London, 1749.

Critically acclaimed as "a comic epic in prose," Tom Jones is regarded as one of the most influential early novels of the eighteenth century. It is also acknowledged to be the first comedic novel to gain notoriety. Tom Jones was not Henry Fielding's first comedic work. Joseph Andrews and An Apology for the Life of Miss Shamela (a parody of Samuel Richardson's Pamela) were published in 1742. Miscellanies, to include the novel Jonathan Wild, was published in 1743.

Tom Jones was well received in its day. It departs drastically from moralistic novels such as Samuel Richardson's Pamela, in which happiness is the reward of virtue. Tom Jones can also be seen as a reaction to the gushing sentimentalism of earlier novels, such as the epistolary novels of Richardson, in which the characters are regularly carried away by the fervor of their own emotions and expound upon them ad nauseam.

Tom Jones also departs stylistically from earlier novels such as Samuel Richardson's Pamela or Clarissa, both of which are epistolary novels - novels in letters. In these earlier novels, the narrator gives the illusion that the letters are someone else's correspondence to which he will only be the editor. In Tom Jones, the form is prose, without the pretense of letters. The narrator actively engages the reader in the tale. The narrator often stops to discuss the events in the story, or to take the reader back to an earlier event that has become relevant. The reader, therefore, is drawn in by the trust of the narrator, and understands the characters not only by how they interact with each other, but also by taking into account the light the narrator chooses to shed upon each individual.

The musings of the narrator and the dialogue of one important character provide a window to view the renaissance in thought occurring in the eighteenth century. The importance of childhood was first recognized, and many modern views have their beginnings in this century. The opposing camps of thought on child-rearing may be seen in the beliefs of Mr. Thwackum, who tends to follow the maxim "spare the rod, spoil the child," in philosophy more similar to John Locke's, and the beliefs of Mr. Square, whose views are more concurrent with Rousseau's.

The argument of Nature versus Nurture, familiar to all who have studied psychology, is imbedded in eighteenth-century thought. This argument figures prominently in the rearing of Tom Jones, who, it is conjectured, was born to end in the gallows, and nearly does. Is it his nature to be wanton and prone to vice, or can a proper upbringing - peppered heavily with the rod - save him from the heinous fate of being born a bastard? Through the running social commentary of the narrator, Tom Jones can be seen as a reflection of the prevailing thought of the time, and at some points a parody of it.

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 818