Description
Henry Fielding's 18the century classic novel is based on the love story of Tom Jones and his neighboring squire's daughter Sophia Western. The Novel 'The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling', is well known as 'Tom Jones'. It is both a Bildungsroman and a picaresque novel. It was first published on 28 February 1749 in London and is among the earliest English prose work to be classified as a novel. It is a milestone in the history of English literature of the era.
The story regales its readers with the memorable character Tom Jones a romantic but a love child who was abandoned by his mom at the door of wealthy and kind squire Mr. Allworthy and his sister. They eventually find the supposed mother of the infant but she refuses to raise the boy. Mr. Allworthy mercifully keeps the boy and tells his sister to raise the boy in the household. They name him Thomas, ‘Tom'.
Thomas or Tom grows into a vigorous, lusty, and imprudent yet honest and kind-hearted young man. He has the charm to attract women thus he wins many hearts of the young women in the countryside. He has several romantic dalliances, but he falls in love with the wealthy squire's daughter Sophia Western and she also confesses being in love with Tom. He learns the truth about his identity in this discerning comedy of human foibles and self-discovery.
Meanwhile, Sophia's coarse father doesn't accept the relationship between Tom and Sophia, as Tom is an illegitimate child. Her father tries to arrange her marriage with Allworthy's nephew Billfill, who secretly loves her. After finding that Tom and Sophia are deeply in love, he grows angry and jealous; so that he tries everything, he could do to keep Tom away from Sophia. Sophia runs away and about the same time, Tom leaves home.
Slowly but surely, the novel begins to unveil facts and truth furiously as our hero, Tom Jones, finds himself embroiled in one moral dilemma of committing incest. Mr. Allworthy's nephew, Bilfil, conspires to turn the good squire against Tom. As a result, Tom is disinherited and kicked out. Chapter after chapter Tom gets his answer to all the questions. He gets to know who is his biological mother and father. The rest of the novel essentially follows the adventures of Sophia and Tom as their stories of being together, separate, and intertwine repeatedly. As Sophia runs away to avoid her marriage with Bilfil, will she be able to find Tom? Will the two lovers reunite?
The Novel ends in London, where all the loose ends are ship-shaped up and all the secrets are finally revealed. Tom Jones is essentially divided into three parts with the first being set in the countryside, the second in various inns on the road to London, and the entire third yet very stimulating part in London.
Tom Jones continues in Volume 2 and concludes with Volume 3.
Review
This comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding is highly organized, despite the length. Samuel Taylor Coleridge argued that it has one of the 'Three most perfect plots' ever planned. It became a bestseller with four editions being published in its first year alone. The work is one of the most influential comic novels in English literature. It has continued to remain the bestseller for more than two and a half centuries after its first publications.
"Two hundred years have not dimmed Fielding's realism. His humor is closer to our own than that of any writer before the present century."-- Kingsley Amis
The book Tom Jones is fun to read, your eyes and mind won't get tired of reading. The language of the work is prose to enjoy it without being tangled in the thoughts. The novel has a lot to make you laugh along with learning how English society was lampooned in the 18th century. Fielding's Tom Jones is full of gusto and glee though it's quite long, this is well worth reading. This novel gives you a taste of memorable characters. The description of the hero is very hale and hearty to imagine him clearly while reading the book. Young ladies of that time used to call their beaus 'Tom' because of Tom Jones.
Fielding breaks the cardinal rule of novel writing (show, don't tell) and pulls it off dominantly. He presents 360 degrees of contemporary British life while drawing characters from different backgrounds. However, the psychological depth of these characters has been criticized.
Lan Watt claims that Fielding did not follow the 'realism of presentation' in detail. Instead, he argues that Fielding was more focused on the realism of assessment. The novel engages a broad range of topics with intelligence and 'a wise assessment of life'.
Adaptation
The Novel has been adapted as a plot of many romantic and dramatic movies, books, operas, and stage performances.
Film
- In 1963 a film was released named 'Tom Jones', which was written by John Osborne, directed by Tony Richardson, and starring Alber Finney as Tom.
- In 1976, the film 'The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones' was inspired by the novel.
Operas by
- Francois-Andre Philifor, 1765
- Edward German, 1907
- Stephen Oliver, 1975
A BBC adaptation was broadcast in 1997 which was dramatized by Simon Burke with Max Beesley in the title role.
The novel was adapted for the Stage by Joan Macalpine, and in 2014, by Jon Jory.
About the Author
His first play 'Love in Several Masques' was produced in February 1728. He wrote and produced a number of plays ranging from comedies to dramatic satires. Critiquing the political ideologies and the unjustified behavior towards writers by theater and publishing houses. Fielding's plays were influential yet critically received. He did begin writing novels at the age of thirty-three. His greatest novel, Tom Jones, was published in February 1749. It is the first few English Prose novels and is counted among the ten best novels in the world.
Apart from being a novelist, he holds a significant place in the history of law enforcement, having used his authority as a magistrate to found (with his half-brother John), what some have called London's first police force, 'The Bow Street Runner'. His younger sister, Sarah, also became a successful writer.
Rating: 4.2/5
Author: Henry Fielding
Publisher: Fingerprint Publishing
Publishing Date: 1August 2019
Language: English
Genre: Classic Fiction, Novel
ISBN-10: 938881097X
ISBN-13: 978-9388810975
Pages: 816
Cost: 249 INR (Paperback), 699 INR (Hardcover), 16,02 INR (Audio cassettes)
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