Extremely late blog on Tom Jones....

When I think of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, the word "morality" comes to mind. Many 18th century plays and novels trigger the word often in my mind but Tom Jones revolves around the theme of morality. The idea of being a moral person weighs heavily in the novel. A reference to virginity is made on or around page 38 that pretty much states that it's bad to lose your virginity before you are married...perhaps it's because of the book starting out with a bastard child. We have Jenny Jones who Allworthy tries to still treat like a person even after she offended God. What she has done is appealing to her moral being...religion takes a role in that as well. This novel stresses that it's necessary to be moral in order to be respected and taken seriously. Originally, one might believe that Mrs. Western is a moralistic character; she's good natured, forgiving, etc. Is she really this things though? She only forgave the highway men because they told her she was beautiful...a moralistic character? I don't believe so.

There is also the emphasis on the "flawed hero", Tom Jones, himself. By Tom Jones being a "flawed hero", I believe it makes him more of a realistic character. He seems more relatable due to the fact that he isn't perfect. Readers tend to attach themselves to characters that they could relate to. Realism is emphasized in the novel by proving that it is not the stereotypical. Readers tend to justify characters because they may be true to life...relatable.