Tom Jones

Respected sir, 
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Name:-Heerva Bhatt
Course:-M.A. (sem.1)
Paper no.:- 2(The Neo-classical
                      Literature )
Roll no.:- 14
Topic :- Reflection of 18th century of England in Tom Jones.
Email Id :- heervabhatt96@gmail.com 
Submitted to :- Smt.S.B.Gardi Department of English, Bhavnagar .

Introduction:-

                         
Henry Fielding  (1707-1754)judged by his ability alone,Fielding was the greatest of this new group of novel writers,and one of the most artistic that our literature has produced. He was born in East stour,Dorsetshire, in 1707.In contrast with Richardson,He was well educated, having spent several years at the famous Eton school, and taken a degree in letters at the University of Leyden in 1728.Moreover, he had a deeper knowledge of life ,gained from his own varied and sometimes riotous experience. For several years after returning from Leyden he gained a precarious living by writing plays,farces and buffooneries for the stage.In 1735 he married an admirable woman,of whom we have glimpses in two of his characters, Amelia and Sophia Western, and lived extravagantly on her little fortune at East stour.Having used up all his money,he returned to London and studied law,gainning his living by occasional plays and by news paper work.For ten years, or more,little is definitely known of him,save that he published his first novel,Joseph Andrews, in 1742,and that he was made justice of the peace for Westminster in 1748.The remaining years of his life,in which his best novels were written, were not given to literature, but rather to his duties as magistrate, and especially to breaking up the gangs of thieves and cutthroats which infested the streets of London after nightfall. He died in Lisbon, whither he had gone for his health,in 1754,and lies buried there in the English cemetery. The Pathetic account of this last journey,together with an inkling of the generosity and kind-hearted of the man,notwithstanding the scandals and irregularities of his life,are found in his last work,The Journal of a voyage to Lisbon.

               Fielding's work :-

■Joseph Andrews  (1742)
■Jonathan Wild
■The History of Tom Jones,a foundling (1749)
■Amelia (1751)

         ☆ About Novel :- 
                                     

 This novel was written in 1745 and published in 1749,both in England. It is categorised as Epic comic Romance. Fielding happens to be the innovator of this genre into English literature. But its not only the peculiarity of its form which makes it popular even after two hundred plus years, rather it's the content, the grand action which it presents,the moral theme which it contains, variety of realistically presented characters and above all the versatile treatment of the subject undertaken had greant it the status of a masterpiece in English literature. Since the assignment work is especially about how far it depicts the contemporary society, so I begin with analyzing this novel in the relative topic.

Tom Jones as Mirror of its age:-
                         
                          Tom Jones is a lively novel.It's a life long experience of a character related integrally with that of its writer and shared wonderfully with its readers.Henry Fielding happens to be one amongst those great writers who didn't draw their stories from classical and Christian mythology, epics, history, Bible etc.They took stories from the incidents which were quite commonly occurring in that age.This is indeed the first criteria for a writer to be realistic with the society in order present in his writings what he has witnessed.The best example of such type of writing is Tom Jones. The realism life and manners of aristocracy,but its prime focus is upon middle class society. The majority of characters in Tom Jones including the Hero Tom  belong to the middle class family, Novel shows that the pious side of the middle class, but it also exposes corruption amongst them and their attitude towards other classes in the society. On the one hand, Tom Jones shows them with virtues like courage, generosity and benevolence. While on the other hand, it points out vices in form of maligning, hypocrisy and injustice. These all traits reflects the English society at the time when this novel was written. But,hardly anyone before Fielding dared to present them as vividly as he did.It's because of this brilliant mode of expression that William Hazlitt said:
            "To read Tom Jones is like going out into the word shedding prejudices, social awkwardness. It is a balanced experience , one that gives us insight into the human nature, tolerance of its weaknesses and large platitude of its strength. "
                         Tom Jones presents society as it was.It doesn't exaggerate in any angle of literary possibility of exaggregation. If a character has more gentlemen squire Allworthy. If a character in society is more vicious,Tom Jones presents him in the shape of Blifil. If a reckless and selfless youngster roams in the society doing favours to people,Tom Jones makes him its protagonist. The lovely lady Sophia can't be exception from realistic characters in any way. Morally weak persons of the society are presented in the form of Master Blifil who is greedy of wealth,and Bridget western who gets seduced but tries to bury her blunders. Perhaps the most realistic character of the age,Molly, morally weakest of all,belong to poor family,entics youngsters for going into bed with her for few penines, entraps Tom.Exploitation of social norms,ones own integrity, established institutions of the society and class complexities were all common features of the age which have been quite magnificently reflected into this novel.
                     

 Fielding's novels,Particularly, Tom Jones, are characterized by social satire,overflowing realism,fresh and altruistic moral approach, good sense of humour and healthy sentiment. Tom Jones doesn't only take reader into the house of a character, but it shows his life on the road as well.Tom Jones is often said to be the portrayal of the urban London life of eighteenth century.He succeeded in putting morality,religion,social status, Politics,education,culture and reformation of English society in just one canvas.Morality;as it was declining day by day .social stutus, as it meant everything to people in that age.Education was not yet considered as the ornament of every individual, instead it was imparted to either those who could afford or to those who had some state support.Reformation; when virtue wins over vice.Culture;when every individual and collective trait and behaviour of society is bind together with one force.All these features have been marvelously depicted in Tom Jones and they present if not exactly real then quite close to the real picture of the society.Tom Jones,as it seems, to have escaped no aspect of its age.Two most prominent features which are to be kept in consideration while analyzing Tom Jones as Mirror of its age are time and place.Fielding has been immensely conscious of both these factors and has very skillfully made both these objects as contributing pieces towards his reflective realism.
                            The broader view of this novel would take us to a belief that it doesn't merely reflect the contemporary society or age ,but it tends to reflect the very nature of a human being.From this perspective it would be quite obvious to say that Tom Jones is in fact the mirror of human nature.It discloses good and evil nature of a human being. It discusses a subject and a theme which have been prevailing in the age before him but scarcely chosen by anyone for moral restrictions or any other reason.However,the writer of Tom Jones dared to expose negative qualities in a human being regardless of how poor or how rich one may be.In addition, to achieve the purpose of moral teaching and to make the story natural,colourful and dramatic, he employs such skills as authorial intrusion, mock-heroic style,Fielding not only offers himself chances to play with his lively humor, but he also creates chances for his readers to assess the characters. Thus,it is fair to say that the core of Tom Jones is a parade of human nature is brilliantly significant in his novel.
                           Tom Jones can also be regarded as reflection of inner vices and virtues of every human being. Fielding preaches through the character of Tom Jones that nobility of heart matters more than nobility of birth.To this point,Tom Jones offers an ostensible example. Before his true birth,is revealed,he is a foundling, a bastard, a status of the most ignoble birth.Nonetheless, it is an irrefutable truth that nobility of birth can't guarantee nobility of heart.In this novel there are many characters of noble birth who prove dishonest, selfish , evil and even hideous,such as Lord Fellamar, who attempts to rape Sophia;Lady Bellaston , who tries to do Tom a great deal of evil after she loses her fancy to him ;Master Blifil, the most odious character,who plays false witness against Tom many times;Bridget Blifil, who bears Tom and conceals the fact untill her death.On the other hand, there are admirable kind-hearted people who are not high-born,such as Mrs.Nightingale, and Partridge. Obviously, nobility of heart is not associated with class.Fielding basically believes that he who has nobility of heart has moral superiority. This was a common perception of the aristocrats of that age who considered midgets as of low character. Fielding had disillusioned them very intelligently and presented the gist of his age in bold words.

Conclusion :-

                         Tom Jones  serves as a guiding light towards understanding human nature, particularly in 18th century England.It's a portrait of its age,people in that age and their attitude towards individual and the society. A keen observation of the wide zones of this novel would reveal to us that Tom Jones is not merely the mirror of its age ;rather it is precised history, sociology, philosophy of its age.

References :-

■History of English literature -W.J.Long

■https://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/24610404/Tom-Jones-as-Mirror-of-Its-Age