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Henry Fielding ( 1707 - 1754 ).  novelist & playwright  one of the founders of the English novel  the greatest novelist of the 18th century.

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Presentation on theme: "Henry Fielding ( 1707 - 1754 ).  novelist & playwright  one of the founders of the English novel  the greatest novelist of the 18th century."— Presentation transcript:

1 Henry Fielding ( 1707 - 1754 )

2  novelist & playwright  one of the founders of the English novel  the greatest novelist of the 18th century

3  I.  I. Life  II.  II. Fielding’s position  III.  III. Major Works  IV.  IV. Tom Jones  V.  V. Features of Fielding’s Novels  V.  V. Fielding & Richardson

4 I. I. Life and Career  an aristocratic family  well educated  a deep knowledge of life  In order to make a living for himself, he began to write plays and farces for the stage

5  Soon he became one of the most popular playwrights in London.  Most of his dramatic works were satiric comedies.  Fielding mercilessly exposed the corruption, hypocrisy and cruelty of the officials.

6  His plays, of course, caused fear in the government and aroused hatred of the ruling class.  In 1737 an act appeared, according to which plays should be brought under direct censorship.

7  Fielding could not write plays, and so he ended his career as a playwright and took up the study of law.  He was made a judge in 1748.

8  sharp burlesques  satirizing the government  prime minister Sir Robert Walpole  Theatrical Licensing Act: directed primarily at him

9  Realized that none of his plays would ever gain the approval of Walpole's new governing body  Quit the theater and entered law school and graduated in 1740.

10  Began his novel writing by attacking Samuel Richardson.  Published his first novel, Joseph Andrews, 1742.  a parody of the best-selling novel at the time, Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded, by Samuel Richardson, about a virtuous servant girl.

11  Followed by  Jonathan Wild the Great  Tom Jones, his masterpiece  Amelia, his last novel

12  In his novels, Fielding continued to expose and fight against social evils of his time.  His later years were devoted to the duties as a magistrate.

13 II. II. Fielding’s position  Why was Fielding the true founder of English novel?

14  Defoe: still followed the 17th century tradition of claiming his fiction was fact.  Richardson: declared that his tales were moral tracts ( 宣传册子 ), emphasizing the instructional rather than the fictional aspect.  Fielding: the first major novelist to unabashedly ( 勇敢无畏的 ) write fiction.

15  Fielding is the founder of English realistic novels.  He set up the theory of realism in literary creation.

16  The exact observation and study of the real life was the basis of his work.  He did not rely simply on his imagination.  He did not imitate the characters depicted in the works of earlier authors.

17  He made a close and constant study of real men and women in real life.  He gave us genuine pictures of men and women of his own age.

18  His aim as a novelist was to write comic epic in prose  he once described himself as “great, tattered bard.”

19  The comic epic is designed to furnish instruction as well as entertainment.  Fielding believed in the educational function of the novel.

20 III. III. Major Works  1.  1. Joseph Andrews  2.  2. Jonathan Wild the Great  3.  3. Tom Jones  4.  4. Amelia

21 1. 1. Joseph Andrews  1741  《约瑟夫 · 安德鲁斯》  Fielding’s first novel  a parody of Richardson’s Pamela

22  the intention:  ridiculing Richardson’s novel Pamela  the hero of the novel:  Joseph Andrews, Pamela’s brother

23  The situation is contrived by reversing the situation in Pamela.  Joseph, a very handsome young man, is a male servant in Lady Booby's house.

24  Lady Booby, attracted by Joseph’s charms, pursues him, but Joseph repels her temptation.  Lady Booby is quite angry with him and drives him away.

25  Then Joseph goes to see his sweetheart, a country girl named Fanny.  On the way, he is robbed and carried to an inn, where he meets Parson Adams who becomes his good friend.

26  Then the two men travel together and meet with many ridiculous adventures.  After overcoming a lot of difficulties, Joseph and Fanny are united.

27  The book turns out quickly a great novel of the “comic epic in prose”  whose subject is “the true ridiculous” in human nature, exposed in all its variety as Joseph and the amiable Quixote.

28 2. 2. The Life of Jonathan Wild the Great  1743  《大伟人江奈生传》  Fielding’s satire on “greatness”

29  a satirical novel  exposes the English bourgeois-aristocratic society  mocks at its political system

30  Jonathan Wild  a figure taken from actual life  18th Century England's most notorious lawbreaker  a notorious English highway- man, hanged in London in 1721

31 “Jonathan Wild” in literature  the novel “Jonathan Wild” (1725) by D. Defoe  Henry Fielding's satire “The Life of Jonathan Wild the Great” (1743).  the model for the character Peachum in John Gay’s “The Beggars’ Opera” (1728)

32  Jonathan Wild has disposition for stealing in his childhood.  When he grows up, he becomes a pickpocket.  Gradually he becomes the chief of gang of robbers.

33  In this novel, Fielding satirizes the English high-ranking officials.  The thieves represent the corrupt politicians and the chief of the gang represents the English Prime Minister Walpole.

34  Wild’s band is divided into two conflicting parties, one suggests the Tories and the other represents the Whigs.  They often quarrel about little things. Obviously Fielding satirizes the struggle between the two political parties.

35  a bitter satire on the exploiting and oppressing class.  one of the best exposures of the corruption of the bourgeois society.

36 3. 3. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling  1.  1. assessment  2.  2. Abstract of the plot  3.  3. Characterization  4.  4. Themes  5.  5. point of view

37  It is in this novel that Fielding succeeded best in creating a “comic epic in prose”  the theory of which he has set down in Joseph Andrews  In structure, it followed the theory of “comic epic in prose”.

38  18 books: 3 sections, 6 books each  clearly marked out by the change of the scenes:  the country, on the highway, London

39 2. 2. Abstract of the plot  The kindly, prosperous Mr. Allworthy finds a baby boy on his bed.  He adopts the child, naming it Tom Jones.

40  Allworthy’s sister Bridget marries Captain Blifil, they have a son.  Tom and the young Blifil are raised together.

41  Years later a rivalry over the attention of Sophia Western arises between them.

42  Tom is expelled from the house because of  an affair with the game- keeper’s daughter Molly Seagrim  Blifil’s treachery

43  His adventures in the picaresque section of the novel  an affair with Lady Ballaston  nearly killing his opponent in a duel  imprisoned

44  Meanwhile Sophia flees to London to escape the marriage with Blifil.  Jenny Jones turns up to reveal that Bridget is the mother of Tom.

45  Blifil’s cruelties to Tom over the years are exposed - Blifil knew the truth of Tom’s birth.  Tom marries Sophia, who forgives him for his infidelities, and Tom becomes the heir of Allworthy.

46 3. 3. Characterization  (1) Tom Jones  (2) Master Blifil  (3) Sophia Western  (4) Mr. Allworthy

47 (1) Tom  upright, frank, kind-hearted  always ready to help others and never once tries to harm any one for his own benefit

48  sometimes may be very rash and commit rather serious errors, particularly in his relations with women.

49 (2) Blifil  Tom’s half-brother  Tom and Blifil stand in sharp contrast.  pretends to be extremely moral and selfless, but actually he always thinks up tricks

50  Although he appears at first to be a virtuous character, his hypocrisy soon exposes itself— Blifil pretends to be pious and principled, but greed governs him.

51 (3) Sophia  a “gentlewoman”  Fielding’s beautiful, generous heroine  the daughter of the violent Squire Western.

52  She represents the young women of the day with sufficient courage and independence to defy the bad world.

53  Sophia manages to reconcile through her courage and patience  her love for Tom  her filial duty to her father  her hatred for Blifil

54 (4) Mr. Allworthy  Mr. Allworthy is just what his name implies -- all worthy.  Allworthy has a reputation because of his benevolent, altruistic behavior. --------------------------------------------------------  altruistic [ l æltru l istik] adj. 利他主义的, 无私的

55  The moral yardstick of the novel, Allworthy’s only fault is that—due to his goodness—he cannot perceive the evil in others. --------------------------------------- yardstick n. 码尺,衡量的标准 perceive v. 察觉

56  Fielding’s attitudes:  condemns Blifil as the embodiment of the social evils of his day  praises Tom who represents the simple folk  Tom and Sophia: rebels of the society

57 4. 4. Themes  (1) social criticism  From this novel we can see the novelist’s  strong hatred for all the hypocrisy and treachery in the society of his age  sympathy for the courageous young rebels in their righteous struggle

58  (2) Virtue and vice  The highlighted virtue is prudence, and the featured vices are hypocrisy and vanity.

59  (3) The impossibility of stereotypical ( 老套的 ) categorization  “philosophical History”  a “Romance”  an “epi-comic prosaic poem”  “the founder of a new Province ( 领域 ) of Writing”

60 5. 5. point of view  The narrator predominantly speaks in the first person singular, but occasionally slips into a Victorian first person plural “we”.  The last quarter of the novel is partly epistolary, with letters embedded in the prose.

61  The narrator is essentially omniscient and fluctuates between the minds of various characters.

62  Coleridge declared that the plot of Tom Jones was one of the three perfect plots in all literature, the others were  Ben Jonson’s Alchemist, 本琼生《炼金术士》  Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, 索福克勒斯《俄狄浦斯王》

63 Tom Jones (UK) 第 36 届奥斯卡金像奖 最佳影片 第 36 届奥斯卡金像奖 最佳导演 托尼 · 理查森 第 36 届奥斯卡金像奖 最佳音乐 约翰 · 爱迪生 第 36 届奥斯卡金像奖 最佳改编剧本

64  4.  4. Amelia  1752  《阿美利亚》

65 V. V. Features of Fielding’s Novels A. A. authorial narrative voice Fielding’s method of relating a story is telling the story directly by the author.

66 Example 2  Chapter 1 An author ought to consider himself, not as a gentleman who gives a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary, at which all persons are welcome for their money.

67 Example 2  I have told my reader, in the preceding chapter, that Mr. Allworthy inherited a large fortune

68  B.  B. Satire abounds everywhere in Fielding’s works.

69 C. C. Fielding believed in the educational function of the novel.  The object of his novels is to present a faithful picture of life, while sound teaching is woven into their very texture.

70 D. D. Fielding is a master of style.  His style is easy and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous.  His sentences are always distinguished by logic and musical rhythm.  His command of language is remarkable.


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