romance, realism, picaresque, and social commentary comically. The story is about an orphan (or foundling) who, after he is cast out by the generous man who raised him, travels throughout the South of England having several adventures in love, friendship, and folly while meeting an array of vivid and memorably flawed characters. Eventually, after he is plotted against and thrown in prison, he learns his parentage and is reconciled with his family and his virtuous beloved.
Characters of Tom Jones:
Tom Jones is the eponymous hero of the novel. He is believed to be an illegitimate child of low birth but is brought up as a gentleman by Squire Allworthy who adopts him. He is handsome, generous, popular, and passionate. Bridget Allworthy is the sister of Squire Allworthy who marries Captain Blifil and gives birth to Master Blifil. After her death, it is revealed that she is the mother of Tom Jones. Mrs. Wilkins is a shrewd servant of Bridget Allworthy. Jenny Jones is a bright but poor young woman who confesses to be the illegitimate mother of Tom Jones though later on, it is revealed that she was paid to confess to being the mother of the child to protect the honor of Miss Bridget Allworthy. Dr. Blifil is a friend of Squire Allworthy who falls in love with Bridget but is already married. He proposes to Captain Blifil, his younger brother to marry Bridget. Captain Blifil is a greedy man who marries Bridget in the hope of acquiring Squire Allworthy’s property. Patridge is a school teacher who is falsely blamed for beating his wife and fathering Jenny Jone’s illegitimate child. Mrs. Patridge is a jealous woman, wife of Patridge, who attacks her husband when she thinks he is the father of Jenny Jones's child. She then accuses him of beating her, which helps to ruin his reputation. Square is a friend of Squire Allworthy and a philosopher. He helps Tom Jones and Master Blifil as an advisor. Thwackum is the appointed teacher of Tom Jones and Master Blifil. Black George of George Seagrim is a gamekeeper and father of Molly Seagrim who helps Tom Jones in sending messages to Sophia, his beloved. Master Blifil is a sneaky and underhanded child who is jealous of Tom Jones because his mother favors Tom more. Squire Western is a neighbor of Squire Allworthy and the father of Sophia. He is a keen hunter and is fond of Tom until he hears of the affection between him and Sophia. Sophia is an intelligent and beautiful young woman who is drawn to Tom's gentlemanly ways, though she believes him low-born. Lord Fellamar is a gentleman who falls for Sophia Western and attempts to rape her to win her hand. Mrs. Bellaston is a relative of Squrie Western with whom Sophia lives in London. Mrs. Miller is a rental homeowner in London where Tom and Patridge stay on rent.
Summary of Tom Jones:
The novel is divided into 18 parts or books. In the Preface, the narrator explains that the purpose of the novel is to explore human nature, and thus the story veers between several extremes, comedy and tragedy, low and high society, moral and base. The story begins as a well-respected and wealthy gentleman Squire Allworthy returns to his Somersetshire estate to find a child abandoned in his bed. He gives him to his unmarried sister Bridget to look after. Bridget takes the help of her servant Mrs. Wilkins to find out about the mother of the foundling, the abandoned child. Tom’s mother is identified as Jenny Jones, a young unmarried servant girl, and his father is presumed to be Partridge, who ran the school that Jenny attended. Jenny is sent away in disgrace, and Allworthy’s sister, Miss Bridget, helps to raise the boy. The poverty-stricken Partridge leaves of his own accord. The parish opposes Squire Allworthy from taking control of the child as a guardian but Allworthy decides to bring up the boy, whom he names Thomas, or Tom in his household. Bridget marries Captain Blifil and gives birth to a child named Master Blifil. Tom is brought up alongside Allworthy’s nephew Blifil, Bridget's son. They are educated by two men of differing outlooks, Thwackum and Square. Blifil is a miserable and jealous boy. Captain Blifil regards Tom Jones with jealousy since he wishes his son to inherit all of the Allworthy possessions. While meditating on money matters, Captain Blifil falls dead of an apoplexy.
After the captain dies, Tom and Blifil grow up together. Their tutors praise young Blifil for being a steady, virtuous boy, while Tom is a wild young rascal.
Tom grows into a vigorous and lusty yet honest and kind-hearted youth. Tom is an impetuous character who supports his friend, the poor gamekeeper Black George Seagrim, even when that support causes him trouble. Tom frequently steals apples and ducks to support the family of Black George. Tom tells all of his secrets to Blifil, who then relates these to Thwackum or Allworthy, thereby getting Tom into trouble.
Tom spends much time with Squire Western, one of the neighbors of Squire Allworthy. Squire Western is fond of Tom’s youthfulness and sportsmanship. Western’s young daughter Sophia falls deeply in love with Tom but he is interested in Black George’s young beautiful girl Molly Seagrim. He starts dating her and soon she becomes pregnant but Tom learns that Molly has other lovers and the child is likely not Tom’s and thus, he breaks up with her. He realizes that Sophia may not be as voluptuous as Molly but she is a virtuous girl and falls in love with her.
Meanwhile, Squire Allworthy falls ill and is convinced that he will die. Thus, he calls all his friends and relatives around his bed and declares his will which states that Blifil will inherit most of his estate, although Tom is also provided for. Thwackum and Square are upset that they are each promised only a thousand pounds.
Tom is not worried about the money but he is too emotionally attached to Allworthy and barely leaves his bedside. A lawyer named Dowling arrives and announces the sudden and unexpected death of Bridget Allworthy. Meanwhile, the doctor declares that Squire Allworthy’s health is improving and he will not die. Tom is exhilarated by this news and he decides to celebrate by drinking too much alcohol. Master Blifill is the legal heir of Allworthy now and he demeans Tom and calls him a ‘bastard.’ Tom gets angry and hits him while he is affected by alcohol. He runs away from the house and meets Molly again and despite breaking up with her, makes love to her.
Meanwhile,. Mrs. Western, the elder sister of Mr. Western arrives to stay at her brother’s house. Mrs. Western and Mr. Western do not like each other much and continue to fight consistently. However, they both love Sophia and wish the best for her. Mrs. Wilkins suggests that Sophia should be married to Master Blifil who is the legal heir of Squire Allworthy. Sophia, however, strongly opposes the proposal, and Squire Western grows violent with her when he realizes that Sophia wishes to marry Tom. Blifil conspires against Tom, and he is unjustly turned out of Allworthy’s house and away from Sophia. Further, because Tom is a bastard child, Squire Western refuses to support Tom's suit for Sophia.
Though Allworthy banishes Tom, he gives a fair amount of money to him to take care of himself but Black George steals all that money. Tom begins to wander about the countryside. In Bristol, he happens to meet up with Partridge, who becomes his loyal servant. Tom also rescues Mrs. Waters from being robbed, and they begin an affair at a local inn. Meanwhile, Sophia runs away from her house to avoid marrying Blifil. She makes a stop at the same inn and sees Tom having an affair with Mrs. Waters. She remains silent and doesn’t let Tom notice her but leaves her muff in Tom’s bed before leaving the inn. When Tom sees the muff, he recognizes it and frantically sets out in pursuit of Sophia.
Squire Western arrives at the inn in search of Sophia and meets one of his relatives Mr Fitzpatrick who came to the inn in search of his wife Harriet who is a cousin of Sophia. However, they find neither Sophia nor Harriet at the inn. Sophia and Harriet ride together in a stagecoach to London. In London, Sophia stays with one of her relatives Lady Bellaston. Tom and Patridge too reach London and start living in the house of Mrs. Miller and her daughters as paying guests. One of Mrs. Miller’s daughters is Nancy who falls in love with Nightingale, another tenant of Mrs. Miller’s house. Tom realizes that Nancy and Nightingale are having an affair and when Nancy gets pregnant, he convinces Nightingale to take up the responsibility and marry Nancy.
Tom finds out the whereabouts of Sophia but he has to deal with Lady Bellastone. Lady Bellastone begins an affair with Tom who pretends to love her while he keeps pursuing Sophia. When Sophia and Tom reconcile, he straightforwardly rejects Lady Bellastone and this angers her. She decides to do everything possible to stop Sophia from marrying Tom. Lord Fellamar, a prudish gentleman from London sees Sophia and falls in love with her. He finds out that Sophia’s father Squire Western is a rich man and thus, he decides to woo her but fails as Sophia already is in love with Tom. Lady Bellaston encourages Lord Fellamar to rape Sophia and thus enforce her to marry him. Lord Fellamar attempts to rape Sophia but Squire Western reaches the right moment and intervenes to rescue Sophia.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fitzpatrick also arrives in London in search of his wife Harriet. He mistakenly believes that Tom is having an affair with his wife and challenges him to a duel. Because Sophia refuses to marry either Fellamar or Blifil, the Squire and Aunt Western lock her in her room. Lady Bellaston plots with Fellamar to have Tom kidnapped and impressed onto a naval ship, but before their plans can succeed, Tom gets in a fight with Mr Fitzpatrick and wounds him. As a result, he is sent to jail. Partridge visits Tom in jail with the ghastly news that Mrs. Waters is Jenny Jones, Tom's mother. Tom is shocked by knowing this. He repents of his life of folly and vice and swears that he will hereafter pursue a path of virtue.
When Allworthy and Blifil learn all about Tom in jail, they visit London and start living in Mrs. Miller’s house to investigate Tom and Mr. Fitzpatrick’s fight. Allworthy is worried that if Mr. Fitzpatrick dies, Tom will be guilty of murder and will spend most of his life in Jail. Blifil, on the other hand, conspires against Tom and when he comes to know about Mrs Waters, he accuses Tom of incest too. In an attempt to get to the bottom of these accusations, Mr. Allworthy interrogates Mrs. Waters, the former Jenny Jones, who reveals that Tom is actually Miss Bridget’s son. Just before her death, Bridget confessed the truth of Tom’s parentage in a letter that Blifil intercepted. Allworthy further learns that Black George stole the money that Allworthy gave Tom for his support, and he also discovers that Blifil’s lawyer has been influencing witnesses to exaggerate the gravity of Tom’s crimes. Mrs. Waters also explains that Fitzpatrick is still alive, and has admitted to initiating the duel. Mr Fitzpatrick takes his charges back and Tom is released from jail. Allworthy now realizes that Blifil was continuously conspiring against Tom and decides never to speak to him again. Tom, however, takes pity on Blifil and provides him with an annuity.
Sophia is still angry at Tom for having an affair with Lady Bellaston. Mrs. Miller explains to Sophia the reasons for Tom's marriage proposal to Lady Bellaston, and Sophia is satisfied. Now that Tom is Allworthy's heir, Squire Western eagerly encourages the marriage between Tom and Sophia. Sophia chastises Tom for his lack of chastity but agrees to marry him. They live happily on Western's estate with two children and shower everyone around them with kindness and generosity.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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