History Of Tom Jones, a Foundling Pdf is An Eighteenth Century Classic novel By Henry Fielding.
The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling Summary
A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squire—though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.
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About Henry Fielding Author of The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
Henry Fielding Author Of The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling Pdf was born in Somerset in 1707. The son of an army lieutenant and a judge’s daughter, he was educated at Eton School and the University of Leiden before returning to England where he wrote a series of farces, operas and light comedies.
Fielding formed his own company and was running the Little Theatre, Haymarket, when one of his satirical plays began to upset the government. The passing of the Theatrical Licensing Act in 1737 effectively ended Fielding’s career as a playwright. In 1739 Fielding turned to journalism and became editor of The Champion. He also began writing novels, including: The Adventures of Joseph Andrews (1742), Abraham Adams (1742) and Jonathan Wild (1743).
Fielding was made a justice of the peace for Westminster and Middlesex in 1748. He campaigned against legal corruption and helped his half-brother, Sir John Fielding, establish the Bow Street Runners. In 1749 Fielding’s novel, The History of Tom Jones was published to public acclaim. Critics agree that it is one of the greatest comic novels in the English language. Fielding followed this success with another well received novel, Amelia (1751).
The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling pdf, Paperback, Hardcover Book Information
- Publisher : Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (September 27, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 1024 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0140436227
- ISBN-13 : 978-0140436228
- Lexile measure : 1360L
- Item Weight : 1.53 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.15 x 1.76 x 7.8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #627,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,910 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #16,246 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #31,994 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews: 4.3 out of 5 stars 824 ratings
The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling Book Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Foundling’s Felicity
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 24, 2007
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This book or novel or whatever you may deem fit to call it has so many points in its favour that it’s difficult to know where to begin. I think a rundown of a few of the myriad of characters that delight me personally might do for starters:
Tom Jones – A young fellow with many “imperfections” if so they may be called, but a robust fellow with a “good heart.” Prudence and what is commonly called virtue are not his strong suit – But may I remind the reader that virtue comes from the Latin word for “manliness”- Tom is certainly possessed of the word’s etymological origins, if not of its modern usage (particularly in amorous matters)–And a good thing too, or we should have no story here to delight us!
Squire Western- Another rambunctious character, who, for me, typifies all that is Eighteenth Century England. Every time he appeared in this book, whether it was to comment on wenching, wine, or riding to hounds a smirk would immediately cross my face followed invariably by chuckling by the end of the chapter.
Henry Fielding – The author plays as much a part of the book as any of the characters with many prologues and prefaces and etc. For these, and for much of the rest of the book, I might add, the reader who has not had four years of Latin inculcated into him at an English boarding school would do well to buy the Oxford edition, which fully explains all the learned quotes – Also, as one who was thus inculcated but is inclined to laziness, the Oxford edition’s notes prove extremely helpful also. Fielding also gives us a lively picture of the literary life of his time, which the Oxford footnotes do a deft job of explaining- In short, buy the Oxford edition.
This review can not be comprehensive. There are simply too many characters to even make a go at encompassing them all. I’m merely describing some of the, to me, more delightful ones.
The book as a whole is simply a joy to read, in its comic descriptions of all who will deign to admit that they are human, and of some priggish sorts who will not so deign. I can put it no better than Fielding Himself at the beginning of Book XV:
“There are a set of religious, or rather moral writers, who teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery, in this world. A very wholesome and comfortable doctrine, and to which we have but one objection, namely, that is not true.”
In short, this is a delightful ramble of a book which, while entertaining the reader not too attached to Sunday School, sheds light on how unvirtuous the virtuous can be, and how kind and good-natured the roguish can be as well as giving us as good a history lesson on the state of affairs in Eighteenth century England (with attention given to the Jacobite Rebellion etc.) as many a “proper” history does. Who, I ask myself, would not delight in this book? —Well…for the priggish, there’s always Jane Austen.
4.0 out of 5 stars The Sidekick in Early-Modern Literature.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 28, 2016
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Tom Jones is probably the most influential novel in English history, pioneering elements like complex characterization, social criticism and authorial interjection. But you already knew that.
What you want to know is, is this a good book for us in the 21st century. And here, it’s not so clear. The dialogue is pretty brisk, and some of the exchanges (the stereotypical Whig Mrs. Western arguing with her Jacobite brother is a particular treat) are actually funny. The latter part of the novel evolves into a farce, with a dozen characters engaged in scheming against one another, while Tom and Sophia helplessly go along. Farce works better in drama, where it has a faster pace, but it’s always a welcome mode of comedy. You don’t see enough farces.
Some of the characters are evocative (why do I picture Blifil as looking like Ted Cruz?) but some are not: Dowling is just a lawyer, and Mrs. Miller is a good woman, like thousands who have come since, and that’s all there is to it. It’s not as if every character needs to, or can, be a fully realized person, but the parts of the novel spent with these human plot devices do feel mechanical.
But Mr. Partridge, Tom’s traveling companion, is in a different category altogether, and he just poisons the parts of the novel that he features in (chiefly the middle third). Eighteenth Century literature has a depressing reliance on goofy loose-lipped sidekicks: Mr. Partridge, Hugh Strap, Humphrey Clinker, Andrew Fairservice, Friday. Sometimes they’re servants, but sometimes they’re just stupid friends.
Part of this must be practical: It’s difficult to follow a wandering hero (and why are the heroes of these novels always wandering? But that’s a different question altogether) without giving him a friend to talk to. Maybe early novelists had a hard time sketching characters who didn’t have a way to discuss the ongoing action.
But mostly, I think this is the bad influence of Don Quixote, which was becoming increasingly popular in England during this period. Sancho Panza is OK, and he’s certainly the funniest element of that leaden tome. But Mr. Partridge *is* Sancho Panza, cowardice, superstition and all, and one Sancho Panza was more than enough. You know? There’s a limited number of things that a silly, selfless, lazy pal can do, and it’s hard to read about the same old doofus, yet again.
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