Concetti Chiave
- Henry Fielding valued frankness, generosity, courage, and openness, opposing the Puritan view equating morality with sexual control.
- Fielding's morality was compassionate, recognizing people as neither wholly good nor bad, and crafted characters with true-to-life qualities.
- Tom Jones drew from the picaresque tradition, featuring a hero on adventurous journeys, highlighting life's absurdities with humor.
- His characters spanned all social classes, offering a vibrant societal panorama, with plots carefully constructed towards a dramatic climax.
- Fielding utilized a third-person omniscient narrator who engaged the reader through commentary and lively, dialogue-driven storytelling.
Henry Fielding's values
A London Justice of the Peace closely in contact with life, Henry Fielding admired qualities like frankness, generosity, courage and openness of spirit, and rebelled against the tendency to equate morality with sexual control, so typical of the Puritan standards of the middle class. He valued people more for was in their hearts than for their actions. His morality was warm and compassionate, though stern to those who deliberately did harm others; he understood that people are neither totally bad or totally good, and he created characters that were true-to-life. The reading public delighted in Tom Johns, because they understood him, and in reading about him the recognized themselves.
Picaresque tradition and Tom Jones
Fielding drew on the picaresque tradition, by setting his characters on the road and involving them in a series of adventures told with humorous gusto. His Tom Jones presents a hero involved in a series of adventures which seem to be about to destroy him, but at the same time there is the comic awareness of the absurdities of life.
His characters, boldly and brilliantly, are drawn from all classes of society, and offer a panorama flooded with warm light. The plot is constructed with great care, and the various adventures and intrigues are shaped towards their climax by the hand of a dramatist. Fielding's experience in the theatre is also highlighted by the lively and vigorous dialogues, and by the fact that he tended to describe his characters through their words, but did not insist on the analysis of their thoughts or feelings.
His stories are told by a third-person omniscient narrator, who is also intrusive because he often intervenes to comment on the characters ans the events, associates with the reader and inquires his opinion. As a result the reader is constantly involved and amused.
Domande da interrogazione
- What qualities did Henry Fielding admire and how did they influence his portrayal of characters?
- What narrative style does Fielding employ in his stories, and how does it engage the reader?
Henry Fielding admired qualities such as frankness, generosity, courage, and openness of spirit. He valued people for what was in their hearts rather than their actions, leading to the creation of true-to-life characters that resonated with readers, as seen in his work "Tom Jones."
Fielding uses a third-person omniscient narrator who is intrusive, often commenting on characters and events. This style involves the reader by associating with them and seeking their opinion, making the reading experience engaging and amusing.
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