Morality in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones - Book Report/Review Example

The predominant is Henry Field’s novel “Tom Jones” ismorality and it is largely manifested through the use of virtues and vices. The overarching virtue in the novel is prudence while the principal vices featured are vanity and hypocrisy. The illegitimacy of children also forms part of the issue of morality in the novel. This paper shall, therefore, discuss the theme of morality in the novel. Prudence can basically be defined as the act of thinking into the future, taking into consideration the consequences that might arise from one’s actions and taking the necessary measures (Hatfield, 17). In the western culture, prudence falls under the category of those virtues that are fundamental as well as time-honored. In “Tom Jones”, the entire story shows that Tom lacked the capacity to show prudence and this led to his constant failures and downfalls. His inability to be prudent made Tom vulnerable to his enemies and the adversaries took advantage of his imprudence to cause harm to him (Hipchen, 17). Tom’s imprudence also gave his antagonists the opportunity to drive away Sophia, his beloved one and chances are that she would have been driven away for eternity. This is despite the fact that Tom possessed some virtues such as generosity, kindness, loyalty, brevity, and good-heartedness. A clear manifestation of the lack of prudence in Tom is shown in the behavior that he displays with women. Notwithstanding the love that he has for Sophia, Tom is often falling into a number of dalliances with women rather taken to be unsavory. The relationships that he involves himself in happens to be hurting Sophia but this does not put an end to his escapades (Hipchen, 16). They are equally counterproductive since their disadvantages far much outweigh the advantages. This potentially makes Tom Jones to be a character that lacks the much celebrated virtue of prudence. The imprudence of Tom poses various challenges that Tom and Sophia have to deal with. Temptations are advanced to Tom Jones and he completely fails to resist any of them. Molly Seagrim seduced Tom and although it took him approximately three months to fall for the same, he nevertheless failed in this part (Fielding and Sheridan, 74). He had taken his good time before agreeing into the seduction of Molly Seagrim because he thought that corrupting a young lady was not a viable and good idea and especially if the woman in question was his friend’s daughter. However, his imprudence still caught up with him and he totally succumbed to the seductions of this woman, Molly (Hatfield, 17). According to Henry Fielding, the social standing of a person is a non-issue when the individual in question possesses excellent personal qualities. The description that Sophia makes of Tom shows the belief that Fielding has as regards to virtues. Sophia talks of Tom as being courageous, gentle, compassionate, innocuous, witty, well-mannered and handsome (Fielding and Sheridan, 102). Therefore, the fact that Tom was an illegitimate child to his parents is overridden by the qualities that he prides himself in. it is evident from the novel that Tom was an illegitimate child and he had hopes of marrying above himself. At that period in time, this would have probably meant that the lady would have to have and uphold the social status of her husband. Nonetheless, Sophia was willing to undergo this consequence and this elucidates to us that she was getting married to Tom solely out of true love without any hidden agendas. Fielding has no reservations about the issue of illegitimacy despite his consistent condemnation of sex outside the institution of marriage. As such, illegitimacy is neither a vice nor a virtue, according to the sentiments of Fielding. The words of Allworthy in the novel make this stand clear. Allworthy states that as much as the parents are guilty for having sex outside the confines of marriage does not certainly make the children to lose their innocence. The act of sex before marriage does not, therefore, declare the children that arise from it as not being innocent. Their innocence cannot be taken away from them. Henry Fielding further writes in the novel that although a person has a good personality, some of the passions that they may possess would eventually lead to their failure in life and as a result develop vices that are associated with a bad person. In the novel, Tom Jones is depicted as a victim to his reader. This is particularly noted in the relationship that he had with Miss Waters. She aggressively seduces Tom and hence making Tom to seem like a victim of circumstances rather than an equal party in the infidelity. According to Fielding, he neither condemns nor condones the act of Tom being acquiescent to his temptations but nevertheless, he says that he was merely a victim. Fielding states that an exclusive bad nut would constitute as much a villain in life as an exclusive bad part performed on the stage (Fielding and Sheridan, 108). It would, therefore, be argued that Tom was more or less driven by his passions to yield into his temptations as that was not his rudimentary nature and hence, he deserved forgiveness. When the novel ends, we are shown that Tom is rewarded with a marriage that is full of happiness and at the same time, he realizes financial security. The fact that he was not entirely virtuous did not prevent him from entering into a happy marriage and getting the finances that he needed (Williams, 66). Sophia also followed her heart’s desires and married Tom contrary to her parents’ expectations who had hoped that she would get married to Blifil. The most significant thing as regards to morality in this novel is that Tom is morally upright regardless of the temptations that he faced with women. On the same breath, Sophia is also shows her virtuous side by getting married to Tom out of true love. However, according to Fielding, defying the wishes of parents cannot truly be considered to be a virtue. Unlike the happy marriage of Tom and Sophia, other characters in the novels are contrasted as having unhappy marriages. For instance, the marriage of Squire Western is taken to be less harmonious. The woman that he got married to had actually been set up by the father who was motivated by financial gains in ensuring that the marriage took place. There is no display of morality in this case as the incentives and motivations for getting into the marriage were monetary benefits as opposed to true love between a couple (Smallwood, 20). This marriage also lacks happiness as Squire Western considers his wife to be a mere servant and yet in a morally upright setting, no one man would describe and treat their wife as being a servant. This is subjugation of the woman and it is not morally correct. Despite this type of behavior that Squire Western demonstrates for his wife, he is of the opinion that he forms a good husband to her simply because he hardly ever swore to her and that he never beats her. The marriage between Blifil and Bridget is also an epitome of an unhappy marriage. We are told that it resulted out of avarice as opposed to love. Just like Squire Western, Blifil considers his wife to be a domestic utility. Perhaps the only pleasure that this couple got out of their marriage was the torment that they constantly advanced to one another. Despite the torments, Blifil continues to stay in the marriage as he hopes that in the long run, he would become an heir to the estate of Allworthy. This, however, does not happen as Blifil dies rather prematurely and as such, he never got the opportunity to inherit the estate that he had been eyeing for so long. From these two unhappy marriages, Fielding tries to demonstrate the fact that the proceeds of immorality in a marriage are unhappiness and misery (Smallwood, 27). Immoralities in this case are the vices like greed and pursuit for monetary benefits in a marriage rather than true love. Had these unhappy couples been virtuous, there is a high likelihood that their marriages would have been happy ones. At the same time, the husbands would not have taken their wives to be domestic workers or domestic utility. With morality, they would have known better that a wife is an equal partner in the marriage and had to be treated as such. Therefore, in the novel “Tom Jones”, the idea of marrying for gain rather than love is highly condemned as one that lacks the cultural morals of a society (Williams, 103). From the foregoing analysis, it is evident that the theme of morality is a central issue as regards to the lives of most of the characters in Henry Fielding’s novel “Tom Jones”. The novel demonstrates that it is possible for a person to lose the morality that a culture has imposed upon them if their activities in life are driven by passion rather than purpose. With lack of morality, a person stood a better chance of losing their virtues and embracing vices. This is what happened with Tom when, with his imprudence, he fell for the charms and seductions of other women and this almost cost him his marriage to Sophia. The novel also demonstrates that in the absence of morality when joining the institution of marriage, one is likely to experience unhappiness. For instance, if one is driven by monetary gains, selfishness and greed is marrying another person, then the vices that they depict as a result would prevent them from being happy. Such was the case in the marriage of Squire Western and that of Blifil and Bridget. Work Cited Fielding, Henry, and Sheridan Warner Baker. Tom Jones. New York: Norton, 1995. Print. Hatfield, Glenn W. The Serpent And The Dove: Fieldings Irony And The Prudence Theme Of "Tom Jones". MOD PHILOLOGY 65.1 (1967): 17. Web. Hipchen, Emily A. Fieldings Tom Jones. The Explicator 53.1 (1994): 16-18. Web. Smallwood, Angela J. Fielding And The Woman Question. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1989. Print. Williams, Murial Brittain. Marriage: Fieldings Mirror Of Morality. University: University of Alabama Press, 1973. Print. Read More