Synopses & Reviews
A milestone in the history of the English novel,
Tom Jones draws readers into a world teeming with memorable characters. This epic of everyday life chronicles the adventures of Tome Jones, who was abandoned as an infant and grows into a lusty, imprudent young man. Promising to mend his ways, Tom competes with his abusive rival for the affections of a wealthy squire's daughter, and learns the truth about his identity, in this discerning comedy of human foibles and self-discovery.
For Samuel T. Coleridge the plot of Tom Jones was, along with that of Oedipus The King, the most perfect ever constructed. Fielding used all his art and all the craft he had amassed as a successful playwright for the eighteenth-century London stage to tell this hugely entertaining story of a foundling and how he arrives, through sexual misadventures and elaborate disasters, to claim his legitimacy, his fortune, and his true love.
(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)
Synopsis
(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)
For Coleridge the plot of Tom Jones was, along with that of Oedipus The King, the most perfect ever constructed. Fielding used all his art and all the craft he had amassed as a successful playwright for the eighteenth-century London stage to tell this hugely entertaining story of a foundling and how he arrives, through sexual misadventures and elaborate disasters, to claim his legitimacy, his fortune, and his true love.
Synopsis
One of the first and most influential of English novels, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones--published in 1749--is blessed with a lively and endearing hero at the center of one of the most ingeniously constructed comic plots in fiction.
Tom Jones, a foundling brought up in the household of the benevolent Squire Allworthy, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Sophia Western, whose father forbids them to marry on grounds of Tom's low birth. Tom is a lusty, high-spirited yet good-hearted soul, and after he is banished by his guardian for youthful misbehavior he heads to London to make his own fortune, with the smitten Sophia in pursuit. A series of bawdy escapades and assorted scrapes ensues, including a duel and a stint in prison, before the mystery of Tom's birth is unraveled. Fielding used all the dramatic skill he had amassed as a successful playwright for the London stage to tell this hugely entertaining story of a flawed but generous hero claiming his true identity and his true love.
Synopsis
One of the first and most influential of English novels
--originally published in 1749--is blessed with a lively and endearing hero at the center of one of the most ingeniously constructed comic plots in fiction. - Inspiration for the PBS MASTERPIECE series Tom Jones starring Solly McLeod, Sophie Wilde and Hannah Waddingham
Tom Jones, a foundling brought up in the household of the benevolent Squire Allworthy, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Sophia Western, whose father forbids them to marry on grounds of Tom's low birth. Tom is a lusty, high-spirited yet good-hearted soul, and after he is banished by his guardian for youthful misbehavior he heads to London to make his own fortune, with the smitten Sophia in pursuit.
A series of bawdy escapades and assorted scrapes ensues, including a duel and a stint in prison, before the mystery of Tom's birth is unraveled. Fielding used all the dramatic skill he had amassed as a successful playwright for the London stage to tell this hugely entertaining story of a flawed but generous hero claiming his true identity and his true love.
Synopsis
(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)
For Coleridge the plot of Tom Jones was, along with that of Oedipus The King, the most perfect ever constructed. Fielding used all his art and all the craft he had amassed as a successful playwright for the eighteenth-century London stage to tell this hugely entertaining story of a foundling and how he arrives, through sexual misadventures and elaborate disasters, to claim his legitimacy, his fortune, and his true love.
About the Author
Fredson Bowers was a professor of literature at the University of Virginia for more than forty years and a preeminent textual critic.
Martin C. Battestin is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English at the University of Virginia and a leading scholar on Henry Fielding. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.