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As for characters, are, almost
without exception, gloriously alive. Yet the two young lovers, Tom and
Sophia, are without question the noticeable characters as well as Blifil,
Tom’s half-brother. Obviously, Tom and Blifil sharply contract each other.
Tom is an honorable, frank and kind-hearted young man, who may sometimes be
very reckless and commit rather serious errors, particularly in his
relations with women, yet who is always ready to help others and never tries
to harm anybody for his own benefit. “Tom’s bad qualities need not be
condoned, nor should he be absolutely condemned. He became a useful citizen,
a faithful and unselfish husband, and a good Christian.” (Gordon Hall
Gerould) Blifil, on the other hand, pretends to be very righteous and
selfless, but actually he always practices tricks, such as lying and
cheating, upon the other people, in order to satisfy himself. He is too
perfect a villain, who even becomes a monster, a thing to shudder at but not
to believe in. It is very clear that Fielding censures Blifil as the
embodiment of the social evils of his day and that he praises Tom who
represents the simple. Tom and Sophia are rebels of the hypocritical
society. Sophia represents the young women of the day with sufficient
courage and independence to defy the sinister world. She is the beautiful,
virtuous and idealized woman in Fielding’s mind. We can see this even from
her first appearance because Fielding eulogizes her with poetic languages.
So charming may she now
appear! And you the feathered choristers of nature, whose sweetest notes not
even Handel can excel, tune your melodious throats to celebrate her
appearance. From love proceeds your music, and to love it returns. Awaken
therefore that gentle passion in every swain; for lo! adorned with all the
charms in which nature can array her; bedecked with beauty, youth,
sprightliness, innocence, modesty, and tenderness, breathing sweetness from
her rosy lips, and darting brightness from her sparkling eyes, the lovely
Sophia comes!
…
Sophia, then, the only daughter of Mr. Western, was a
middle-sized woman; but rather inclining to tall. Her shape was not only
exact, but extremely delicate: and the nice proportion of her arms promised
the truest symmetry in her limbs. Her hair, which was black, was so
luxuriant, that it reached her middle, before she cut it to comply with the
modern fashion; and it was now curled so gracefully in her neck, that few
could believe it to be her own. If envy could find any part of the face
which demanded less commendation than the rest, it might possibly think her
forehead might have been higher without prejudice to her. Her eyebrows were
full, even, and arched beyond the power of art to imitate. Her black eyes
had lustre in them, which all her softness could not extinguish. Her nose
was exactly regular, and her mouth, in which were two rows of ivory, exactly
answered Sir John Suckling’s description in those lines:
Her lips were red, and one was thin
Compar’d to that was next her chin.
Some bee had stung it newly.
Her cheeks were of the oval kind; and in her right she
had a dimple, which the least smile discovered. Her chin had certainly its
share in forming the beauty of her face; but it was difficult to say it was
either large or small, though perhaps it was rather of the former kind. Her
complexion had rather more of the lily than of the rose; but when exercise
or modesty increased her natural colour, no vermilion could equal it. Then
one might indeed cry out with the celebrated Dr. Donne:
Her pure and eloquent blood
Spoke in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought
That one might almost say her body thought.
She is vastly the superior to poor Tom in every way, and
because she is the embodiment of the eternal virtues of woman she is always
appealing to our attention.
Mr. Allworthy, who is kind-hearted, generous and nearly
owns every merit of a perfect man, is not completely worth of believing
because he is credulous and tends to make false judgments. Other characters
are also living and breathing. For example, Bluff Squire Western, who is
stubborn, tyrannical, unspeakably foul-mouthed, yet not without redeeming
traits, is probably a composite of many country gentlemen. In a word,
Fielding really depicted a gallery of truthful and attractive common people
in his age with his excellent skills.
In Tom Jones Fielding has attained the maturity of his
art. He handles his material with consummate skill, never allows the
unessential to obtrude, and yet wisely permits himself enough space in
developing his theme. It is probable that the author’s early training as a
playwright helped him to easily master the narrative form. The profusion of
his dramatic work must have given him an eye for situation and a nice sense
for the arrangement of material. In the prefatory chapter, Fielding promised
to give the reader: “The provision then which we have here made is no other
than HUMAN NATURE.—In like manner, the excellence of the mental
entertainment consists less in the subject than in the author’s skill in
well dressing it up.” In other words, Tom Jones is great because it
pictures real men and women, and because its craftsmanship is marvelous.
Tom Jones is a picture of eighteenth-century life and
manners drawn with unfailing vigor and unfailing insight. From this novel we
can see the novelist’s strong hatred for all the hypocrisy and treachery in
the society of his age and his sympathy for the courageous young rebels in
their righteous struggle. As Fielding’s masterpiece, Tom Jones is the
first one that makes English novel thoroughly literate. Its remarkable
contribution to English novels cannot be neglected.
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