11 Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749) Article Swipe
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· 2022
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110650440-012
· OA: W4286634574
With his novel Tom Jones, Henry Fielding presents himself as "the founder of a new province of writing". This article argues that the author not only explains his original approach in his theoretical chapters but also turns his innovative ideas into practice by offering his readers a new and markedly hybrid kind of narrative. Tom Jones constitutes the English prototype of the Bildungsroman and, at the same time, includes elements of other genres, such as the (mock) epic, the fairy tale, and the romance. Furthermore, Tom Jones may also be read as an early example of the novel of social change. Fielding's originality emerges in particular, so this essay further contends, when Tom Jones is considered in comparison with similar novels of Fielding's time, such as Sarah Fielding's David Simple and Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield.
