The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Consider The History of Tom Jones as a satire and discuss the targets and the techniques most at play (including irony, sarcasm, hyperbole, and so on). What beliefs, conventions, attitudes, or cultural values are most prominently critiqued? Use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

Read The History of Tom Jones as a romance and discuss the various elements it borrows or inherits from this genre. How do the education of the hero and the adventures of the heroine function within the romance?

Tom’s character is a matter of discussion many times throughout the novel, and many characters weigh in on a definition. Which assessment of Tom’s character rings true to you? Trace Tom’s development as a character, supporting your conclusions with references to the text.

Choose several specific characters and discuss the attitudes toward women that are debated within the novel. How does the narrative characterize their intelligence, education, chastity, or all of the above? What do Fielding’s female characters suggest about the status of women in 18th-century England?

Examine The History of Tom Jones in the tradition of the Homeric epics, a genre which Fielding evokes with his occasional epic similes and other conventions. How does the author subvert the serious tone and lofty subject matter of the epic genre? What other epic conventions or elements of classic literature does Fielding use, improve, or subvert?

Take up the narrator’s declaration that most people are neither completely good nor completely villainous, and use examples of specific characters in the novel to support or contest this argument.

Analyze The History of Tom Jones as a “history” and discuss how Fielding endeavors to shape a “new” or novel form. Consider his efforts to shape the reader’s interpretations of and expectations for the text. What effect does this conscious effort at metafiction have on the reader’s experience?

Compare The History of Tom Jones with another of Fielding’s novels, or with another contemporary novel (such as Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, for instance). Discuss how Fielding’s stylistic approach mirrors or deviates from the style of other novels of his time.