Assignment
The Neo - Classical literature
Name :- Nirali Makvana
Class :- M.A Sem 1
Roll no. :- 21
Paper :- The Neo - Classical literature
Topic :- Women Characters in the novel " Tom Jones "
Submitted to :- Department of English ( Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar university)
Batch :- 2019 - 21
Enrollment no. :- 2069108420200023
♧ Brief Introduction about author :-
Henry Fielding was an English Dramatist, Novelist and magistrate. He was born on 22nd April 1707 and died in 8th October 1754. He is famous for his Satirical prowess, earthy humour and Picaresque novel Tom Jones.
He always wrote political satire of current letter and arts. He contributed many great work to journal of the time. His famous play, " Don Quixote in England " He dedicated to the opposition Whig leader Lord Chesterfield. His famous works are :
• " The History of Tom Jones, a founding ( 1749 )
• " Amelia " ( 1751 )
•" Shamela " ( 1741 ) Novella
• " The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great " ( 1743 )
His famous plays are
" The Lottery " ( 1732 )
" The Covent Garden Tragedy " ( 1732 )
" The Historical Register for the year 1736 " ( 1737 )
" The Modern Husband " ( 1732 )
" The Grub Street Opera " ( 1731)
♧ Women Characters in the novel Tom Jones :-
The Women characters list of Tom Jones :-
¤ Sophia Western
¤ Bridget Allworthy
¤ Mrs. Western
¤ Jenny Jones
¤ Mrs. Fitzpatrick
¤ Lady Bellaston etc.
☆ Sophia Western :-
Sophia Western is the protagonist character of the novel " Tom Jones." She is very young, beautiful, awesome, very kind ,generous character of the novel. Henry Fielding not introduced her much more in the beginning of the novel and till the end of the novel. According to critic Martin Battestin,
" Sophia Western is an allegorical figure, meant to represent the feminine ideal and therefore kept as anonymous as possible. "
She decided to run away from her Violent father Square Western, it suggest Courage and bravery of Sophia Western. In the beginning of the novel she was very little girl. As an obedient daughter she falls in love with Tom Jones, before Tom Jones falls in love with her. Because of her generosity and genuine courtesy, Sophia becomes Fielding's vision of Virtue. She is living with her aunt in her house, who was educated and worldly wise. She loves her father much more, many things change very much after she falls in love with Tom. Henry Fielding draw the picture of Sophia Western as genius, Virtual and educated character. Through this character he tries to draw a picture of our society and the role of educated women in our society. At the end of the novel she married Tom.
☆ Bridget Allworthy :-
Bridget Allworthy, the sister of Squire Allworthy is a very nasty, who have lots of sex. She is about forty years lady, who becomes the mother of Master Blifil and Tom Jones in the starting of the novel. Bridget Allworthy thinks that Tom Jones is adorable. Bridget Allworthy seems pretty rigid in matters of sexual morality. She is very dismissive and judgemental towards younger women who are less prudish than she is. She don't like to stay unhappy woman but very soon after the marriage with Captain Blifil, the friend of her brother. She becomes very unhappy woman.
☆ Mrs. Western :-
Mrs. Western is the lady who is incredibly arrogant. Mrs. Western is over six feet tall lady and her appearance and manner are pretty manty. So, we can say that Mrs. Western looks like her brother. She is not sure herself. That's why she has not interest in Sophia's protest while Sophia reveals that Lord Fellamar tried to seduce her at Lady Bellaston's house.
The narrator of the novel draw the character of Mrs. Western as, " masculine person." Through the character of Mrs. Western the narrator tries to draw a picture of the political situation of that time. She takes part in lots of conversation with her brother. Mrs. Western will say something historically inaccurate and random about politics. It is not only politics but both brother and sister blame to others for how Sophia turned out ungrateful and unwilling to marry Mr. Blifil. Mrs. Western represents herself as a shadow of " Weak Woman. " obviously we can say or thinks that " Women are anything but weak" through the character of Mrs. Western.
We see the Vanity of Mrs. Western again and again in the novel. She is so Vain. She already knows that Mr. Fitzpatrick wants to marry her. She never notices that Mr. Fitzpatrick is wooing her niece Harriet right under her nose. Perhaps she might have saved Mr. Fitzpatrick a lot of heartache if she had been a less vain and less perceptive. We can define Mrs. Western as a totally different character from Sophia Western. Many time Sophia tries to tell her the truth of her feelings toward Mr. Blifil and Lord Fellamar but she never won't listen. She thinks that Sophia must marry him because of the sake of the honor of Western family.
☆ Jenny Jones :-
Jenny Jones or Mrs. Water is a hard worker and jealous villagers who surround her. Her works and studied hard made her life difficult. She runs away from the estate of Squire Allworthy and escape with a man who promises to marry her. They live together without being married twelve years until he dies. Jenny Jones represents the character of bad woman who have lots of affairs. First is with whom she runs away and lived twelve years without marriage. The second is Ensign Northerton and third is Tom himself. At the end of the novel we see that she has married with Mr. Supple , a local clergyman. We are happy to listen that Jenny's future is secure at the end of the novel but there is one sad thing is that as a hard worker and educated woman she has no value in society. There is no place or market for the skill of Jenny. Henry Fielding portrays the social world of that time, in which Jenny doesn't fit comfortably.
We learn a lot of change in the character of Jenny Jones because in the first book of the novel Jenny as the servant in the house of Allworthy and later on as Mrs. Water. Before as the servant of the house of Allworthy she was in the servant in the household of the schoolmaster Mr. Partridge. She is not the prettiest girl but she has something else going for her, " A very uncommon share of understanding." She is not enough sharp and smart but she does works hard to educate herself. She is teaching a local kids and knows a lot more than Mr. Partridge. As a working class woman, other woman in that area thinks that she is Snobbish and puffed up with all of her reading and Latin. The villagers are jealous of her cleverness and studies. Mr. Partridge's wife is a jealous and suspicious woman that's why the result is that Jenny appears in church in very fine gown. She thinks that a young woman who spend a lot of time for speaking Latin with her husband. She suddenly jumps some nasty conclusion. The villagers thinks that Jenny and Mr. Partridge must be having an affair. Henry Fielding portrays the character of Mrs. Water like famous playwriting rule of Chekhov's gun. Anton Chekhov said that,
" You shouldn't introduce a gun into the first act of a play unless it goes off in the next act. "
Jenny Jones is Fielding's version of Chekhov's gun. Who disappears in the first act and reappears at the end of the novel to resolves everything.
☆ Lady Bellaston :-
Lady Bellaston is a little bizarre and frankly lady who takes Sophia Western in her house when Sophia runs away to her house. Lady Bellaston thinks that Sophia
Western is a simple country girl for being nice to her dad. She doesn't believe in fatherly authority. She is disrespectful, unfeeling and deeply selfish person who should unite her fortune to some man. But the final result of the novel is Tom and Sophia's wedding. We can not surely says that Lady Bellaston is unfeeling. Her dishonesty makes her one of the worst villains of the novel. She keeps her emotions deeply under wraps. Henry Fielding put Sophia and Lady Bellaston as contrast characters because Sophia Western is the heroine of the novel and Lady Bellaston is the villain of the novel.
☆ Molly Seagrim :-
The daughter of Black George and first lover of Tom, famous for attractiveness. She is the opposition of Sophia Western. Sophia is femine and educated, intelligent and delicate women while Molly is masculine and rough girl. She has affairs with three man Tom, Will Barnes and Mr. Squire. She became pregnant outside of marriage. To show the difference between Sophia Western and Molly. Henry Fielding tried to portray the character of two women.
☆ Conclusion :-
Thus, above all the information we can say that through these all women characters in the novel, Henry Fielding portrays the different nature of women in society. And also he tries to throw light on the mentality of women and the role of women in society, how people justify the women.
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