Where Tom Loves the Ladies

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I liked this a lot more than I did when I was 20 and reading it in a study room at college with a thousand other people working on every side. Though I actually liked it *okay* then, I know I didn't understand a lot of the context, so it didn't work as well for me.

Also, this time I thought it was funny. The narrator is hilarious, in fact. I don't think I got that at all 40 years ago.

Tom Jones is usually called a romp or a bawdy tale, and it's that, for sure. But I love how it treats this young man, who sleeps with a number of ladies in not that many pages, as still a good guy who maybe just needs to do a bit less. A generation later, my beloved Jane Austen would call him a blackguard or an unrepentant rake at best and have him end up in a loveless marriage or something. Fielding doesn't see him that way; he sees kindness (Tom helps a ton of people) and exuberance (like a golden retriever). Nor does he judge the ladies who break the same rules, like Mrs. Waters or Mrs. Fitzpatrick or Lady Bellaston. They might be judged for some other stuff, but he doesn't care and doesn't think we should care about their affairs.

That's refreshing.

He's also very explicitly critical of the unfair marriage dynamic which prevailed at that time, where women had so few choices and so little power; the unfortunate Mrs. Fitzpatrick is an exemplar of the powerless woman being hurt by her own husband, while Lady Bellaston represents the somewhat liberated widow who can do almost as she pleases as long as she doesn't remarry. Allworthy, a slightly enlightened man, argues with his neighbor Mr. Western to not press is daughter, to not force her to accept his choice of a marriage partner. Throughout, we get a glimpse of a fairer society and less-restricted love, less-judged, and I only wish that movement toward greater equality and less coercion had caught on a lot sooner.

There are a lot of characters to enjoy here, like Tom and Sophia, some that are fun to laugh at, like Partridge, and a good assortment to hate, like Blifil and Thwackum and Square. That's pretty fun right there. With the ironic narrator and the low-key tension of the conflicts (not quite cozy, but not too far off), I found this a lot of fun this time around.

Recommended. Get a cheap hardcover off the interwebs. That's how to read it.

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