Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding is a representative of 18th-century British critical realist literature, such as Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones, and Amelia.
Born into a declining aristocratic family, Fielding was well educated from an early age and mastered Ancient Greek and Latin. During college, because his father could not afford to provide tuition, he had to drop out of school and return to London, England, and began to earn a living on his own. The rich and colorful life experience makes him have a profound experience of society. The various characters he saw provided rich material for his creation, especially his novel creation.
Through the true depiction and shaping of many characters from all walks of life, Fielding ruthlessly exposed and satirized the dark and ugly phenomena in the political and social life of 18th-century Britain, and successfully reproduced the cold and cold world under the rule of the British exploiting class. For example, his masterpiece "Tom Jones".
Tom Jones
"Tom Jones" is Fielding's most iconic work. Structurally, the novel consists of 18 volumes and is divided into three parts.
Part I: Volumes I to VI. Set against the backdrop of remote provinces, this section provides a comprehensive and detailed introduction to life in the English countryside. The old nobles controlled the land resources and lived in absurd luxury in their respective estates. And the theologians attached to them. Farmers live in the heat of the waters, living a miserable life of starvation.
Part II: Volumes VII to XII. It focuses on the hardships and adventures of Tom and Sophia on their way from home to London, mainly in the context of the inn, where various characters come together, including tramps, hermits, lawyers, entertainers, gypsies, robbers and tax collectors. Through their writing, they reproduce the social changes and human conditions at that time.
Part III: Volumes XIII to XVIII. The eyes shifted to London, set against the backdrop of the extravagant life of the city. As the Industrial Revolution unfolded, the city continued to grow, and a large number of people concentrated in London. The old aristocracy, the new rich bourgeoisie, the tramp, the prostitute, the chivalrous, the artist, the drunkard, the philosopher, the prodigal prince, the barber, and so on, all kinds of characters have appeared.
The decadent and eroded life of high society, the hypocrisy of the new rich bourgeoisie, the deceit, collusion and mutual use between them and the old aristocracy, each of whom is calculating his own interests and maximizing his own interests.
Let me tell you a little bit about this story: Tom Jones was originally the illegitimate child of the old nobleman Sir Olvassui's sister Britch and the wild man, but in order to preserve his reputation, Bridge concealed it. She pleaded with her maid, Jenny Jones, to take responsibility, treating Tom Jones as Jenny Jones's illegitimate son, which Jenny Jones could only accept.
So Tom Jones lived in the Olvassy family as Jenny Jones's illegitimate son, and soon after, Olvassy's sister Bridge married, and after the marriage gave birth to a boy, named Bliffel. However, Bridge's husband died young, and Bridge returned to her mother's house with her son Briffel, where she lived in the Olvassui family and was the legitimate heir of her uncle.
Tom and Bliffel lived in the same family, grew up in the same environment, received the same education, but their personalities were very different. Tom is sincere, kind, chivalrous but flippant and impulsive, while Bridger is selfish, cunning, scheming, and hypocritical.
Growing up, Tom is a talented man who falls in love with the neighbor's daughter Sophia, but the love is opposed by Sophia's father. In his opinion, marrying an abandoned child is an undignified thing, so he firmly disagrees and breaks up the pair of Mandarin ducks.
At the same time, Briffel is also infatuated with Sophia, and in order to take Sophia from Tom, he racked his brains to slander Tom in front of his uncle Olvassui. So much so that Olvassui had to kick Tom out of the house.
Sure enough, not long after Tom left home, Sophia's father forced her to marry Brifell. In order to get rid of this marriage, Sophia runs away from home to find Tom.
At this time, Tom was going through various adventures, and he came to the inn. Sophia then goes to the inn, but she bumps into Tom with another woman, which makes her very sad, so she goes to London. Tom regretted what he had done, and he hurried to pursue Sophia.
After a tortuous process, Tom finally came to London, but things did not go well, and Tom was sent to prison for injuring people in self-defense. He was later framed by Bliffel and charged with murder.
Tom is in prison, Sophia is in trouble, she is almost insulted by the villain, but she is rescued by her father, but she is locked up by her father again.
At the moment when the hero and heroine are in a desperate situation of waiting to die, suddenly the situation changes dramatically. Tom's identity is revealed. Olvassy learns that Tom is the illegitimate son of his sister Bridge. The lawyer who persecuted Tom also confessed the truth, and Bliffel's plot was exposed. Truth.
Tom is acquitted, and Olvassui throws Bliffel out of the house. Tom became olvassa's heir. After Sophia's father saw that things were reversed, he no longer opposed the marriage between the two. In the end, Tom and Sophia have lovers and eventually become a family.
In short, the novel "Tom Jones" is based on the love story of Tom and Sophia, interspersed with various characters, recreating the panoramic society of 18th-century Britain. So, what kind of society is this?
Story backdrop
In 18th-century Britain, various currents of thought surged undercurrents. The old aristocracy as the ruling class is increasingly decaying and degenerate. They are born in the old aristocratic family, and once born, they do not need to worry about their livelihood and enjoy the benefits of inheritance from generation to generation. But as the Industrial Revolution unfolded, the land resources on which they depended became less and less valuable, and the old aristocracy had to sell their land to the rising new wealthy bourgeoisie.
The unfolding of industrialization, urbanization and modernization led to the rise of the newly affluent bourgeoisie, the most dynamic group in society at that time, they were optimistic, enterprising, hardworking, brave, full of adventure, with a legendary personal struggle experience. As their wealth grows, their influence on the country and society grows.
They are the largest vested interest group in the process of industrialization, urbanization and modernization, because they have money, and they rely on money to constantly encroach on the interests of the old aristocracy, making the old aristocracy feel afraid and afraid, but helpless.
In my opinion, the 18th century was the last degenerate time of the old British aristocracy, because after entering the 19th century, the new wealthy bourgeoisie in Britain had fully risen, and they had penetrated from the economy to politics and entered the stage of history. Their rise to the stage of history means that the old aristocracy has become a thing of the past.
However, the 18th century was still the happy time of the old aristocracy, and they could still enjoy a luxurious life, drunken fans, night and night songs, drunken dreams and deaths.
At the same time, the rise of the new wealthy bourgeoisie, their bottomless greed for money, has also brought society as a whole into an egoistic ideology of money.
People's pursuit of money leads to only interests between people, society is becoming more and more practical, people are becoming more and more realistic, paying attention to money, chasing material enjoyment more and more people. The sympathy of society has declined, the sense of responsibility has been weak, the moral sentiments of society have begun to deteriorate, and moral customs have gradually declined.