Tom Jones As Mirror Of Its Age

Altaf Ahmed Sheik

1

M.A (Hons.) English Literature

Assignment on;

"To m J o n e s a s M i r r o r o f i t s A g e " Submitted to:

Madam Nargis Raza Otho

Submitted by:

Al t af A hm ed Shei kh M.A (Hons.) English Literature Roll No. ENG/2K6/10 Institute of English Language & Literature. University of Sindh, Jamshoro. Dated;

April 29th; 2009

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Altaf Ahmed Sheik

2

M.A (Hons.) English Literature

Introduction This novel was written in 1745 and published in 1749, both in England. It is categorized as Epic Comic Romance. The writer of this novel, Henry 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 grant 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, the author of Tom Jones happens to be one amongst those great writers who did not 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 of this novel does not reflect 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. Tom Jones show us not only 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 bestows them with virtues like courage, generosity and benevolence. While on the other hand, it points out vices in form of maligning, hypocrisy and injustice. No doubt these all traits existed in 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 is because of this brilliant mode of expression that William Hazlitt said: “To read Tom Jones is like going out into the world 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.” (William Hazlitt) Tom Jones presents society as it was. It does not exaggerate in any angle of literary possibility of exaggeration. If a character has more virtuous characteristics, it reflects him in the form of elderly 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 cannot 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 [email protected] http://altaftheredmax.spaces.live.com

Altaf Ahmed Sheik

3

M.A (Hons.) English Literature

poor family, entices youngsters for going into bed with her for few pennies, entraps Tom the hero of the novel. 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 does not 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, reformation and culture of English society in just one canvas. Morality; as it was declining day by day. Social status; 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 does not 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 bad 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, colorful and dramatic, he employs such skills as authorial intrusion, mock-heroic style, and irony. With authorial intrusion, Fielding engages his readers in the evaluations of moral judgments. With irony and 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 which 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 cannot 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 Sophie; Lady Bellaston, who tries to do Tom a great deal of evil after she loses her fancy to him; [email protected] http://altaftheredmax.spaces.live.com

Altaf Ahmed Sheik

4

M.A (Hons.) English Literature

Master Blifil, the most odious character, who plays false witness against Tom many times; Bridget Blifil, who bears Tom and conceals the fact until 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, theology and philosophy of its age.

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Altaf Ahmed Sheik

5

M.A (Hons.) English Literature

Bibliography Henry Fielding, “The History of Tom Jones, a Fondling”. Legouis and Cazamian, “History of English Literature”. William Hazlitt, “Evaluation of Fiction”.

Web Resources Θ http://www.pdfcoke.com/tomjones Θ http://www.bookrags.com/premium/fiction/fielding/tomjones Θ http://www.highbeam.com/englit/novel/tomjones

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