Life

Henry Fielding (1707-54)

Celiberti, Gazzano, Lopreiato

Movies...

The bawdy adventures of Tom Jones

(1976)

Tom Jones (1963)

Between classical and modern

The narrator indicates the relative autonomy of the novel's characters, the fact that, unlike their classical counterparts, they are "on their own" and have free will.

Tom's fortunes are still controlled by the way Fielding constructs the story; some of the events in the book are highly improbable.

Another interesting feature of the novel is its continual borrowing and transformation of rhetorical styles.

The narrator justifies this technique by saying that he considers himself free to "steal" from ancient authors.

Stylistic features

Tom Jones is a very funny and playful novel.

Fielding described it as a "comic epic".

The novel contains many elements which constitute an amusing dialogue with the classical epic tradition.

Fielding invents his own rules for narrative composition.

In many ways, Fielding's relationship to novelistic "realism" is ironic.

Tom Jones is a novel and a theory of the novel.

Tom Jones (1749)

The book follows the fortunes of Tom Jones discovered by Mr Allworthy.

Jones is brought up and educated alongside the pious but malicious Master Blifil, the son of Allworthy's sister.

Jones is in love with Sophia, the daughter of Allworthy's neighbour, Western, but his sense of right prevents him from tryin to seduce her.

For a while, Western encourages Sophia to marry Blifil, but she, who is in love with Tom, refuses and runs away.

After numerous adventures on the road, the action moves to London. Here Sophia escapes the amorous advances of a friend of a rich relative, and Tom endures a period in prison before he unmasks Blifil's plans to destroy him and discovers the truth about his origins: he's actually the son of Bridget Allworthy.

At the end of the novel, the two lovers are finally united and are free to marry.

Literary production

Life

In 1741 Fielding published An Apology for the Life of Miss Shamela Andrews.

In 1742 he published The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and in 1743, several volumes of writings including a satire, The Life of Jonathan Wild the Great.

His most famous novel Tom Jones was immediately popular.

His subsequent novel Amelia was even more successful.

During his life...

• 1707 Henry Fielding was born in Somerset
• Between 1729 and 1737 he wrote plays
• 1737 Fielding's career as a dramatist was ended
• 1741 His career as a novelist began
• 1754 He died in Lisbon

Fielding had five children with his first wife, Charlotte, and, after her death, he married Mary Daniel. Fielding had a further five children with Mary.

Fielding developed considerable influence in the movements for judicial and prison reform.