The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighbouring squire - though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. But when his amorous escapades earn the disapproval of his benefactor, Tom is banished to make his own fortune. Sophia, meanwhile, is determined to avoid an arranged marriage to Allworthy's scheming nephew and escapes from her rambunctious father to follow Tom to London. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and goodnatured authorial interjections, Tom Jones (1749) is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.

Henry Fielding (1707-û1754) began his career as a novelist in 1740 with the publications of Shamela and then Joseph Andrews, with which he anticipates his masterpiece, Tom Jones.
Thomas Keymer is Elmore Fellow and Tutor in English at St. Anne-'s College, Oxford.
Alice Wakely teaches at the University of York.