The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Henry Fielding

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1749

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Dedication-Book 3

Books 4-6

Books 7-9

Books 10-12

Books 13-15

Books 16-18

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

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Literary Devices

Realism

One of the claims to newness that Fielding makes in his novel includes his rejection of he calls the “marvelous,” by which he means the inclusion of gods and goddesses of epic narratives or the supernatural agents in prose romances. He asserts that he is telling a history of a life that actually happened and thus aims to achieve what is now known as verisimilitude: a fictional world that resembles real life. An anonymous reviewer of The History of Tom Jones described it this way: “For chrystal Palaces and winged Horses, we find homely Cots and ambling Nags; and instead of Impossibility, what we experience every Day” (783). This turn toward realism distinguishes the novel from other literary genres, as does its emphasis on an individual’s private life.

Authorial Persona

It is tempting to conflate the narrator of The History of Tom Jones with Fielding himself, especially given the narrator’s conversational and direct addresses to the reader, along with the footnotes that identify characters, events, and settings drawn from Fielding’s own life. Certain attitudes held by the narrator, such as resentment for critics who tear apart theatre plays, are likewise easy to identify as Fielding’s own.

At many points in the novel, the narrator pauses the story to draw attention to authorial intention, as with the foreshadowing with which he opens Chapter 2 of Book 12, for he states, “The History now returns to the Inn at Upton, whence we shall first trace the Footsteps of Squire Western; for as he will soon arrive at an End of his Journey, we shall have then full Leisure to attend our Heroe” (475). This authorial persona draws attention to his own skill as a narrator, especially his own epic similes and lofty phrases, while noting where he has cut short conversations or descriptions of settings that the reader might find dull. This intervention reminds readers that they are enjoying a crafted narrative in which the author has made significant investment, as when he admits to feeling an “extraordinary Tenderness” for Sophia, “my Heroine,” which “never suffers me to quit her any long Time without the utmost Reluctance” (660). This persona also shows concern for his limited control over the narrative, noting time and again the points at which a critic or reader may adopt an interpretation opposite to his intent. This level of self-referential awareness, the explicit construction of the fiction, is now termed as metafiction: a device that fell out of favor with later authors but appeared quite frequently in early examples of the novel, as with Laurence Stern’s Tristram Shandy, for example.

Satire

“Wit” was applauded as a virtue and a skill in early modern literary circles, but by Fielding’s day, “wit” had come to mean a talent for irony and satire. Satire found expressions in many early 18th-century publications, including the daily papers Tatler and Spectator, where the overall goals were to discuss social mores and comment on current conventions. Satire can also serve as a literary genre unto itself. Prominent examples known to Fielding would have included Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), a cutting satire of human nature and political systems; and Alexander Pope’s mock epic poem “The Rape of the Lock” (1714), which satirizes the manners of high society. (“Rape,” in this context, connotes its more archaic meaning of “capture,” with the implication of sexual conquest). Fielding uses satire frequently as a literary device in his plays, so often mocking figures of authority that he brought about the Licensing Act of 1737 and the eventual closure of his own playhouse.

As a literary device, satire relies on irony, hyperbole, sarcasm, understatement, and other forms of emphasis and contrast to seemingly praise an idea, person, or behavior with the intention of ridiculing it or of exposing a hypocrisy. Frequent targets of satire in Fielding’s novel are women who pretend to virtue but are not sexually abstinent—such as when the narrator praises Miss Bridget Allworthy for her prudence—and people who pretend to learning, wit, or discernment, but instead behave in foolish or stubborn ways, like Partridge and Aunt Western. The sarcasm of satire is especially prominent when Fielding mocks men who pretend to be gentlemen, as when the narrator states that Fitzpatrick is so generous that he has spent every penny of his wife’s money (406). Fielding also satirizes religious piety, especially Methodism, suggesting that adherence to religious doctrine does not necessarily equate to having a good character.