Assignment paper no 2:-The Neo-classical literature

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Name : Nirali dungrani

Roll no : 30

Enrollment No:-2069108420180012

Year: 2017-19

M.A. semester :1

Paper no : 2 The Neo-classical literature

Email id : dungraninirali@gmail.com

Assignment topic : Role of woman in Novel TOM JONES. by Henry Fielding.

Submitted to : smt.S.B.Gardi, Department of English.

Introduction:-

=>Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich, earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the picaresque novel Tom Jones.

=>The History of Tom jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom jones, is a comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding.

 FEMINISM:-

Feminism is a range of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women.

 "Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength." —G.D. Anderson

8) "Women are always saying,'We can do anything that men can do' but men should be saying,'We can do anything that women can do.'" —Gloria Steinem

LIST OF WOMEN CHARACTERS:-

       There more than 20 characters in the play. Some of the women characters are discussed in further detail.

1.)     Sophia western

2.)     Mrs.Bridget Allworthy Blifil

3.)     Jenny Jones/ Mrs.Waters

4.)     Lady Bellaston

5.)     Molly Seagrim

6.)     Mrs.Deborah

7.)     Mrs.Western

8.)     Harriet Fitzpatrick

9.)     Mrs.Miller

10.)   Nancy Miller

11.)   Mrs.Wilkins

12.)   Ms.Susan

13.)   Mrs.Whitefield

14.)   Mrs.Seagrim

15.)   Mrs.Patridge

16.)   Mrs.Honour

17.)   The Nanny

18.)   Betty

19.)   Mrs.Abigail

20.)   Mrs.Arebella

1.)                              SOPHIA WESTERN:-

      

       Sophia Western is the heroine of the novel. She is the only daughter of Mr.Squire Western and in deep love with Tom Jones. She is the model of virtue, beauty and all good qualities. Sophia is an archetype of character. Henry Fielding tries to make Sophia perfect. It is said that Sophia’s characterisation is reflection of Fielding’s first wife. Sophia’s dedication for love shows that though obedient, but she is independent to make her decisions. When forced to marry Blifil, Sophia runs away from her house. A question might arise that if Sophia is the heroine of the play, why the title is Tom Jones rather than Sophia Western. Women are not given equal rights. Sophia has qualities like Beauty, youth, sprightliness, innocence, modesty and tenderness, while Tom is handsome but a flaccid character. Sophia portrays a typical women character. Literature itself is patriarchal.

 =>example: - we have the father of literature or the father of the nation, but we don’t have the mother of literature or the mother of the nation.

2.)          MRS.BRIDGET ALLWORTHY BLIFIL:-

       She is sister of Squire Allworthy, wife of Captain John Blifil and mother of master Blifil and Tom jones. At the end of the novel, the truth is revealed that she is the real mother of Tom jones. Life and History of Tom Jones depends on Mrs.Bridget. We see that she is a poor victim of the society.

Tom’s father is shown dead in the novel. He is removed from the novel, so the mother is blamed. Why the father is removed? All the things come on Mrs.Bridget. She alone handles the situation. Men are flaccid by character but the women are given blame for every bad situation.

“Women are the victim of the interior colonisation.”

2.)                              JENNY JONES OR MRS.WATERS:-

       Jenny Jones is the Partridge’s and Allworthy’s servant. She is a very intelligent woman who is used by Mrs.Bridget to deflect suspicions on Tom Jones maternity from her. Mr.Allworthy the so-called noble and kind man, without knowing whether Jenny is the real mother or not, sends her away from the estate. Why she is not given the chance to explain herself? She is poor so she is blamed. The lower class people are always looked upon as immoral by the high class people. Jenny Jones is a virtuous lady, but the society spoils her virtue. What is the advantage to being honest? If you are lower class the society then your honesty will have no value.

       Later on she reappears as “Mrs.Waters” at Upton, where Tom saves her from a robbery and takes her at the inn to protect. It is said that she seduced Tom at the inn. How can she alone seduce Tom? We need both our hands to clap. Likewise Tom is too responsible. In the novel, it is not clear whether she was married to Mrs.Waters or not. She was living a virtuous life, but she was blamed for something she had not done. She is living her life differently throughout the novel. She has broken the shackles of the society, so she is called “a fallen woman”. In a way, she is happy in her life. Even Tom has many affairs, but Jenny being women is more accused.

4.)          LADY BELLASTON:-

       She is aunt of Sophia Western and a leading figure in London society. She loves Tom Jones. People read this as a negative character. Why? Just because he loves Tom or thinking of Sophia marrying Lord Fellamar. Though her way is wrong, but her intention is to see Sophia happily married. Why a woman doesn’t have the right to love someone. In a way, we can see that women are not free. If they think differently, they are interpreted by the society.

5.)          MOLLY SEAGRIM:-

       Molly is Tom's first love. She is the daughter of Black George the gamekeeper, and famous in the area for her attractiveness. But the narrator notes that there is something about her that "would at least have become a man as well as a woman”. Molly is "bold and forward”, rather than modest and shy.

       In other words, Molly is the absolute opposite of Sophia Western: where Sophia is delicate and feminine, Molly is rough and even masculine. Where Sophia is chaste and careful in her interactions with men, Molly has at least three sexual partners that we know of: Tom, Mr. Square, and Will Barnes. And of course, the biggest difference is that Molly gets pregnant outside of marriage, while Sophia has to spend much of the novel caught up as a pawn in a competition between Mr.Blifil, Lord Fellamar, and even Tom for her hand in marriage.

       She is always been cheated by the male characters. Will Barnes left her alone. It is also said that she is a bad character. After getting so much disloyalty, how can anyone expect her to be good? The society looks at flaws of Molly, why the male characters are not blamed? We can say that in trying to make Sophia perfect, Fielding deliberately portrays other characters in a bad light. We find exploitation of women in Tom Jones.

6.)          MRS.DEBORAH WILKINS:-

       Mrs. Wilkins (and the "Mrs." here just means that she's older, not that she's married) is Squire Allworthy's servant. She's the one who first takes care of baby Tom when Squire Allworthy finds him wrapped up in his bed. But don't go thinking, just because she helps to look after young Tom, that Mrs. Wilkins is some kind of warm and fuzzy type.

       She doesn't have a huge role in the novel, but most of her purpose in the story seems to be to show how ungrateful and snobby servants can be.

       We see this bullying side of Mrs. Wilkins in her treatment of other women, in particular. It's Mrs. Wilkins who decides that Jenny Jones must be Tom's secret mother. When Mrs. Wilkins first "asks" Jenny if she's Tom's mom, she addresses her complete as an "audacious strumpet"(which means "cheeky prostitute"). Clearly, she isn't exactly willing to give Jenny the benefit of the doubt. As a loyal servant she helps Mrs. Bridget and in helping her she puts guilt on Jenny.

7.)          MRS.WESTERN:-

       Mrs. Western is Squire Western's sister, not his wife. She goes by "Mrs." because she is an older lady, but she is not married.

       In a lot of ways, Mrs. Western seems like what Squire Western would be if he had been born a woman. She is incredibly arrogant and sure of herself. And like Squire Western, she has absolutely no interest in Sophia's protests that she doesn't want to marry Mr.Blifil. Even more horrifying, she refuses to listen to Sophia's objections to Lord Fellamar, even after Sophia tells her that Lord Fellamar tried to assault her at Lady Bellaston's house. Mrs. Western's other truly important character trait is that she is vain as all get-out. We see this vanity over and over again in the novel. So, for example, while Mr. Fitzpatrick is wooing her niece Harriet right under Mrs. Western's nose, she never notices. She is so certain that Mr.Fitzpatrick wants to marry her that she never spots her niece's terrible romantic plans.

8.)          MRS.HONOUR:-

       Mrs. Honour is Sophia's maid, and her ability to mingle with servants and catch up on gossip ends up being useful to her employer: for example, it's Mrs. Honour who first hears that Tom is staying at the inn at Upton. But beyond Mrs. Honour's role as a plot device, she does not have much depth as a character.

       Mrs. Honour is a huge chatterbox. She just goes on and on and on. Her dialogue appears as these huge, intimidating blocks in the novel—we have to wonder when she has the time to draw breath. Of course, her talking is mostly gossip about the other characters: not only is Mrs. Honour the one to first reveal Tom's love to Sophia, but she also seems to know that Lady Bellaston keeps a love nest in another neighbourhood from her actual house. Mrs. Honour knows a great deal, but you have to sift through a lot of extra information and random commentary to get to any substance.

CONCLUSION:-

We see both types of women characters in this novel, ones with the bad light and with good light. Overall the women character in this novel faces injustice in one or the other way. Henry fielding has represented Sympathy for women in thematic terms. Fielding’s ideology is embedded in the text.

“Woman was made for the comfort and benefit of man”.