The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Themes

Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling explores what it means to be a good person through its complicated main character, Tom Jones. On the one hand, Tom is very selfless. He’s willing to give away his own money to people like Black George and seemingly well-intentioned in his relationships to people like Sophia and Mr. Allworthy. He refuses on several cases to commit crimes. But Tom is also an impetuous…

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling examines and satirizes marriage practices in 17th-century Britain, showing how marriage was often a financial decision but how love and lust also played key roles. For many of the characters, marriage is about securing an inheritance. Mr. Blifil is one of the greediest in this regard, wanting to marry Sophia almost solely because by marrying her, he’ll eventually inherit Mr. Western’s property. Mr. Blifil’s own birth was…

Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling is about the process of growing up for Tom and, to a slightly lesser extent, some of the other characters like Sophia. While Tom is more or less a sympathetic character throughout the novel, his earlier years are marked with youthful mistakes. It takes him a while, for example, to realize that he loves Sophia, as he instead pledges himself to the gamekeeper’s daughter…

Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling is a story about storytelling, where the narrator (who stands in for Fielding) frequently comments on how and why he is telling the narrative. Each chapter begins with a prologue that either sets up what’s happening next or gives the narrator the chance to give his thoughts on subjects such as literary criticism, human nature, and realism in fiction. For instance, in one prologue, the narrator…