The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Book 13, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

The narrator asks for help from the Muses to write about Sophia. She is a fictionalized version of the narrator’s Charlotte, hoping that the story will bring him fame and praise. He asks for help from Genius, Humanity, Learning, and Experience, believing that the task of writing is too great without the help of all these forces.

Fielding’s wife was named Charlotte, and so this chapter intro continues with the conceit that the narrator is a fictionalized version of him. His claim that Sophia was based on Charlotte suggests that this is a very personal story to Fielding, although the narrator can be an elusive character whose opinions don’t necessarily always match precisely with Fielding’s.

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The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: Book 13, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis