It hath been often said, that it is not death, but dying,
which is terrible.
—— Henry Fielding
Outline
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Brief Introduction & Biography of Fielding
Background of 18th Century
The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
Love in Several Masques
AMELIA
The History of Jonathan Wild the Great
Summary: Field’s literary style,
characteristics of language & his contribution
Brief Introduction of Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding (1707/4/22-1754/10/8)
• 18th-century English novelist,
playwright, and barrister, who, with his
contemporary Samuel Richardson,
established the English novel tradition.
• known for his rich earthy humour粗俗
的诙谐 and satirical prowess讽刺的技
艺, and as the author of the novel Tom
Jones. He is the founder of the
English realistic novel and is regarded
as the Father of English novel for his
contribution to the establishment of the
form of the modern novel .
Biography:
Henry Fielding was born on April 22, 1707, in Somerset(萨
默塞特郡), England. He was the son of General Fielding and
his mother, Sarah Fielding, was the daughter of a judge.
Leiden University
He was well educated at Eton school. In 1728, he travelled
to Netherlands to study classics(古典文学) and law at the
Leiden(莱顿) University. However, due to lack of money he
was obliged to return to London and began to write farces(喜
剧) for the theatre.
Eton school
 Many of his plays like The Coffee-House Politician
《咖啡屋的政治家》，The Tragedy of Tragedies 《悲
剧中的悲剧》 and Pasquin 《巴斯昆》all ridicule the
society and politics of the time. His works savagely(
猛烈的) criticise the contemporary government
under Sir Robert Walpole(沃波尔爵士 )
In 1737,Walpole alleged The Theatrical Licensing
Act(戏剧检查法). Once the Licensing Act passed,
political satire on the stage was virtually impossible
and playwrights whose works were staged were
viewed as suspect. Fielding therefore retired from
the theatre and resumed(重新开始) his career in law.
In 1742, Fielding’s first novel, Joseph
Andrews《约瑟夫·安德鲁斯》 , was
published. In the preface of this book
he said that he would create a new style
of art, i.e. comic epic in prose(散文体喜
剧史诗) He was the first to set out , both
in theory and practice, to write
specifically a “comic epic in prose” and
the first to give the modern novel its
structure and style.
In 1748, he was made Justice of the
Peace(治安法官) for Westminster. His
influence included a proposal for the
abolition of public hangings and found
London‘s first police force, the Bow
Street Runners(伦敦侦探), using his
authority as a magistrate(地方执法官).
The History of Tom Jones, a
Foundling《汤姆·琼斯》 ，Fielding's
comic masterpiece and best known
work was published in 1749. Tom
Jones brings him the name of the
“Prose Homer(散文荷马).” .
In 1743, he published The History of
Jonathan Wild the Great《伟大的乔纳
森·怀尔德传记 》
In 1751, his last work Amelia《阿米
利亚》 was published.
buried in Lisbon
In 1754, he went abroad to Portugal
in search of a cure and died in
Lisbon(里斯本) two months later.
Neoclassical period(1660----1798)
In short, it was an age full of conflicts and
divergence of values（价值观）.
The eighteenth-century England is also
known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age
of Reason.
.
Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world
with the light of modern philosophical and
artistic ideas。
The age of enlightenment:
Enlighteners held that rationality or reason
should be the only, the final cause of any human
thought and activities. They called for a
reference to order, reason and rules.
As a matter of fact, literature at the time,
heavily didactic and moralizing（说教与道德理
念）, became a very popular means of public
education.
The age of enlightenment----Famous people：
John Dryden
Jonathan Swift
约翰.德莱顿,
乔纳森.斯威夫特
Alexander Pope
Daniel Defoe
亚历山大.蒲柏
丹尼尔.迪福
Joseph Addison
Henry Fielding
约瑟夫.艾迪森
亨利.费尔丁
a newly rising literary form
----the modern English novel (英国现代小说)
•mid-century of 18th
•contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats
（传统贵族的骑士文学 ）, gives a realistic
presentation of life of the common English people.
pioneers :
Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry
Fielding, Laurence Sterne, and Oliver Goldsmith.
•Tom Jones (a bastard and ward of Squire Allworthy)
•Squire Allworthy (a wealthy squire with an estate in
Somersetshire)
•Mrs. Bridget Allworthy-Blifil (Squire Allworthy's sister)
•Captain Blifil (Captain and Mrs. Blifil's husband)
•Master Blifil (son of Captain Blifil and Bridget)
•Black George Seagrim (a gamekeeper)
•Molly Seagrim (Black George's second daughter)
•Squire Western (a hunter)
•Sophia Western (the Squire's only daughter)
•Miss Western (the Squire's unmarried sister)
•Lady Bellaston (Tom's lover and a leading figure in London
society)
•Lord Fellamar (a peer and socialite)
•Mr. Summer (the son of a clergyman and revealed to be the
father of Tom Jones)
• Characterization
• Tom Jones, the foundling is a handsome young man. He is
frank and open, kind. disinterested, and. though quicktempered, devoid of malice. His outstanding quality is “good
nature" and” goodness of heart”. He is, indeed, “one of the
best-natured fellows alive”, and has “all that weakness which
is called compassion, and which distinguishes this imperfect
character from the noble firmness of mind.
• Good-hearted as he is, Tom is very far from being a model
character. He lives by impulse, not by reason. Being a simple
country boy, thoroughly ignorant of the ways of the depraved
high society in London, he is completely taken by surprise by
a bed woman and becomes, for a short time, her paid lover.
Here the author’s intention is to show that even a good man
may commit mistakes and be easily led astray, but by virtue of
his innate goodness, he is not corrupted and eventually
overcomes his weaknesses. Tom is not radically vicious, but
good-natured and honest in the main.
• Sophia: Sophia Western, the heroine of the book, is the
“Somersetshire angel." She is her father’s “little darling",
and she returns all his affection with angelic tenderness.
To her, "her father’s word was a law in almost everything.
On one point, however, she stands out against him
inflexibly--nothing can induce her to marry a man whom
she dislikes. Her character and behaviour were rather
advanced for her time, “when the compulsory marriage
was universally prevailing.”
• she takes some courage to love a man whom everyone
around her speaks ill of. Moreover, she is not ignorant of
Tom’s faults, but she knows the good qualities of her
lover, and does not expect perfection. However, she
cannot pardon his radiation with Lady Bellaston. No one
can persuade her to forgive him that mistake.
• Sophia was Fielding’s ideal of what an amiable
English girl should be. But he did not make her
"perfectly perfect”.
• Though ordinarily very sweet-tempered, she can
flame into an angry person on occasions.
• She has also a bit of vanity; which causes her, to
toy with the idea of playing the part of a tragic
heroine, sacrificing herself to her father’s wishes,
and figuring pathetically as martyr to filial duty .
• But these flaws in no way lessen our
appreciation of her good qualities, her gaiety
and candour, and her calm courage in face of
life’s difficulties and perplexities.
Sophia Western, is an allegorical therefore kept as anonymous （没有
特色的）as possible.
Sophia becomes the spokeswoman for male chastity at the end of the
novel—ironically, through her lecture to Jones, she provides the final
obstacle to their marriage and thus to the fulfillment of the comic plot.
Through her generosity and genuine courtesy, Sophia becomes a
representative, along with Jones and Allworthy of Fielding's vision of
Virtue.
She combines the best of the country and the city, since she has
manners, unlike her country father, but they are genuine, unlike those of
her courtly aunt, Mrs. Western.
Similarly, Sophia combines the merits of the novel's two other
heroes without any of their faults—she is kind like Tom, but also remains
chaste, and is generous toward others, like Allworthy, without being
blind to their faults.
• Feature: generous ,courtesy, brave, faithful figure, meant to represent
the feminine ideal.
•
Allworthy, as his name implies—all-worthy, is also an
allegorical figure of sorts.
He does not undergo any dramatic changes and thus
possesses the consistency and stability found in stock
characters in theatrical comedy.
Allworthy, as Fielding‘s moral yardstick（衡量标准）
and as the novel’s ultimate dispenser of justice and mercy,
almost takes on the role of a god, although he is still
mortal enough to make incorrect judgments. Allworthy‘s
blindness to the evil designs lead him to make mistakes
which propel the plot of the novel forward. For example, it
is Allworthy who banishesTom Jones from his county.
• Feature：wealthy, benevolent, altruistic(利他主义的),blind
Blifil, the antagonist of Tom Jones, is a foil（陪衬物）
to his uncle Allworthy.
Blifil not only acts vilely, but also coats his evil with
sugary hypocrisy. When Allworthy and Tom confront Blifil
with his crimes, Blifil weeps not out of remorse, but
rather out of terror. He does not reform his ways, but
merely his religion, expediently(权宜地) converting to
Methodism（卫理公会派） in order to marry a rich
woman.
As the static villain, Blifil stands opposite the
consistent goodness of Allworthy.
• Feature:greed ,sly, perfidious(不可信任的)，
passionless
Squire Western ,Sophia’father, was a typical example
of the eighteenth-century British conservative-minded
Tory squire(托利党乡绅).
A University education had not cured him of rusticity
（乡气）of speech or of behaviour, and he remained to
the end of his days ignorant and prejudiced. For
example , someone killed one of his partridge（鹧鸪）,
he put this person into jail .He drank too deeply and
tyranized over his wife and daughter .
For all his countrified ways, Squire Western was not
stupid; indeed, he manifested considerable shrewdness
(精明)upon occasions, and was an ill man to have for an
enemy.
• Feature：Vulgar, stubborn, violent, arbitrary, has strong
sense of exploitation (剥削)and fame and fortune
Plot
• Tom, the hero of the story, is a boy found in Mr.
Allworthy’s house and brought up there with the kind
old man’s nephew Master Blifil . The latter, a
hypocritical, wicked man, is envious of Mr.
Allworthy’s fondness for the foundling and of Tom’s
intimacy with the beautiful Sophia, daughter of the
well-off squire Western. He plays some tricks so that
Mr. Allworthy drives Tom out of the house. Tom,
intending to go to sea, wrongly takes the road to
London, and Sophia, in rebellion against her father’s
desire that she be married to Blifil, marches out for
London too, accompanied by her maid. The two
young people, especially Tom, have many
adventures on the road, but in the end, after some
misunderstanding between them, they are happily
united.
• For a time, Tom became a
national hero. People were
fond of this young fellow
with manly virtues and yet
not without fault– honest,
kind-hearted, high-spirited
loyal, and brave, but
impulsive, wanting
prudence and full of animal
spirits. In a way, the young
man stands for a wayfaring
Everyman, who is expelled
from the paradise and
finally to approach
perfectness.
Literary style
• Tom Jones, generally considered as Fielding's
masterpiece, brings its author the name of the
“Prose Homer.” The panoramic view it provides of
the 18th century English country and city life with
different places and about 40 characters is
unsurpassed. The language is one of clarity and
suppleness. And last of all, the plot construction is
excellent. Its 18 books of epic form are divided into 3
sections, 6 books each, clearly marked out by the
change of scenes: in the country, on the high way
and in London. By this, Fielding has indeed achieved
his goal of writing a "comic epic in prose".
• The novel draws on a variety of
inspirations. Written "in imitation of the
manner of Cervantes, the author of Don
Quixote" , the work owes much of its
humour to the techniques developed by
Cervantes, and its subject-matter to the
seemingly loose arrangement of events,
digressions and lower-class characters
to the genre of writing known as
picaresque. In deference to the literary
tastes and recurring tropes of the period,
it relies on bawdy humour, an impending
marriage and a mystery surrounding
unknown parentage, but conversely is
rich in philosophical digressions,
classical erudition and social purpose.
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
in Tom Jones
Themes
• Virtue as action rather than thought
• The impossibility of stereotypical
categorization
• Fielding's novel attempts to break down numerous
boundaries.
• In another example of broken stereotypes, Fielding's
characters cannot be distinguished by "masculine" or
"feminine" traits: in this novel both men and women fight
and cry.
• The tension between Art and Artifice
• Although the narrator upholds the value of natural art in his
characters, he uses artifice himself in the construction of his novel.
Motifs
• Food
• The narrator invokes the motif of food in relation to
the process of writing, the process of reading, love,
and war. He begins the novel by referring to himself as a
Restauranteer who will provide the reader with a feast.
He later defines lust as a person's appetite for a good
chunk of white flesh.
• Travel
• Where the narrator opens the novel with a reference to
food, he concludes the novel with a reference to travel,
casting himself as the reader's fellow traveler. This
represents the culmination of a travel motif throughout
the novel. As the characters journey from the country to
the city, the narrator includes himself as a fellow traveler,
remarking that he will not plod through the journey, but
will hasten and slow down as he pleases.
• The Law
• The narrator infuses his language—and the speech of his
characters—with legal terms. For example, after a petty
domestic argument with Squire Western, Mrs. Western refers
to their reconciliation as the signing of a "treaty." Such
examples reveal the narrator's technique of hyperbole—he
uses technical jargon to build up events that are actually
irrelevant. However, there are also cases in which the
narrator's legal motif is genuine, as both Allworthy and
Western are Justices of the Peace, and the lawyer Dowling
plays a large part in the plot against Tom.
• The Stage
• It is noteworthy that Fielding constantly alludes to the theater,
since his novel is in some ways more "dramatic" than it is
"literary." The motif of the stage reminds one that Fielding
thinks of his characters as "actors." Nevertheless, the fact
that Fielding refuses to provide detailed visual descriptions of
his characters slightly undermines his theatrical motif. Clearly,
he wishes to vacillate between the visual world of the
dramatic and the written word of the prose novel.
• Chapter 13
• A dreadful accident which befell Sophia. The gallant behaviour of Jones,
and the more dreadful consequence of that behaviour to the young lady;
with a short digression in favour of the female sex.
• Mr. Western grew every day fonder and fonder of Sophia, insomuch that
his beloved dogs themselves almost gave place to her in his affections; but
as he could not prevail on himself to abandon these, he contrived very
cunningly to enjoy their company, together with that of his daughter, by
insisting on her riding a-hunting with him.
•
Sophia, to whom her father's word was a law, readily complied with his
desires, though she had not the least delight in a sport, which was of too
rough and masculine a nature to suit with her disposition. She had
however another motive, beside her obedience, to accompany the old
gentleman in the chase; for by her presence she hoped in some measure
to restrain his impetuosity, and to prevent him from so frequently exposing
his neck to the utmost hazard.
• The strongest objection was that which would have formerly been an
inducement to her, namely, the frequent meeting with young Jones,
whom she had determined to avoid; but as the end of the hunting
season now approached, she hoped, by a short absence with her aunt,
to reason herself entirely out of her unfortunate passion; and had not
any doubt of being able to meet him in the field the subsequent season
without the least danger.
•
On the second day of her hunting, as she was returning from the
chase, and was arrived within a little distance from Mr. Western's
house, her horse, whose mettlesome spirit required a better rider, fell
suddenly to prancing and capering in such a manner that she was in
the most imminent peril of falling. Tom Jones, who was at a little
distance behind, saw this, and immediately galloped up to her
assistance. As soon as he came up, he leapt from his own horse, and
caught hold of hers by the bridle. The unruly beast presently reared
himself on end on his hind legs, and threw his lovely burthen from his
back, and Jones caught her in his arms.
• She was so affected with the fright, that she was not immediately able
to satisfy Jones, who was very solicitous to know whether she had
received any hurt. She soon after, however, recovered her spirits,
assured him she was safe, and thanked him for the care he had taken
of her. Jones answered, "If I have preserved you, madam, I am
sufficiently repaid; for I promise you, I would have secured you from
the least harm at the expense of a much greater misfortune to myself
than I have suffered on this occasion."
•
"What misfortune?" replied Sophia eagerly; "I hope you have come to
no mischief?"
•
"Be not concerned, madam," answered Jones. "Heaven be praised
you have escaped so well, considering the danger you was in. If I have
broke my arm, I consider it as a trifle, in comparison of what I feared
upon your account."
•
Sophia then screamed out, "Broke your arm! Heaven forbid."
•
"I am afraid I have, madam," says Jones: "but I beg you will suffer me
first to take care of you. I have a right hand yet at your service, to help
you into the next field, whence we have but a very little walk to your
father's house."
• Sophia seeing his left arm dangling by his side, while he was using
the other to lead her, no longer doubted of the truth. She now grew
much paler than her fears for herself had made her before. All her
limbs were seized with a trembling, insomuch that Jones could scarce
support her; and as her thoughts were in no less agitation, she could
not refrain from giving Jones a look so full of tenderness, that it almost
argued a stronger sensation in her mind, than even gratitude and pity
united can raise in the gentlest female bosom, without the assistance
of a third more powerful passion.
•
Mr. Western, who was advanced at some distance when this
accident happened, was now returned, as were the rest of the
horsemen. Sophia immediately acquainted them with what had
befallen Jones, and begged them to take care of him. Upon which
Western, who had been much alarmed by meeting his daughter's
horse without its rider, and was now overjoyed to find her unhurt, cried
out, "I am glad it is no worse. If Tom hath broken his arm, we will get a
joiner to mend it again."
• The squire alighted from his horse, and proceeded to his house on foot,
with his daughter and ones. An impartial spectator, who had met them
on the way, would, on viewing their several countenances, have
concluded Sophia alone to have been the object of compassion: for as
to Jones, he exulted in having probably saved the life of the young lady,
at the price only of a broken bone; and Mr. Western, though he was not
unconcerned at the accident which had befallen Jones, was, however,
delighted in a much higher degree with the fortunate escape of his
daughter.
•
The generosity of Sophia's temper construed this behaviour of Jones
into great bravery; and it made a deep impression on her heart: for
certain it is, that there is no one quality which so generally
recommends men to women as this…
• However this be, certain it is that the accident operated very strongly
on Sophia; and, indeed, after much enquiry into the matter, I am
inclined to believe, that, at this very time, the charming Sophia made
no less impression on the heart of Jones; to say truth, he had for some
time become sensible of the irresistible power of her charms.
• Chapter 14
What happened to Mr. Jones in his journey from St. Albans
They were got about two miles beyond Barnet, and it was now the dusk of
the evening, when a genteel-looking man, but upon a very shabby
horse, rode up to Jones, and asked him whether he was going to
London; to which Jones answered in the affirmative. The gentleman
replied, "I should be obliged to you, sir, if you will accept of my
company; for it is very late, and I am a stranger to the road." Jones
readily complied with the request; and on they travelled together,
holding that sort of discourse which is usual on such occasions.
Of this, indeed, robbery was the principal topic: upon which subject the
stranger expressed great apprehensions; but Jones declared he had
very little to lose, and consequently as little to fear. Here Partridge
could not forbear putting in his word. "Your honour," said he, "may think
it a little, but I am sure, if I had a hundred-pound bank-note in my
pocket, as you have, I should be very sorry to lose it; but, for my part, I
never was less afraid in my life; for we are four of us, and if we all
stand by one another, the best man in England can't rob us. Suppose
he should have a pistol, he can kill but one of us, and a man can die
but once.- That's my comfort, a man can die but once."
• Besides the reliance on superior numbers, a kind of valour which hath
raised a certain nation among the moderns to a high pitch of glory,
there was another reason for the extraordinary courage which
Partridge now discovered; for he had at present as much of that quality
as was in the power of liquor to bestow.
•
Our company were now arrived within a mile of Highgate, when the
stranger turned short upon Jones, and pulling out a pistol, demanded
that little bank-note which Partridge had mentioned.
• Jones was at first somewhat shocked at this unexpected demand;
however, he presently recollected himself, and told the highwayman,
all the money he had in his pocket was entirely at his service; and so
saying, he pulled out upwards of three guineas, and offered to deliver it;
but the other answered with an oath, That would not do. Jones
answered coolly, he was very sorry for it, and returned the money into
his pocket.
• The highwayman then threatened, if he did not deliver the bank-note
that moment, he must shoot him; holding his pistol at the same time
very near to his breast. Jones instantly caught hold of the fellow's
hand, which trembled so that he could scarce hold the pistol in it, and
turned the muzzle from him. A struggle then ensued, in which the
former wrested the pistol from the hand of his antagonist, and both
came from their horses on the ground together, the highwayman upon
his back, and the victorious Jones upon him.
• The poor fellow now began to implore mercy of the conqueror: for, to
say the truth, he was in strength by no means a match for Jones.
"Indeed, sir," says he, "I could have had no intention to shoot you; for
you will find the pistol was not loaded. This is the first robbery I ever
attempted, and I have been driven by distress to this."
• At this instant, at about a hundred and fifty yards' distance, lay another
person on the ground, roaring for mercy in a much louder voice than
the highwayman. This was no other than Partridge himself, who,
endeavouring to make his escape from the engagement, had been
thrown from his horse, and lay flat on his face, not daring to look up,
and expecting every minute to be shot.
• In this posture he lay, till the guide, who was no otherwise concerned
than for his horses, having secured the stumbling beast, came up to
him, and told him his master had got the better of the highwayman.
• Partridge leapt up at this news, and ran back to the place where Jones
stood with his sword drawn in his hand to guard the poor fellow; which
Partridge no sooner saw, than he cried out, "Kill the villain, sir, run him
through the body, kill him this instant!"
• Luckily, however, for the poor wretch, he had fallen into more merciful
hands; for Jones having examined the pistol, and found it to be really
unloaded, began to believe all the man had told him, before Partridge
came up: namely, that he was a novice in the trade, and that he had
been driven to it by the distress he mentioned, the greatest indeed
imaginable, that of five hungry children, and a wife lying in of the sixth,
in the utmost want and misery. The truth of all which the highwayman
most vehemently asserted, and offered to convince Mr. Jones of it, if
he would take the trouble to go to his house, which was not above two
miles off; saying, "That he desired no favour, but upon condition of
proving all he had alledged."
• Jones at first pretended that he would take the fellow at his word and
go with him, declaring that his fate should depend entirely on the truth
of his story. Upon this the poor fellow immediately expressed so much
alacrity, that Jones was perfectly satisfied with his veracity, and began
now to entertain sentiments of compassion for him. He returned the
fellow his empty pistol, advised him to think of honester means of
relieving his distress, and gave him a couple of guineas for the
immediate support of his wife and his family; adding, "he wished he
had more for his sake, for the hundred pound that had been
mentioned was not his own."
•
Our readers will probably be divided in their opinions concerning this
action; some may applaud it perhaps as an act of extraordinary
humanity, while those of a more saturnine temper will consider it as a
want of regard to that justice which every man owes his country.
Partridge certainly saw it in that light; for he testified much
dissatisfaction on the occasion, quoted an old proverb, and said, he
should not wonder if the rogue attacked them again before they
reached London.
A Little Comparison
Between
Tom Jones & Dream of the Red Chamber
• 1. The number of the character
• 2. The reflection
• 3. The construction of the novel
• 4. Commentary on the book as it was
published
The Number of The Character
• The Red Chamber:
There are totally
983 persons
mentioned, Including
the empires,queens,
fairy maidens, etc.
• Tom Jones:
There are 49 persons.
Henry Fielding gave
every person a detailed
description through his
behavior,social
relationship,spoken
language, etc. every
person had the own
typical character, while
they lived in such society,
they somehow had the
same character.
The Reflection
• The Red Chamber:
gave a vivid
description of the first
half of the18th
century in China, the
true portrayal of the
life in the feudal
society which was
drifting towards
bankruptcy.
• Tom Jones:
showed the social
reality of the18th
century in England.
Even the common
persons had their own
feelings of love,
hatred，happiness
and sadness.
The Construction of The Novel
The Red Chamber:
Used the description of
the characters in the
novel, their attitudes,
their behaviors, their
points of view, etc. to
show the real society
of China.
Showed the complex
relationships between
each character.
Tom Jones:
Complex but well-knit.
The whole novel mainly told
the life of Tom Jones, with
the love to Sophia and the
conflict with Blifil. Through
their relationships, created
many other personage
stories, which made the
book as a whole.
Commentary on The Book As It Was Published
The Red Chamber:
Through the 200
years, with the
different explanations
to the book, people
hold different opinions
and lead up to
endless controversy.
Tom Jones:
It was listed in the
most terrible
publication. Many
famous critics
regarded this book as
a devil.
The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and His friend Mr.
Abraham Adams
• In this novel, Joseph supposedly the young handsome
and chaste brother of Richardson's virtuous heroine
Pamela, is tempted by his amorous mistress,
supposedly aunt of Pamela's husband, Mr. B. Here,
instead of being rewarded for his virtue, Joseph is
turned out of doors by his mistress. But the burlesque
ends here; the book quickly turns into a great novel of
the open road, a "comic epic in prose", whose subject
is "the true ridiculous" in human nature, as exposed in
all its variety as Joseph and the amiable quixotic
parson journey homeward through the heart of
England. The dominating qualities of the novel are its
excellent character-portrayal, timely entrances and
exits, robustness of tone and hilarious, hearty humor.
Love in Several Masques
by Henry Fielding
Background
• The play was completed during
September 1727 and it was listed in the 23
September 1727 British Journal as being
scheduled. There is little information on
Fielding's editing of the work, and none to
support that anyone suggested corrections
except Anne Oldfield, who he thanked in
the Preface for supplying corrections.
Background
• The prologue, dedication, and preface
were probably composed during January
or February 1728, with the dedication and
preface most likely composed between
the last nights of the show, 20 and 21
February, and its publication, 23
February.
Influence
The play marks Fielding's early approach to
theatre and how he begins to create his
own take on tradition 18th-century theatre
conventions.
Critics have emphasized little beyond how
the play serves as Fielding's first play
among many. The possible sources of the
play including a possible failed pursuit of a
lover by Fielding, or the beginnings of
Fielding's reliance on the topic of gender,
identity, and social ethics.
Plot
• The plot is traditional and
includes three female characters,
three respectable males, three
non-respectable males, and
three side characters. Each
respectable male meets their
female counterpart three times.
Plot
• The primary plot of the play deals with
Wisemore and his pursuit of Lady
Matchless. With the help of his friend
Merital, Wisemore is able to overcome
other lovers and various struggles in
order to prove his worth to Matchless
and win her love.
Plot
• A secondary plot involves Merital and his
desire to marry a woman named Helena,
cousin to Matchless. He is kept from doing so
externally by her uncle, by the workings of
her aunt, and internally by
themselves.Against her uncles wishes, Helena
and Merital elope 私奔 . Although Trap is
angered by this, Lady Matchless steps in and
defends the marriage by saying that she too
will marry like her cousin. The play ends
with a song about beauty, virtue, and lovers.
Themes
• Love in Several Masques is a traditional comic drama
that involves morality.
• The theme of the play is the relationship of disguises伪装
and courtship求爱 with a discussion of the nature of love.
Fielding focuses on men and how they deal with love and
marriage.
• the gentlemen must prove their worth before they can
be justified in their marriage, which allows Fielding to
describe the traits required in successful male suitors.
• The image of the masque within the play deals with
hiding one's identity. Fielding, like many other
playwrights, focuses on how the masque genre deals with
the social acceptability of altering identities within the
format.
AMELIA
Amelia is a sentimental novel written by Henry
Fielding and published in December 1751. It was
the fourth and final novel written by Fielding, and it
was printed in only one edition while the author was
alive, although 5,000 copies were published of the
first edition. Amelia follows the life of Amelia and
Captain William Booth after they are married.
•
•
•
•
Background
Plot summary
Feminine intelligence
Comments
Background
Fielding began writing Amelia in the fall
of 1749. He turned to his own life for
inspiration, and the main character, Amelia,
was possibly modeled on Fielding's first wife,
Charlotte, who died in November 1744.
Likewise, the hero, Captain Booth, was partly
modeled after Fielding himself. It was
advertised on 2 December 1751 by the publisher,
Andrew Millar.
It finally went into a second edition in 1762.
However, this edition was posthumous and in
Millary's Works of Henry Fielding
Plot
Summary
Amelia is a domestic novel taking place largely in London
during 1733. It describes the hardships suffered by a young
couple newly married. and that the novel contains
autobiographical elements.
Against her mother's wishes, Amelia marries Captain
William Booth, a dashing young army officer. The couple run
away to London. In Book II, William is unjustly imprisoned in
Negate, and is subsequently seduced by Miss Matthews.
During this time, it is revealed that Amelia was in a carriage
accident and that her nose was ruined. Although this brings
about jokes at Amelia's behalf, Booth refuses to regard her as
anything but beautiful.
Amelia, by contrast, resists the attentions paid to her by
several men in William's absence and stays faithful to him. She
forgives his transgression, but William soon draws them into
trouble again as he accrues gambling debts trying to lift the
couple out of poverty. He soon finds himself in debtors' prison.
Amelia then discovers that she is her mother's heiress and, the
debt being settled, William is released and the couple retires
to the country.
Feminine intelligence
Although the novel deals with marriage and life after
marriage, it also gives three "histories": the history of Miss
Mathews, Mrs Bennet, and Mrs Atkinson. It is the third story,
that of Mrs Atkinson, which demonstrates feminine intellect.
According to her story, she received her understanding of the
classics from her father. In order to demonstrate her
knowledge, she quotes from the Aeneid, an action that
Fielding describes, in Book VI, Chapter 8, as her performing
"with so strong an Emphasis, that she almost frightened
Amelia out of her Wits” However, Fielding follows that by
claiming she spoke on "that great Absurdity, (for so she
termed it,) of excluding Women from Learning; for which they
were equally qualified with the Men, and in which so many
had made so notable a Proficiency" and this idea was not
accepted by either Amelia or Mrs. Booth.
Comments
In
Amelia, Fielding turned from an unheroic hero to an
unusually positive heroine. His loving wife, Amelia, forgives
him everything from gambling to infidelity, and its a happy
end. The tone is so different form Tom Jones that
numerous suggestions have been put forth to explain it,
such as Fielding's close contact with the seamier side of life
in his job as magistrate or his failing health. Nevertheless,
Amelia has interested many modern readers precisely
because of its ambiguous texture.
It contains many allusions to classical literature and
focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine
intelligence, but Fielding's stance on gender issues cannot
be determined because of the lack of authorial
commentary discussing the matter.
The History of Jonathan Wild the Great
It‘s a satiric biography that harks back to
Fielding’s early plays. It takes the life of a
notorious real-life thief as a theme for
demonstrating the petty division between a great
rogue and a great politician such as Sir Robert
Walpole, the Prime Minister. The ironical praises
for the very qualities of the unscrupulous selfaggrandizement of Wild point out the way the
Prime Minister had achieved his "greatness." The
Great Man, properly considered, is no better than a
great gangster.
Literary style
Henry had a deeper knowledge of life, gained
from his own varied and sometimes riotous (喧闹的）
experience. His stories, through it abounds in
unpleasant incidents, generally leaves the reader
with the strong impression of reality. He hates that
hypocrisy（伪善、做作） which tries to conceal
itself under a mask of morality. In the evolution of
the plots of his novels, he invariably puts such
characters in positions which tear away their
masks. He displays almost savage（不文明的）
pleasure in making them ridiculous. Perhaps the
lack of spirituality（灵性） of the age finds the most
ample（充裕的） expression in his pages.
• He adopted a position which represented
a new departure in terms of prose fiction
散文小说—in no way do his novels
constitute an effort to disguise （掩盖）
literary devices. In fact, he was the first
major novelist to openly admit that his
prose fiction was pure artifice（技巧）.
Also, Fielding presents his reader with a
much wider range of characters taken
from all social classes.
• It can be argued that his novel Tom
Jones 《汤姆 琼斯》 is his most
popular work.
• The book is filled with comic sensibility
喜剧情调, and it portrayed many
characters, describing the life of the
community in London.
Language
• Characteristics of his language
•
His language is easy, unlabored （自然
的，流利的）and familiar, but extremely
vivid and vigorous. His sentences are
always distinguished by logic and rhythm,
and his structure carefully planned towards
an inevitable ending. His works are also
noted for lively, dramatic dialogues and
other theatrical devices such as suspense,
coincidenceand unexpectedness
Achievement in English novel
• Fielding has been regarded by some as "Father of the
English Novel," for his contribution to the establishment
of the form of the modern novel. he was the first to set out,
both in theory and practice, to write specifically a "comic
epic in prose（散文体喜剧史诗）," the first to give the
modern novel its structure and style. Before him, the
relating of a story in a novel was either in the epistolary
（书信的） form (a series of letters), as in Richardson's
Pamela, or the picaresque （传奇式流浪冒险的）form
(adventurous wanderings) through the mouth of the
principal character, as in Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but
Fielding adopted " the third-person narration," in which
the author becomes the "all-knowing God." He "thinks the
thought" of all his characters, so he is able to present not
only their external behaviors but also the internal
workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries
to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but
at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic
presentation of common life as it is.
Fielding as the Founder of the English Realistic Novel
• Fielding is the founder of the English realistic novel and sets up the
Theory of realism in literary creation. The digressions in " Joseph
Andrews” and “Tom Jones", in the form of jocular conversation with
the reader, were Fielding’s program of art.
• The centre of Fielding’s working philosophy was Man, common
earthly Man with his earthly interests, needs and passions. A truthful
artist’s duty was to reproduce human nature faithfully and accurately
as he saw it. Byron, in a famous phrase, called Fielding “the prose
Homer of Human Nature.”
• Most of his characters are compounded of both observation and
imagination, of both experience and invention, a "quick and
sagacious penetration into the true essence of all the objects of our
contemplation,”
• He had in embryonic form the principles of characterization and
typification which the 19th-century and 20th-century realistic
novelists have been using.
• Some Features of Fielding’s Novels:
1) Fielding’s Method of Relating a Story, There are three ways in telling
the story of a novel. It may be told in a series of letters. This was the
method of Richardson. Again the story may be put in the mouth of
the principal character. This was the method used by Defoe and
Swift. Then, thirdly, the story may be told directly by the author. This
was the method of Fielding.
2) Satire in Fielding’s Novels: Satire everywhere in Fielding’s works.
There are two kinds of satire. humorous satire which is meant to be
instructive and corrective; grim satire, which is used to lash the
cardinal evils.
3 ) Fielding believed in the educational function of the novel. The object
of his novels is to present a faithful picture of life, while sound
teaching is woven into their very texture.
4) Style: Fielding is a master of style. His style is easy, unlaboured and
familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. The sentences are always
distinguished by logic and musical rhythm. Fielding established once
for all the form of the modern novel. He has been rightly called the
“father of the English novel.”
QUESTIONS
• 1. This passage was written by a novelist
whose name is ____________.
2. This passage is taken from a novel
entitled ____________.
3. From this passage, what do you know
about Tom Jones and the relation between
Tom Jones and Sophia?
• What is the language style?
Answers
1. Henry Fielding
2. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling"
3. This passage describes two characters, Tom Jones and
Sophia. Tom injured himself seriously in order to save or
help Sophia. Sophia was moved deeply, so deeply that
she began to love him. Tom is described as a person
who is good-natured, kind-hearted, upright, and always
ready to help others, regardless of his own sacrifice. No
wonder later on Sophia loved him so deeply that she
married him in spite of many hardships.
4. The language is characterized by clarity and suppleness.
Fielding's style is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but very
vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always
distinguished by logic and rhythm. Fielding's
command of language is remarkable.
Thank you!