It hath been often said, that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible. —— Henry Fielding.

It hath been often said, that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible. —— Henry Fielding

Outline• Brief Introduction & Biography of Fielding

• Background of 18th Century

• The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

• Love in Several Masques • AMELIA • The History of Jonathan Wild the Great • Summary: Field’s literary style, characteristic

s of language & his contribution

Brief Introduction of Henry Fielding

Henry Fielding (1707/4/22-1754/10/8)• 18th-century English novelist, playwright, and barrister, who, with his contemporary Samuel Richardson, established the English novel tradition.• known for his rich earthy humour 粗俗的诙谐 and satirical prowess 讽刺的技艺 , and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. He is the founder of the English realistic novel and is regarded as the Father of English novel for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel .

Biography:Henry Fielding was born on April 22, 1707, in Somerset( 萨默塞特郡 ), England. He was the son of General Fielding and his mother, Sarah Fielding, was the daughter of a judge.

He was well educated at Eton school. In 1728, he travelled to Netherlands to study classics( 古典文学 ) and law at the Leiden( 莱顿 ) University. However, due to lack of money he was obliged to return to London and began to write farces( 喜剧 ) for the theatre.

Eton school

Leiden University

Many of his plays like The Coffee-House Politician 《咖啡屋的政治家》， The Tragedy of Tragedies 《悲剧中的悲剧》 and Pasquin 《巴斯昆》 all ridicule the society and politics of the time. His works savagely( 猛烈的 ) criticise the contemporary government under Sir Robert Walpole( 沃波尔爵士 )

In 1737,Walpole alleged The Theatrical Licensing Act( 戏剧检查法 ). Once the Licensing Act passed, political satire on the stage was virtually impossible and playwrights whose works were staged were viewed as suspect. Fielding therefore retired from the theatre and resumed( 重新开始 ) his career in law.

In 1742, Fielding’s first novel, Joseph Andrews 《约瑟夫 · 安德鲁斯》 , was published. In the preface of this book he said that he would create a new style of art, i.e. comic epic in prose( 散文体喜剧史诗 ) He was the first to set out , both in theory and practice, to write specifically a “comic epic in prose” and the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.In 1748, he was made Justice of the Peace( 治安法官 ) for Westminster. His influence included a proposal for the abolition of public hangings and found London‘s first police force, the Bow Street Runners( 伦敦侦探 ), using his authority as a magistrate( 地方执法官 ).

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling 《汤姆 · 琼斯》 ， Fielding's comic masterpiece and best known work was published in 1749. Tom Jones brings him the name of the “Prose Homer( 散文荷马 ).” .

In 1743, he published The History of Jonathan Wild the Great 《伟大的乔纳森 · 怀尔德传记 》

In 1751, his last work Amelia 《阿米利亚》 was published.

In 1754, he went abroad to Portugal in search of a cure and died in Lisbon( 里斯本 ) two months later.

buried in Lisbon

Neoclassical period(1660----1798)

In short, it was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values （价值观） .

The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason.

Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas 。

.

The age of enlightenment:

Enlighteners held that rationality or reason should be the only, the final cause of any human thought and activities. They called for a reference to order, reason and rules. As a matter of fact, literature at the time, heavily didactic and moralizing （说教与道德理念） , became a very popular means of public education.

The age of enlightenment----Famous people ：

John Dryden

约翰 . 德莱顿 ,

Alexander Pope

亚历山大 . 蒲柏

Joseph Addison

约瑟夫 . 艾迪森

Jonathan Swift

乔纳森 . 斯威夫特

Daniel Defoe

丹尼尔 . 迪福

Henry Fielding

亨利 . 费尔丁

a newly rising literary form

----the modern English novel ( 英国现代小说 )•mid-century of 18th•contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats（传统贵族的骑士文学 ） , gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people. pioneers :

Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, and Oliver Goldsmith.

•Tom Jones (a bastard and ward of Squire Allworthy) •Squire Allworthy (a wealthy squire with an estate in Somersetshire)

•Mrs. Bridget Allworthy-Blifil (Squire Allworthy's sister) •Captain Blifil (Captain and Mrs. Blifil's husband) •Master Blifil (son of Captain Blifil and Bridget) •Black George Seagrim (a gamekeeper) •Molly Seagrim (Black George's second daughter) •Squire Western (a hunter) •Sophia Western (the Squire's only daughter) •Miss Western (the Squire's unmarried sister) •Lady Bellaston (Tom's lover and a leading figure in London society)

•Lord Fellamar (a peer and socialite) •Mr. Summer (the son of a clergyman and revealed to be the father of Tom Jones)

• Characterization• Tom Jones, the foundling is a handsome young man. He is

frank and open, kind. disinterested, and. though quick-tempered, devoid of malice. His outstanding quality is “good nature" and” goodness of heart”. He is, indeed, “one of the best-natured fellows alive”, and has “all that weakness which is called compassion, and which distinguishes this imperfect character from the noble firmness of mind.

• Good-hearted as he is, Tom is very far from being a model character. He lives by impulse, not by reason. Being a simple country boy, thoroughly ignorant of the ways of the depraved high society in London, he is completely taken by surprise by a bed woman and becomes, for a short time, her paid lover. Here the author’s intention is to show that even a good man may commit mistakes and be easily led astray, but by virtue of his innate goodness, he is not corrupted and eventually overcomes his weaknesses. Tom is not radically vicious, but good-natured and honest in the main.

• Sophia: Sophia Western, the heroine of the book, is the “Somersetshire angel." She is her father’s “little darling", and she returns all his affection with angelic tenderness. To her, "her father’s word was a law in almost everything. On one point, however, she stands out against him inflexibly--nothing can induce her to marry a man whom she dislikes. Her character and behaviour were rather advanced for her time, “when the compulsory marriage was universally prevailing.”

• she takes some courage to love a man whom everyone around her speaks ill of. Moreover, she is not ignorant of Tom’s faults, but she knows the good qualities of her lover, and does not expect perfection. However, she cannot pardon his radiation with Lady Bellaston. No one can persuade her to forgive him that mistake.

• Sophia was Fielding’s ideal of what an amiable English girl should be. But he did not make her "perfectly perfect”.

• Though ordinarily very sweet-tempered, she can flame into an angry person on occasions.

• She has also a bit of vanity; which causes her, to toy with the idea of playing the part of a tragic heroine, sacrificing herself to her father’s wishes, and figuring pathetically as martyr to filial duty .

• But these flaws in no way lessen our appreciation of her good qualities, her gaiety and candour, and her calm courage in face of life’s difficulties and perplexities.

• Sophia Western, is an allegorical therefore kept as anonymous （没有特色的） as possible.

Sophia becomes the spokeswoman for male chastity at the end of the novel—ironically, through her lecture to Jones, she provides the final obstacle to their marriage and thus to the fulfillment of the comic plot.

Through her generosity and genuine courtesy, Sophia becomes a representative, along with Jones and Allworthy of Fielding's vision of Virtue.

She combines the best of the country and the city, since she has manners, unlike her country father, but they are genuine, unlike those of her courtly aunt, Mrs. Western.

Similarly, Sophia combines the merits of the novel's two other heroes without any of their faults—she is kind like Tom, but also remains chaste, and is generous toward others, like Allworthy, without being blind to their faults.

• Feature: generous ,courtesy, brave, faithful figure, meant to represent the feminine ideal.

Allworthy, as his name implies—all-worthy, is also an allegorical figure of sorts.

He does not undergo any dramatic changes and thus possesses the consistency and stability found in stock characters in theatrical comedy.

Allworthy, as Fielding‘s moral yardstick （衡量标准） and as the novel’s ultimate dispenser of justice and mercy, almost takes on the role of a god, although he is still mortal enough to make incorrect judgments. Allworthy‘s blindness to the evil designs lead him to make mistakes which propel the plot of the novel forward. For example, it is Allworthy who banishesTom Jones from his county.

• Feature ： wealthy, benevolent, altruistic( 利他主义的 ),blind

Blifil, the antagonist of Tom Jones, is a foil （陪衬物） to his uncle Allworthy.

Blifil not only acts vilely, but also coats his evil with sugary hypocrisy. When Allworthy and Tom confront Blifil with his crimes, Blifil weeps not out of remorse, but rather out of terror. He does not reform his ways, but merely his religion, expediently( 权宜地 ) converting to Methodism （卫理公会派） in order to marry a rich woman.

As the static villain, Blifil stands opposite the consistent goodness of Allworthy.

• Feature:greed ,sly, perfidious( 不可信任的 ) ， passionless

Squire Western ,Sophia’father, was a typical example of the eighteenth-century British conservative-minded Tory squire( 托利党乡绅 ).

A University education had not cured him of rusticity （乡气） of speech or of behaviour, and he remained to the end of his days ignorant and prejudiced. For example , someone killed one of his partridge （鹧鸪） , he put this person into jail .He drank too deeply and tyranized over his wife and daughter .

For all his countrified ways, Squire Western was not stupid; indeed, he manifested considerable shrewdness ( 精明 )upon occasions, and was an ill man to have for an enemy.

• Feature ： Vulgar, stubborn, violent, arbitrary, has strong sense of exploitation ( 剥削 )and fame and fortune

Plot• Tom, the hero of the story, is a boy found in Mr. Allworthy’s

house and brought up there with the kind old man’s

nephew Master Blifil . The latter, a hypocritical, wicked man, is envious of Mr. Allworthy’s fondness for the foundling and of Tom’s intimacy with the beautiful Sophia, daughter of the well-off squire Western. He plays some tricks so that Mr. Allworthy drives Tom out of the house. Tom, intending to go to sea, wrongly takes the road to London, and Sophia, in rebellion against her father’s desire that she be married to Blifil, marches out for London too, accompanied by her maid. The two young people, especially Tom, have many adventures on the road, but in the end, after some misunderstanding between them, they are happily united.

• For a time, Tom became a national hero. People were fond of this young fellow with manly virtues and yet not without fault– honest, kind-hearted, high-spirited loyal, and brave, but impulsive, wanting prudence and full of animal spirits. In a way, the young man stands for a wayfaring Everyman, who is expelled from the paradise and finally to approach perfectness.

Literary style

• Tom Jones, generally considered as Fielding's masterpiece, brings its author the name of the “Prose Homer.” The panoramic view it provides of the 18th century English country and city life with different places and about 40 characters is unsurpassed. The language is one of clarity and suppleness. And last of all, the plot construction is excellent. Its 18 books of epic form are divided into 3 sections, 6 books each, clearly marked out by the change of scenes: in the country, on the high way and in London. By this, Fielding has indeed achieved his goal of writing a "comic epic in prose".

• The novel draws on a variety of inspirations. Written "in imitation of the manner of Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote" , the work owes much of its humour to the techniques developed by Cervantes, and its subject-matter to the seemingly loose arrangement of events, digressions and lower-class characters to the genre of writing known as picaresque. In deference to the literary tastes and recurring tropes of the period, it relies on bawdy humour, an impending marriage and a mystery surrounding unknown parentage, but conversely is rich in philosophical digressions, classical erudition and social purpose.

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

in Tom Jones

Themes • Virtue as action rather than thought

• The impossibility of stereotypical categorization

• Fielding's novel attempts to break down numerous boundaries.

• In another example of broken stereotypes, Fielding's characters cannot be distinguished by "masculine" or "feminine" traits: in this novel both men and women fight and cry.

• The tension between Art and Artifice • Although the narrator upholds the value of natural art in his

characters, he uses artifice himself in the construction of his novel.

Motifs • Food • The narrator invokes the motif of food in relation to t

he process of writing, the process of reading, love, and war. He begins the novel by referring to himself as a Restauranteer who will provide the reader with a feast. He later defines lust as a person's appetite for a good chunk of white flesh.

• Travel • Where the narrator opens the novel with a reference to f

ood, he concludes the novel with a reference to travel, casting himself as the reader's fellow traveler. This represents the culmination of a travel motif throughout the novel. As the characters journey from the country to the city, the narrator includes himself as a fellow traveler, remarking that he will not plod through the journey, but will hasten and slow down as he pleases.

• The Law • The narrator infuses his language—and the speech of his ch

aracters—with legal terms. For example, after a petty domestic argument with Squire Western, Mrs. Western refers to their reconciliation as the signing of a "treaty." Such examples reveal the narrator's technique of hyperbole—he uses technical jargon to build up events that are actually irrelevant. However, there are also cases in which the narrator's legal motif is genuine, as both Allworthy and Western are Justices of the Peace, and the lawyer Dowling plays a large part in the plot against Tom.

• The Stage • It is noteworthy that Fielding constantly alludes to the theater,

since his novel is in some ways more "dramatic" than it is "literary." The motif of the stage reminds one that Fielding thinks of his characters as "actors." Nevertheless, the fact that Fielding refuses to provide detailed visual descriptions of his characters slightly undermines his theatrical motif. Clearly, he wishes to vacillate between the visual world of the dramatic and the written word of the prose novel.

• Chapter 13

• A dreadful accident which befell Sophia. The gallant behaviour of Jones, a

nd the more dreadful consequence of that behaviour to the young lady; wit

h a short digression in favour of the female sex.

• Mr. Western grew every day fonder and fonder of Sophia, insomuch that hi

s beloved dogs themselves almost gave place to her in his affections; but

as he could not prevail on himself to abandon these, he contrived very cun

ningly to enjoy their company, together with that of his daughter, by insistin

g on her riding a-hunting with him.

• Sophia, to whom her father's word was a law, readily complied with his de

sires, though she had not the least delight in a sport, which was of too roug

h and masculine a nature to suit with her disposition. She had however an

other motive, beside her obedience, to accompany the old gentleman in th

e chase; for by her presence she hoped in some measure to restrain his i

mpetuosity, and to prevent him from so frequently exposing his neck to the

utmost hazard.

• The strongest objection was that which would have formerly been an inducement to her, namely, the frequent meeting with young Jones, whom she had determined to avoid; but as the end of the hunting season now approached, she hoped, by a short absence with her aunt, to reason herself entirely out of her unfortunate passion; and had not any doubt of being able to meet him in the field the subsequent season without the least danger.

• On the second day of her hunting, as she was returning from the chase, and was arrived within a little distance from Mr. Western's house, her horse, whose mettlesome spirit required a better rider, fell suddenly to prancing and capering in such a manner that she was in the most imminent peril of falling. Tom Jones, who was at a little distance behind, saw this, and immediately galloped up to her assistance. As soon as he came up, he leapt from his own horse, and caught hold of hers by the bridle. The unruly beast presently reared himself on end on his hind legs, and threw his lovely burthen from his back, and Jones caught her in his arms.

• She was so affected with the fright, that she was not immediately able to satisfy Jones, who was very solicitous to know whether she had received any hurt. She soon after, however, recovered her spirits, assured him she was safe, and thanked him for the care he had taken of her. Jones answered, "If I have preserved you, madam, I am sufficiently repaid; for I promise you, I would have secured you from the least harm at the expense of a much greater misfortune to myself than I have suffered on this occasion."

• "What misfortune?" replied Sophia eagerly; "I hope you have come to no mischief?"

• "Be not concerned, madam," answered Jones. "Heaven be praised you have escaped so well, considering the danger you was in. If I have broke my arm, I consider it as a trifle, in comparison of what I feared upon your account."

• Sophia then screamed out, "Broke your arm! Heaven forbid."• "I am afraid I have, madam," says Jones: "but I beg you will suffer me

first to take care of you. I have a right hand yet at your service, to help you into the next field, whence we have but a very little walk to your father's house."

• Sophia seeing his left arm dangling by his side, while he was using the other to lead her, no longer doubted of the truth. She now grew much paler than her fears for herself had made her before. All her limbs were seized with a trembling, insomuch that Jones could scarce support her; and as her thoughts were in no less agitation, she could not refrain from giving Jones a look so full of tenderness, that it almost argued a stronger sensation in her mind, than even gratitude and pity united can raise in the gentlest female bosom, without the assistance of a third more powerful passion.

• Mr. Western, who was advanced at some distance when this accident happened, was now returned, as were the rest of the horsemen. Sophia immediately acquainted them with what had befallen Jones, and begged them to take care of him. Upon which Western, who had been much alarmed by meeting his daughter's horse without its rider, and was now overjoyed to find her unhurt, cried out, "I am glad it is no worse. If Tom hath broken his arm, we will get a joiner to mend it again."

• The squire alighted from his horse, and proceeded to his house on foot, with his daughter and ones. An impartial spectator, who had met them on the way, would, on viewing their several countenances, have concluded Sophia alone to have been the object of compassion: for as to Jones, he exulted in having probably saved the life of the young lady, at the price only of a broken bone; and Mr. Western, though he was not unconcerned at the accident which had befallen Jones, was, however, delighted in a much higher degree with the fortunate escape of his daughter.

• The generosity of Sophia's temper construed this behaviour of Jones into great bravery; and it made a deep impression on her heart: for certain it is, that there is no one quality which so generally recommends men to women as this…

• However this be, certain it is that the accident operated very strongly on Sophia; and, indeed, after much enquiry into the matter, I am inclined to believe, that, at this very time, the charming Sophia made no less impression on the heart of Jones; to say truth, he had for some time become sensible of the irresistible power of her charms.

• Chapter 14

What happened to Mr. Jones in his journey from St. Albans

They were got about two miles beyond Barnet, and it was now the dusk of the evening, when a genteel-looking man, but upon a very shabby horse, rode up to Jones, and asked him whether he was going to London; to which Jones answered in the affirmative. The gentleman replied, "I should be obliged to you, sir, if you will accept of my company; for it is very late, and I am a stranger to the road." Jones readily complied with the request; and on they travelled together, holding that sort of discourse which is usual on such occasions.

Of this, indeed, robbery was the principal topic: upon which subject the stranger expressed great apprehensions; but Jones declared he had very little to lose, and consequently as little to fear. Here Partridge could not forbear putting in his word. "Your honour," said he, "may think it a little, but I am sure, if I had a hundred-pound bank-note in my pocket, as you have, I should be very sorry to lose it; but, for my part, I never was less afraid in my life; for we are four of us, and if we all stand by one another, the best man in England can't rob us. Suppose he should have a pistol, he can kill but one of us, and a man can die but once.- That's my comfort, a man can die but once."

• Besides the reliance on superior numbers, a kind of valour which hath raised a certain nation among the moderns to a high pitch of glory, there was another reason for the extraordinary courage which Partridge now discovered; for he had at present as much of that quality as was in the power of liquor to bestow.

• Our company were now arrived within a mile of Highgate, when the stranger turned short upon Jones, and pulling out a pistol, demanded that little bank-note which Partridge had mentioned.

• Jones was at first somewhat shocked at this unexpected demand; however, he presently recollected himself, and told the highwayman, all the money he had in his pocket was entirely at his service; and so saying, he pulled out upwards of three guineas, and offered to deliver it; but the other answered with an oath, That would not do. Jones answered coolly, he was very sorry for it, and returned the money into his pocket.

• The highwayman then threatened, if he did not deliver the bank-note that moment, he must shoot him; holding his pistol at the same time very near to his breast. Jones instantly caught hold of the fellow's hand, which trembled so that he could scarce hold the pistol in it, and turned the muzzle from him. A struggle then ensued, in which the former wrested the pistol from the hand of his antagonist, and both came from their horses on the ground together, the highwayman upon his back, and the victorious Jones upon him.

• The poor fellow now began to implore mercy of the conqueror: for, to say the truth, he was in strength by no means a match for Jones. "Indeed, sir," says he, "I could have had no intention to shoot you; for you will find the pistol was not loaded. This is the first robbery I ever attempted, and I have been driven by distress to this."

• At this instant, at about a hundred and fifty yards' distance, lay another person on the ground, roaring for mercy in a much louder voice than the highwayman. This was no other than Partridge himself, who, endeavouring to make his escape from the engagement, had been thrown from his horse, and lay flat on his face, not daring to look up, and expecting every minute to be shot.

• In this posture he lay, till the guide, who was no otherwise concerned than for his horses, having secured the stumbling beast, came up to him, and told him his master had got the better of the highwayman.

• Partridge leapt up at this news, and ran back to the place where Jones stood with his sword drawn in his hand to guard the poor fellow; which Partridge no sooner saw, than he cried out, "Kill the villain, sir, run him through the body, kill him this instant!"

• Luckily, however, for the poor wretch, he had fallen into more merciful hands; for Jones having examined the pistol, and found it to be really unloaded, began to believe all the man had told him, before Partridge came up: namely, that he was a novice in the trade, and that he had been driven to it by the distress he mentioned, the greatest indeed imaginable, that of five hungry children, and a wife lying in of the sixth, in the utmost want and misery. The truth of all which the highwayman most vehemently asserted, and offered to convince Mr. Jones of it, if he would take the trouble to go to his house, which was not above two miles off; saying, "That he desired no favour, but upon condition of proving all he had alledged."

• Jones at first pretended that he would take the fellow at his word and go with him, declaring that his fate should depend entirely on the truth of his story. Upon this the poor fellow immediately expressed so much alacrity, that Jones was perfectly satisfied with his veracity, and began now to entertain sentiments of compassion for him. He returned the fellow his empty pistol, advised him to think of honester means of relieving his distress, and gave him a couple of guineas for the immediate support of his wife and his family; adding, "he wished he had more for his sake, for the hundred pound that had been mentioned was not his own."

• Our readers will probably be divided in their opinions concerning this action; some may applaud it perhaps as an act of extraordinary humanity, while those of a more saturnine temper will consider it as a want of regard to that justice which every man owes his country. Partridge certainly saw it in that light; for he testified much dissatisfaction on the occasion, quoted an old proverb, and said, he should not wonder if the rogue attacked them again before they reached London.

A Little Comparison Between

Tom Jones & Dream of the Red Chamber

• 1. The number of the character

• 2. The reflection

• 3. The construction of the novel

• 4. Commentary on the book as it was published

The Number of The Character

• The Red Chamber:

There are totally 983 persons mentioned, Including the empires,queens, fairy maidens, etc.

• Tom Jones: There are 49 persons. H

enry Fielding gave every person a detailed description through his behavior,social relationship,spoken language, etc. every person had the own typical character, while they lived in such society, they somehow had the same character.

The Reflection• The Red Chamber:

gave a vivid description of the first half of the18th century in China, the true portrayal of the life in the feudal society which was drifting towards bankruptcy.

• Tom Jones:

showed the social reality of the18th century in England. Even the common persons had their own feelings of love, hatred ， happiness and sadness.

The Construction of The Novel

The Red Chamber:Used the description of

the characters in the novel, their attitudes, their behaviors, their points of view, etc. to show the real society of China.

Showed the complex relationships between each character.

Tom Jones:

Complex but well-knit.

The whole novel mainly told the life of Tom Jones, with the love to Sophia and the conflict with Blifil. Through their relationships, created many other personage stories, which made the book as a whole.

Commentary on The Book As It Was

PublishedThe Red Chamber:

Through the 200 years, with the different explanations to the book, people hold different opinions and lead up to endless controversy.

Tom Jones:

It was listed in the most terrible publication. Many famous critics regarded this book as a devil.

The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and His friend Mr. Abraham Adams

• In this novel, Joseph supposedly the young handsome and chaste brother of Richardson's virtuous heroine Pamela, is tempted by his amorous mistress, supposedly aunt of Pamela's husband, Mr. B. Here, instead of being rewarded for his virtue, Joseph is turned out of doors by his mistress. But the burlesque ends here; the book quickly turns into a great novel of the open road, a "comic epic in prose", whose subject is "the true ridiculous" in human nature, as exposed in all its variety as Joseph and the amiable quixotic parson journey homeward through the heart of England. The dominating qualities of the novel are its excellent character-portrayal, timely entrances and exits, robustness of tone and hilarious, hearty humor.

Love in Several Masques

by Henry Fielding

Background• The play was completed during

September 1727 and it was listed in the 23 September 1727 British Journal as being scheduled. There is little information on Fielding's editing of the work, and none to support that anyone suggested corrections except Anne Oldfield, who he thanked in the Preface for supplying corrections.

• The prologue, dedication, and preface were probably composed during January or February 1728, with the dedication and preface most likely composed between the last nights of the show, 20 and 21 February, and its publication, 23 February.

Background

Influence The play marks Fielding's early approach

to theatre and how he begins to create his own take on tradition 18th-century theatre conventions.

Critics have emphasized little beyond how the play serves as Fielding's first play among many. The possible sources of the play including a possible failed pursuit of a lover by Fielding, or the beginnings of Fielding's reliance on the topic of gender, identity, and social ethics.

Plot

•The plot is traditional and includes three female characters, three respectable males, three non-respectable males, and three side characters. Each respectable male meets their female counterpart three times.

Plot• The primary plot of the play deals

with Wisemore and his pursuit of Lady Matchless. With the help of his friend Merital, Wisemore is able to overcome other lovers and various struggles in order to prove his worth to Matchless and win her love.

• A secondary plot involves Merital and his desire to marry a woman named Helena, cousin to Matchless. He is kept from doing so externally by her uncle, by the workings of her aunt, and internally by themselves.Against her uncles wishes, Helena and Merital elope 私奔 . Although Trap is angered by this, Lady Matchless steps in and defends the marriage by saying that she too will marry like her cousin. The play ends with a song about beauty, virtue, and lovers.

Plot

Themes• Love in Several Masques is a traditional comic drama that

involves morality. • The theme of the play is the relationship of disguises 伪装

and courtship 求爱 with a discussion of the nature of love. Fielding focuses on men and how they deal with love and marriage.

• the gentlemen must prove their worth before they can be justified in their marriage, which allows Fielding to describe the traits required in successful male suitors.

• The image of the masque within the play deals with hiding one's identity. Fielding, like many other playwrights, focuses on how the masque genre deals with the social acceptability of altering identities within the format.

AMELIA Amelia is a sentimental novel written by Henry

Fielding and published in December 1751. It was the fourth and final novel written by Fielding, and it was printed in only one edition while the author was alive, although 5,000 copies were published of the first edition. Amelia follows the life of Amelia and Captain William Booth after they are married.

• Background• Plot summary • Feminine intelligence• Comments

Background Fielding began writing Amelia in the fall o

f 1749. He turned to his own life for inspiration, and the main character, Amelia, was possibly modeled on Fielding's first wife, Charlotte, who died in November 1744. Likewise, the hero, Captain Booth, was partly modeled after Fielding himself. It was advertised on 2 December 1751 by the publisher, Andrew Millar.

It finally went into a second edition in 1762. However, this edition was posthumous and in Millary's Works of Henry Fielding

Plot Summary Amelia is a domestic novel taking place largely in

London during 1733. It describes the hardships suffered by a young couple newly married. and that the novel contains autobiographical elements.

Against her mother's wishes, Amelia marries Captain William Booth, a dashing young army officer. The couple run away to London. In Book II, William is unjustly imprisoned in Negate, and is subsequently seduced by Miss Matthews. During this time, it is revealed that Amelia was in a carriage accident and that her nose was ruined. Although this brings about jokes at Amelia's behalf, Booth refuses to regard her as anything but beautiful.

Amelia, by contrast, resists the attentions paid to her by several men in William's absence and stays faithful to him. She forgives his transgression, but William soon draws them into trouble again as he accrues gambling debts trying to lift the couple out of poverty. He soon finds himself in debtors' prison. Amelia then discovers that she is her mother's heiress and, the debt being settled, William is released and the couple retires to the country.

Feminine intelligence Although the novel deals with marriage and life after ma

rriage, it also gives three "histories": the history of Miss Mathews, Mrs Bennet, and Mrs Atkinson. It is the third story, that of Mrs Atkinson, which demonstrates feminine intellect. According to her story, she received her understanding of the classics from her father. In order to demonstrate her knowledge, she quotes from the Aeneid, an action that Fielding describes, in Book VI, Chapter 8, as her performing "with so strong an Emphasis, that she almost frightened Amelia out of her Wits” However, Fielding follows that by claiming she spoke on "that great Absurdity, (for so she termed it,) of excluding Women from Learning; for which they were equally qualified with the Men, and in which so many had made so notable a Proficiency" and this idea was not accepted by either Amelia or Mrs. Booth.

Comments In Amelia, Fielding turned from an unheroic hero

to an unusually positive heroine. His loving wife, Amelia, forgives him everything from gambling to infidelity, and its a happy end. The tone is so different form Tom Jones that numerous suggestions have been put forth to explain it, such as Fielding's close contact with the seamier side of life in his job as magistrate or his failing health. Nevertheless, Amelia has interested many modern readers precisely because of its ambiguous texture.

It contains many allusions to classical literature and focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine intelligence, but Fielding's stance on gender issues cannot be determined because of the lack of authorial commentary discussing the matter.

The History of Jonathan Wild the

Great It‘s a satiric biography that harks back to Fielding’s early plays. It takes the life of a notorious real-life thief as a theme for demonstrating the petty division between a great rogue and a great politician such as Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister. The ironical praises for the very qualities of the unscrupulous self-aggrandizement of Wild point out the way the Prime Minister had achieved his "greatness." The Great Man, properly considered, is no better than a great gangster.

Literary style Henry had a deeper knowledge of life, gained from his own varied and sometimes riotous ( 喧闹的） experience. His stories, through it abounds in unpleasant incidents, generally leaves the reader with the strong impression of reality. He hates that hypocrisy （伪善、做作） which tries to conceal itself under a mask of morality. In the evolution of the plots of his novels, he invariably puts such characters in positions which tear away their masks. He displays almost savage （不文明的） pleasure in making them ridiculous. Perhaps the lack of spirituality （灵性） of the age finds the most ample （充裕的） expression in his pages.

• He adopted a position which represented a new departure in terms of prose fiction 散文小说— in no way do his novels constitute an effort to disguise （掩盖） literary devices. In fact, he was the first major novelist to openly admit that his prose fiction was pure artifice （技巧） . Also, Fielding presents his reader with a much wider range of characters taken from all social classes.

• It can be argued that his novel Tom Jones 《汤姆 琼斯》 is his most popular work.

• The book is filled with comic sensibility喜剧情调 , and it portrayed many characters, describing the life of the community in London.

Language• Characteristics of his language

• 　　 His language is easy, unlabored （自然的，流利的） and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm, and his structure carefully planned towards an inevitable ending. His works are also noted for lively, dramatic dialogues and other theatrical devices such as suspense, coincidenceand unexpectedness

Achievement in English novel• Fielding has been regarded by some as "Father of the

English Novel," for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel. he was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a "comic epic in prose （散文体喜剧史诗） ," the first to give the modern novel its structure and style. Before him, the relating of a story in a novel was either in the epistolary（书信的） form (a series of letters), as in Richardson's Pamela, or the picaresque （传奇式流浪冒险的） form (adventurous wanderings) through the mouth of the principal character, as in Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but Fielding adopted " the third-person narration," in which the author becomes the "all-knowing God." He "thinks the thought" of all his characters, so he is able to present not only their external behaviors but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is.

Fielding as the Founder of the English Realistic Novel• Fielding is the founder of the English realistic novel and sets up the

Theory of realism in literary creation. The digressions in " Joseph Andrews” and “Tom Jones", in the form of jocular conversation with the reader, were Fielding’s program of art.

• The centre of Fielding’s working philosophy was Man, common earthly Man with his earthly interests, needs and passions. A truthful artist’s duty was to reproduce human nature faithfully and accurately as he saw it. Byron, in a famous phrase, called Fielding “the prose Homer of Human Nature.”

• Most of his characters are compounded of both observation and imagination, of both experience and invention, a "quick and sagacious penetration into the true essence of all the objects of our contemplation,”

• He had in embryonic form the principles of characterization and typification which the 19th-century and 20th-century realistic novelists have been using.

• Some Features of Fielding’s Novels:1) Fielding’s Method of Relating a Story, There are three ways in tellin

g the story of a novel. It may be told in a series of letters. This was the method of Richardson. Again the story may be put in the mouth of the principal character. This was the method used by Defoe and Swift. Then, thirdly, the story may be told directly by the author. This was the method of Fielding.

2) Satire in Fielding’s Novels: Satire everywhere in Fielding’s works. There are two kinds of satire. humorous satire which is meant to be instructive and corrective; grim satire, which is used to lash the cardinal evils.

3 ) Fielding believed in the educational function of the novel. The object of his novels is to present a faithful picture of life, while sound teaching is woven into their very texture.

4) Style: Fielding is a master of style. His style is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. The sentences are always distinguished by logic and musical rhythm. Fielding established once for all the form of the modern novel. He has been rightly called the “father of the English novel.”

QUESTIONS

• 1. This passage was written by a novelist whose name is ____________.

2. This passage is taken from a novel entitled ____________.

3. From this passage, what do you know about Tom Jones and the relation between Tom Jones and Sophia?

• What is the language style?

Answers1. Henry Fielding2. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling"3. This passage describes two characters, Tom Jones and S

ophia. Tom injured himself seriously in order to save or help Sophia. Sophia was moved deeply, so deeply that she began to love him. Tom is described as a person who is good-natured, kind-hearted, upright, and always ready to help others, regardless of his own sacrifice. No wonder later on Sophia loved him so deeply that she married him in spite of many hardships.

4. The language is characterized by clarity and suppleness. Fielding's style is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but very vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm. Fielding's command of language is remarkable.

Thank you!