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The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
Dickens' Favourite 18th C Novels
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The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding - Group Read (hosted by Debra and Angela)
message 51:
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Daniela
(last edited Sep 14, 2021 10:39AM)
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 14, 2021 10:37AM
I have a physical copy, a real book :) It is unusual for me, usually I read free Gutenberg ebooks I downloaded years ago (now it is not allowed anymore to access the Gutenberg Project page from Italy) or free Kindle books from Amazon.
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Thanks for letting us know the edition you are reading, Bridget. It is fine to start talking about the Dedication now. I do not remember seeing that in my book. It will be nice to have extra information from the various editions.
Daniela wrote: "I have a physical copy, a real book :) It is unusual for me, usually I read free Gutenberg ebooks I downloaded years ago (now it is not allowed anymore to access the Gutenberg Project page from Ita..."Thanks, Daniela. I am considering getting a physical copy.
My gosh! You can no longer access Gutenberg or free Kindle books!
Mod
It might be worth it, Jean (to get the physical copy). I am off to Amazon to look.Edit: On the other hand, if people post info from their edition. I might just stick with what I have.
Mod
Not too early for me, Bridget. The dedication appears to be very carefully worded so that Mr Lyttleton won’t take offence if he doesn’t like some of Squire Allworthy’s character traits. He says Allworthy is based on 3 people which seems to be Fielding hedging his bets! It sets the tone for the rest of the novel, I think, although I’ve only read a few chapters.
I'm so glad you read it too Fiona. I found it so curious. I've never encountered a four page dedication before, but like you said it truly does set the tone. I hadn't thought about Fielding "hedging his bets", but you might be onto something there. It will be fun to re-read this after I finish the book. I might have a better understanding of its meaning then.I have to admit, I was confused by it at first. Then I googled George Lyttleton and it started to make more sense to me. I'm sure the readers in 1749 knew exactly who Lyttleton was, but not me. He was an important patron of the arts his whole life. Before supporting Fielding, he supported Alexander Pope in the 1730s. He was also an MP from 1735-1756 (that's what I could glean from Wikipedia :-) Anyway, after my slow start, I really liked the dedication. Its so clever. I love towards the end when Fielding writes:
I have run into a preface, while I professed to write a dedication
When I read that, I thought if the rest of the book is like this, I'm in for a treat.
If anyone is looking to find the dedication here's a link to the gutenberg version. click on Book One and then scholl UP ^^
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6593/...
Thank you Bridget and Fiona, it is very interesting, I am just reading this part!
Thank you, Bridget and Fiona. The dedication/preface was both interesting and confusing to me. And, of course, I had no idea who George Lyttleton was. Now that I know, it makes more sense. It does seem like the dedication is written so as not to offend anyone.
I updated message #45 with a summary of Book 1. I will be gone most of the day tomorrow and unable to comment much. Then, Thursday, back to normal.Edit: See also messages 43 and 44.
Mod
I've linked it to the the first comment, and will add that there are 3 posts.
You are welcome, Jean. And thanks for the kind words :) Also thanks for the much needed link in the first comment.
An extra note: After hosting a group read for Christmas Carol, I told myself, "never again". I was freaked out, worried about it, the whole time. Then, for some reason, completely unknown to me, I agreed to host this read. Well, I am very glad I did. After having done this once, it is really easy to do it a second time. I am actually relaxed. Although what am posting is not anything grand, I am happy with it. And thanks to other readers, we have information from other editions. It has started out quite well. I thank you, Jean, for asking me to do this.
Some Book 1 thoughts. I was surprised the story started out with Tom Jones as a baby. I always assumed he came on the scene full grown and wild. But, we are given some background that I assume will come into play later. Such as the money. Also wondering if we will see Miss. Jones again, and if she will have much of a role. And who is the father? Does this matter?
It is interesting how the narrator keeps addressing the reader. Does anyone know of other books that do this?
I have never seen any Tom Jones movies. And, other than the title, I haven't heard about this book. I did even know that the story might offend some people. So, of course, I am really curious about it now.
Mod
In a way I'm surprised that Charles Dickens himself never did this, as he was a bit of a throwback to the 18th century with this dandyish ways, and in liking these type of picaresque books, but then he was all for progress too.
Anyway, back to The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, and I believe it was quite a common style in the 18th century: direct speech addressing the reader, to include them, as if the author is having a cosy chat with them! It sometimes continued into the 19th century too. I remember a bit in A Christmas Carol when the curtains of Scrooge's bed were drawn aside and (view spoiler):
"as close to it," Charles Dickens says, "as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow."
It always gives me a jolt and chill down the spine! But as I said he doesn't do a lot of this "Dear Reader" stuff, although I think Anthony Trollope might ... and perhaps Charlotte Brontë? At any rate, it seems very old-fashioned now, but perhaps for that reason may add something! It is certainly very droll writing :)
Debra, what you said has made me very happy indeed (not the early bit of course) :)
Charlotte Brontë certainly addresses the reader in Shirley, Jean. It’s been a while since I read her other books so can’t comment on them.
Mod
"Dear reader, I married him". Or was it only "Reader, I married him"?
Anyway, I am reading the Introduction and there are a lot of spoilers... But there are also some interesting bits about language and other things I hope I will have time to share later.
I did not know the narrator addressing the reading was ever a common style. I half way thought Henry Fielding made it up and it just never caught on. And I am not a fan of Charlotte Brontë, so, I never saw it through her books. It drives me crazy when the introduction has spoilers.
Here is a little tidbit I found about Henry Fielding and The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling was published in 1749. Almost every aspect of Fielding's own life is apparent in the novel, from the love and reverence he had for his first wife to his extensive knowledge of the Southwestern part of England. Even Tom Jones himself clearly shows the markings of Fielding, exhibiting the same careless good nature as well as a deeply entrenched awareness of poverty and the reversals of fortune."
I will have to read it again, because some things will be more meaningful once I know characters and plot. Anyway there are hints which could be useful to better understand Fielding's writing stile and his purposes in writing the book.
When first published, in 1749, Tom Jones was considered a corrupt work, Samuel Johnson called it "a vicious book" and it was deemed responsible, by the Bishop himself, for two earthquakes that struck London in the spring of 1750. My introduction says that this controversy over the moral qualities of the book seems today a dodo of literary history :))The central themes of the book are hypocrisy and the contrasts between appearance and reality. In describing people Fielding uses a lot of verbs such as seemed, professed, appeared, with an irony that is (or should be, or hopefully will be for us) clear to the reader but not to the characters themselves, who are often deceived.
There is more about the names, the use of coincidences, the condemnation of the upper classes, sex and sexual habits but I will write more about it later on, if you are interested.
Excellent information, Daniela. Thanks for sharing. Even though (or maybe because) Tom Jones was considered a corrupt work, it was a best seller. Here is some info I found online:"Tom Jones had "unheard-of" sales records for the time.
All 2,500 copies of Tom Jones in print were sold by the date announced for the novel's official publication. The official publication date for Tom Jones was February 10, 1749, but Fielding's bookseller began distributing copies a week earlier. One observer called it "an unheard-of" case. Tom Jones became one of the great best sellers of its time, quickly selling 10,000 copies."
Edit: Can you imagine a book being responsible for two earthquakes! (message #74)
It will be interesting to see how the central themes play out in the book. Daniela, feel free to share as much as you would like.
Debra, hooray!! I just came out to see if this needed to get going......you are way ahead of me.
Bionic Jean wrote: "That's your bit, Angela, and on and after Oct 15th it's up for grabs :)It seems to be in chapters within books.
Book 1 has 13 chapters
Book 2 has 9 chapters
Boom 3 has 10 chapters
Book 4 has 14..."
Happy to carry through to the end once I'm back home.
Eleemosynary. Now there's a word I haven't heard before.
Angela wrote: "Debra, hooray!! I just came out to see if this needed to get going......you are way ahead of me."It is getting started. I plan on posting Book 2 info Friday or Saturday. Then Book 3 info Tuesday. That gives us 3 books done the first week. Onto 2 books per week afterwards.
Angela wrote: "Eleemosynary. Now there's a word I haven't heard before."I had the same reaction! What a fun word.
Big thank you to Daniela and Debra for the excellent background info. I too get frustrated when the Introduction contains spoilers. I've started reading them after I finish the book, which is sad because I miss out on the valuable "hints" Daniela mentioned.You can see already how this book influenced Dickens in the way that Fielding names his characters to reflect their nature -- like "Mr. Allworthy". Dickens loved to do that too -- Uriah Heep, Rosa Dart and Steerforth come to mind (can you tell I just finished David Copperfield LOL).
Mod
I am already laughing out loud at this book and I'm only on chapter 4, book 1.
Bridget wrote: "Big thank you to Daniela and Debra for the excellent background info. I too get frustrated when the Introduction contains spoilers. I've started reading them after I finish the book, which is sad b..."Yes, it looks like Dickens was influenced by this style of naming the characters. Mr. Allworthy seems like the perfect name for the character.
Angela wrote: "I am already laughing out loud at this book and I'm only on chapter 4, book 1."Glad you are enjoying it, Angela. I have not had laugh out loud moments, but I have had plenty of, oh my, moments.
About the names my introduction says (I omit spoilers): Tom's "tutors are Thwackum and Square (the latter an obsolete word meaning 'a rule or principle'); the odd name of Blifil (and it is perhaps significant that we never know Master Blifil's Christian name) might be an anagram of 'ill fib'."
Oh my gosh. Thanks, Daniela. For the life of me, I could not figure out the name Blifil.
Deborah, thank you so much for the post (#44) where you list all the characters. I just finished Book One and went back to read through the comments again, and then I found it. Its so helpful.
This story about Miss Bridget and the Captain, does it take place before Tom Jones is born? I think it might, but I'm not sure.I find the contrasts between the women we meet in Book One really interesting. Miss Bridget and Mrs. Deborah are very typical, and proper women for their class at the time. I find them a little annoying because they are so obsequious to the men in their lives (I know that's a product of my modern mind). But then there is Jenny Jones who is altogether different. And I quite like her so far.
I did find myself laughing aloud when Mrs. Deborah got all flustered walking in on Mr. Allworthy in his night dress.
Bridget, The story of Miss Bridget and the Captain takes place after Tom Jones is born. But Tom is still an infant.
Good point about the contrasts between the women. I wonder if the author is trying to make a point about different classes and the lifestyles that go with them. I like Jenny too and hope we get see more of her.
Bridget wrote: "Deborah, thank you so much for the post (#44) where you list all the characters. I just finished Book One and went back to read through the comments again, and then I found it. Its so helpful."You are welcome.
Book 2 and Chapters BOOK II — CONTAINING SCENES OF MATRIMONIAL FELICITY IN DIFFERENT DEGREES OF LIFE; AND VARIOUS OTHER TRANSACTIONS DURING THE FIRST TWO YEARS AFTER THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN CAPTAIN BLIFIL AND MISS BRIDGET ALLWORTHY.
Chapter i — Showing what kind of a history this is; what it is like, and what it is not like.
Chapter ii — Religious cautions against showing too much favour to bastards; and a great discovery made by Mrs Deborah Wilkins.
Chapter iii — The description of a domestic government founded upon rules directly contrary to those of Aristotle.
Chapter iv — Containing one of the most bloody battles, or rather duels, that were ever recorded in domestic history.
Chapter v — Containing much matter to exercise the judgment and reflection of the reader.
Chapter vi — The trial of Partridge, the schoolmaster, for incontinency; the evidence of his wife; a short reflection on the wisdom of our law; with other grave matters, which those will like best who understand them most.
Chapter vii — A short sketch of that felicity which prudent couples may extract from hatred: with a short apology for those people who overlook imperfections in their friends.
Chapter viii — A receipt to regain the lost affections of a wife, which hath never been known to fail in the most desperate cases.
Chapter ix — A proof of the infallibility of the foregoing receipt, in the lamentations of the widow; with other suitable decorations of death, such as physicians, &c., and an epitaph in the true stile.
Cast of Characters Characters indroduced in Book 2
1. Mr Partridge. Schoolmaster
2. Mrs. Partridge. Schoolmaster's wife
3. A lad, near 18, as yet unnamed but probably father to Tom Jones
4. (Character from book 1, married name) Mrs. Bridget Blifil. Married to The Captain. Formerly Miss Bridget Allworthy
Characters indroduced in Book 1
1. Narrator. Who really likes to talk to the reader.
2. Tom Jones. At this time an infant.
3. Squire Allworthy. Retired, wealthy widower, takes in Tom Jones.
4. Miss Bridget Allworthy. Sister to Mr. Allworthy.
5. Mrs Deborah Wilkins. Servant.
6. Jenny Jones. Mother to Tom Jones and a servant.
7. Dr. Blifil. Broke friend. -- Now Dead
8. Captain Blifil. Brother to Dr. Blifil. -- Now Dead
Book 2 Summary Baby Blifil is born after eight months of marriage. (Not sure why the narrator made a point of eight months. Is he trying to cast a bad light on The Captain and Mrs. Blifil? Or perhaps this part of the hypocrisy theme (see message 74 by Daniela)). Master Blifil and Tom Jones are to grow up together, against the Captains wishes.
We get some history on Jenny Jones. She worked for Mr. and Mrs. Partridge. and was being educated (Mr. Partridge being the schoolmaster). She got on well and was smart. One day Mrs. Partridge catches a look between her husband and Jenny Jones. Misinterprets it and fires Jenny. (This works for the theme of "contrasts between appearance and reality" mentioned in message #74.)
Mrs. Wilkins (busybody) catches wind of this story, tells the Captain who tells Mr. Allworthy. Of course, the Captain's goal is to get rid of Baby Tom. But it does not work out that way. Instead there is a trial where Mr. Partridge is accused and found quilty of being the father to Tom Jones and thus loses his job. (His wife testified against him.) We find out about a young lad that was most likely the father. But this was not brought to anyone's attention. Jenny Jones is long gone (not available to testify). Mrs. Partridge dies. Mr. Partridge moves away.
The Captain and his wife argue about everything. But both pretend their marriage is good. (Again, theme of "contrasts between appearance and reality"). The Captain always has an eye on the money. He figures that Dr. Allworthy will die first. Then the Captain dies! (This author has away of killing off characters that have served their purpose.)
Mod
"(This author has away of killing off characters that have served their purpose.)"
Great observation! And yet another way we can see that Charles Dickens was influenced by Henry Fielding - and late 18th century novels. He found that when you are writing a serial, it's best to dispose of those characters who don't seem popular, or have no other purpose.
Thanks for the link, Jean. I did not realize 18th century novels did this. I like it. In Tom Jones it seems like karma at work.
Mod
Bionic Jean wrote: "All now linked to comment 2, thanks Debra :)"(This author has away of killing off characters that have served their purpose.)"
Great observation! And yet another way we can see that [author:Char..."
"when you are writing a serial, it's best to dispose of those characters who don't seem popular, or have no other purpose"
I am in! I missed the start of this, but will work to catch up.
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