The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Summary

A foundling of mysterious parentage, Tom Jones is brought up by the benevolent and wealthy Squire Allworthy as his own son. As a young man, Tom falls in love with the beautiful and unattainable Sophia Western, a neighbor’s daughter, whose marriage has already been arranged. When Tom’s sexual misadventures around the countryside get him banished, he sets out to make his fortune and find his true identity. Against the vivid background of eighteenth-century London, Tom encounters passion, corruption, danger, and intrigue before finally claiming his fortune, legitimacy, and true love. Fielding’s bawdy, colorful, high-spirited novel painted human vices and virtues with unprecedented honesty and good humor, making Tom Jones as fresh and entertaining today as it was two hundred years ago.