Tom Jones
Henry Fielding
About Author
Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist best known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Additionally, 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 Runners. His younger sister, Sarah, also became a successful writer.Tom Jones
Let's say that
it's, oh, 1749, and you are author Henry Fielding. You come from a
fairly aristocratic family. But sadly, your dad is also a gambler and
you have no family money. You've got a great education but not much else
going for you. What do you do? You become a professional writer. In
fact, you write for the stage, and you have a lot of success. But the
government frowns on your spicy satires and shuts you down. Now what?
Well, in the face of all of these obstacles, you don't give up. Instead, you decide to write a novel. A really long novel. And not just any novel: an introduction to a particular mode of funny realism that would influence later writers such as Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. You got it: this novel is Tom Jones.
And for any readers who might be worried that they won't be able to follow what Fielding is trying to do artistically with Tom Jones, he helpfully includes chapters of analysis of his own workas part of the novel.
It's not every book that comes with its own study guide—well played, Fielding!
And it's still exciting to read Tom Jones, because you can see Fielding working behind the scenes of the book, trying to figure out what novels should actually do from now on. Fielding wants his novel to be exciting but not too farfetched. He wants to show that novels can be funny, raunchy, truthful, and philosophical at heart. And he wants to prove that you can talk about justice, mercy, and virtue in a book with plenty of random adventures and broad sex jokes.
In other words, Henry Fielding uses Tom Jones to try and get some of the snobbery out of fiction-writing. He hates the condescending idea of "low" (or low-brow) fiction, and totally embraces the concept that books should be both instructive and fun to read. Any novel that wraps up its own commentary about censorship on the stage with a plot twist involving a local maid having sex with a wandering clown probably isn't taking itself too seriously.
Some of his contemporaries found Fielding's mix of deep thoughts and ridiculous hijinks a bit too bizarre to take. They even thought that it was immoral to tell the story of an illegitimate child (the title's Tom Jones) carving out a decent place for himself in the world.
These days, we don't worry too much that reading Tom Jones is going to set off a huge moral earthquake. But this novel might just shake up your world: Fielding creates rounded characters with plenty of serious and not-so-serious flaws. He invites us to laugh at them, as well as at Fielding as the author, and at ourselves as readers of this fast-paced, strange adventure. As Tom Jones mixes high-minded social thought and low-down, dirty action, its twists and turns continue to surprise us even now, over two hundred and fifty years after the novel's publication.
Well, in the face of all of these obstacles, you don't give up. Instead, you decide to write a novel. A really long novel. And not just any novel: an introduction to a particular mode of funny realism that would influence later writers such as Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. You got it: this novel is Tom Jones.
And for any readers who might be worried that they won't be able to follow what Fielding is trying to do artistically with Tom Jones, he helpfully includes chapters of analysis of his own workas part of the novel.
It's not every book that comes with its own study guide—well played, Fielding!
And it's still exciting to read Tom Jones, because you can see Fielding working behind the scenes of the book, trying to figure out what novels should actually do from now on. Fielding wants his novel to be exciting but not too farfetched. He wants to show that novels can be funny, raunchy, truthful, and philosophical at heart. And he wants to prove that you can talk about justice, mercy, and virtue in a book with plenty of random adventures and broad sex jokes.
In other words, Henry Fielding uses Tom Jones to try and get some of the snobbery out of fiction-writing. He hates the condescending idea of "low" (or low-brow) fiction, and totally embraces the concept that books should be both instructive and fun to read. Any novel that wraps up its own commentary about censorship on the stage with a plot twist involving a local maid having sex with a wandering clown probably isn't taking itself too seriously.
Some of his contemporaries found Fielding's mix of deep thoughts and ridiculous hijinks a bit too bizarre to take. They even thought that it was immoral to tell the story of an illegitimate child (the title's Tom Jones) carving out a decent place for himself in the world.
These days, we don't worry too much that reading Tom Jones is going to set off a huge moral earthquake. But this novel might just shake up your world: Fielding creates rounded characters with plenty of serious and not-so-serious flaws. He invites us to laugh at them, as well as at Fielding as the author, and at ourselves as readers of this fast-paced, strange adventure. As Tom Jones mixes high-minded social thought and low-down, dirty action, its twists and turns continue to surprise us even now, over two hundred and fifty years after the novel's publication.
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