Monday, December 31, 2007

Tom Jones, Fielding’s double standard?

(I'm so sorry guys, I was working on my paper when I realized that I never put up my last two blogs so please excuse me for these very late additions.)

I feel like there is a double standard between male vs. female virtue. The female characters in this book that have sexual experience such as Molly and Mrs. Western aren’t shown in as redeeming a light as Tom is. They are the temptresses that entice Tom to have sex. They’re not virtuous, but Tom is, despite the fact that he sleeps with these women. The only truly “virtuous” female is Sophia, and she remains a virgin until her marriage.
It is true that Molly and Jenny Jones are described forgivingly by Fielding in order for the reader to sympathize for them. However, I find it hard to characterize them as “virtuous,” especially with Molly not being entirely honest to Tom about her pregnancy and Mrs. Western’s aggressive seduction of Tom.
I’m not sure of Fielding is serious or playful when he describes Sophia. He makes her seem like the paradigm of perfection, but her perfect virtue reminds me too much of Pamela. If Fielding was serious, and Sophia is meant to be interpreted as the perfect example of femininity, then I feel like Fielding is something of a hypocrite. She should have had some sort of sexual experience, or at least some sort of experience with love prior to Tom, in order for the standard to be fair.

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