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Tom JonesTom Jones Reading Order
Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding is one of the greatest comic novels in English literature and the founding text of the tradition of the picaresque novel in English — a sprawling, exuberant narrative about the foundling Tom Jones, who grows up at the estate of the benevolent Squire Allworthy, falls in love with the neighboring Sophia Western, is expelled from the estate after being suspected of various misdemeanors (some real, some invented by the villainous Blifil), and makes his way across England to London in pursuit of Sophia and of the truth about his own origins. Fielding's narrative voice is one of the great pleasures of the English novel — witty, digressive, self-aware, and constantly in dialogue with the reader about what novels are for and how they work. Fielding's preface, which defines the novel as a 'comic epic poem in prose,' is one of the founding theoretical statements about what the novel as a form aspires to be.
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Tom Jones (1749)
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Tom Jones
Henry Fielding·1749
Tom Jones — Frequently Asked Questions
How does Tom Jones compare to Clarissa?
Tom Jones and Clarissa were published a year apart (Clarissa in 1748, Tom Jones in 1749) and represent the two poles of the early English novel's possibilities. Richardson's Clarissa is psychologically intense, morally earnest, organized around female virtue and male villainy, and formally committed to the epistolary mode (presenting itself as real letters rather than as fiction). Fielding's Tom Jones is comic, digressive, morally flexible, organized around a male protagonist of good heart and bad judgment, and narrated by a witty and self-aware narrator who constantly draws attention to the novel as a novel. Richardson and Fielding disliked each other personally and Fielding had satirized Richardson's Pamela in Shamela (1741) — the contrast between their novels is therefore also a contrast between two competing ideas of what fiction should do.
Who is Tom Jones, really?
Tom Jones is a foundling discovered in Squire Allworthy's bed — his origins unknown, his parentage a mystery that the novel eventually resolves. He is naturally good-hearted, generous, and brave, but also impulsive and sexually imprudent, which gets him into trouble throughout the novel. His goodness is not a matter of moral education or deliberate virtue but of natural temperament: Fielding's argument (against Richardson's more earnest moral program) is that a good heart is worth more than a set of rules, and that Tom's genuine benevolence makes him more virtuous than the hypocrites (Blifil, various clergymen) who follow the rules without the heart.
What is the structure of Tom Jones?
Tom Jones is divided into eighteen books, each preceded by an introductory chapter in which Fielding addresses the reader directly and discusses his narrative methods, his sources, and his ideas about fiction. These prefatory chapters (one per book) are among the most enjoyable parts of the novel — a running commentary on the story's construction by the 'author' figure who is simultaneously telling the story and reflecting on what he is doing. The novel's main narrative covers roughly six months and three geographical settings: the Somerset countryside, the road from Somerset to London, and London. The road section (books six through twelve) is particularly rich, taking Tom through a series of adventures that resemble the picaresque tradition of Don Quixote and its descendants.
Is Tom Jones a difficult read?
Tom Jones is written in eighteenth-century prose, which requires some adjustment for modern readers — the sentences are longer and more formally constructed than contemporary prose, and Fielding's irony requires attention to register. But the narrative voice is so congenial and the story so eventful that most readers find it easier than its reputation suggests. The standard Penguin Classics edition has good notes that explain contemporary references. The best approach is to read the prefatory chapters at the beginning of each book as essayistic comments on the story, and to enjoy the digressive energy rather than trying to read at the pace modern novels encourage.
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