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (commonly known as merely Tom Jones) is Fielding’s most famous work, published in 1749 and recognized as one of the earliest works of prose that can be described as a novel. It merits this claim largely because (as already stated) Fielding made no attempt to disguise it as fact, instead deliberately drawing attention to its fictional status.

    It’s worth noting that questions about Tom Jones have appeared on all of the GRE subject tests in literature that I have taken thus far, so the novel is worth covering, although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend adding Henry Fielding to your reading list. The novel is composed of 18 separate parts and is somewhat lengthy, but the general idea behind the novel is fairly simple and should prove all you need for the test.

    The novel tells the comic story of Tom Jones (big surprise!), who grows up in the home of Squire Allworthy as though he were that squire’s son. Unfortunately, Tom has no parents and is, in fact, a bastard. Additionally, Tom is extremely wild, and his sexual escapades play a large part in the 18 parts of the novel. (In fact, the novel’s lewdness and dealings with prostitution drew much censure at the time publication). Tom’s experiences are tongue-in-cheek and filled with puns, both sexual and ridiculous. There are always women hiding in his bedroom to escape the discovery of other women, and so on. The twist comes when Tom tries to hide his impurity from his “true” love, Sophia Western, a young woman of high birth and great purity whose father wishes her to marry Tom’s unofficial cousin, Squire Allworthy’s nephew. Sophia refuses to do this, declaring love for Tom, but Squire Allworthy kicks Tom out of the house because of his rascally behavior just as Sophia is locked up for her refusal to marry.

    Sophia, of course, runs away, and they both end up in London. Tom continues to hook up with every woman in sight (they all find him incredibly handsome), meanwhile declaring endless love for Sophia. In the end, he and Sophia do marry, Tom finds he is in fact of high birth, and he is allowed to marry Sophia, who reforms him. It’s a true comedy.

     And Tom is kind of a douche bag, albeit supposedly goodhearted and kind to the poor. Whatever. He is still a douche bag.