The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding is a lively and expansive comic novel about love, morality, social class, and the unpredictable course of human life. The story follows Tom Jones, a generous but impulsive young man of uncertain parentage, whose romantic feelings for the virtuous Sophia Western bring him into conflict with her father and rival suitors. Expelled from his home, Tom travels through the English countryside and London, encountering a colorful cast of characters whose actions reveal the virtues, weaknesses, hypocrisy, and prejudices of eighteenth-century society. Through humor, satire, and intricate plotting, Fielding examines the difference between genuine goodness and outward respectability. Combining romance, adventure, comedy, and social observation, Tom Jones is regarded as one of the great achievements of eighteenth-century English fiction and an important landmark in the development of the modern novel.