Tom Jones Comic Epic - 2359 Words

Tom Jones as ‘Comic Epic-Poem in Prose’ Maruf Billah Enjoying the freedom of an artist, Fielding in his ‘Tom Jones’ bursts on the literary scene giving thousands of hours for a kind of writing, which is in his own words, â€Å"I do not remember to have seen hitherto attempted in our language†. His immediate inspiration was the Spanish Classic, ‘Don Quixote’. However in discussing his work Fielding refers to Homer and Aristotle, the former for practice and the later for theory. This kind of appeal to authority was extremely important during the Neo-Classical Age. The classification is most apt for this is the period of literary history in which writers and critics based their views of literature on classical figures, most important of who†¦show more content†¦He is less violent and brutal than his contemporaries such as Smollett and Sterne. He does not employ caricature to anything like the extent that Smollett does, and he has none of the other man’s undercurrent of hatred and anger. An d his humour is quite different from that of the other eighteenth century comic novelist, Sterne, who is by comparison introvert, off-beat and even surrealist. Sterne’s comedy is slow-moving and analytic; that of Fielding is swift and crisp, and it stays more on the surface of things. But one may speak of ‘Tom Jones’ as did Dryden of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’, â€Å"Here is God’s Plenty.† The bulk of the novel is a challenge to an epic. We cannot possibly call ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Great Expectations’ an epic because of their concentrated action and small area of movement.’ an epic because of their concentrated action and small area of movement. Whereas ‘Tom Jones’ moves on rambling to any distance. An Epic is an honest narrative with a plain design wherein the characters assert their personality with a moral ardor. The writer of an epic is not much of an artist in the senseSho w MoreRelatedTom Jones Essay1637 Words   |  7 PagesJoy Thompson Mrs. Larson AP British Literature and Composition December 11, 2011 Refusal to Return: Finding Bliss at Upton Although Tom Jones by Henry Fielding is appropriately known as a comic novel written to no set of absolute rules, the work shows many characteristics similar to epics. In epic novels the main protagonist is normally known for following a set series of events called â€Å"the hero’s journey.† The hero’s journey is often a three part adventure consisting of a departure, anRead MoreHenry Fielding’s Tom Jones: Homeric Epithets and Personifications with a Satirical Twist511 Words   |  3 PagesHenry Fielding felt great concern towards the embellished stylization of epic novels, and in order to relay his critiques of this popularized genre, he constructed an epic parody to reveal the turgid grandiose nature of such works through a sarcastic spoof. Commenced with his mordant invocation of a muse, Henry Fielding’s epic parody, Tom Jones emphasizes droll concern with the classical epic style by christening Homeric epithets and personifications with a s atirical twist. Henry Fielding divesRead MoreJospeh Andrews as Comic Epic in Prose3335 Words   |  14 PagesAndrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams, was the first published full-length novel of the English author and magistrate Henry Fielding, and indeed among the first novels in the English language. Published in 1742 and defined by Fielding as a ‘comic epic poem in prose’, it is the story of a good-natured footmans adventures on the road home from London with his friend and mentor, the absent-minded parson Abraham Adams. 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Literature According to Jones Jr. (1986) literature is simply another way people can experience the world around them through the imagination. It can be divided into two different groups’ namely informative literature and imaginative literature. Informative literature deals withRead MoreChildrens Literature13219 Words   |  53 Pagesmuch the hallmark of the standard Englishman as once was his roast beef. Bloomfi eld, after all, was talking about ‘realistic’ children’s books which could be made useful by being directed to the moral and social education of children. Towards the comic or fantastical others he harboured nothing but scorn, and directed parents to put them to the one use for which they were fitted, namely, lighting fires. Like the concept of childhood, childrens literature is very much a cultural construct that continuesRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 PagesEach episode logically and inevitably unfolds from the one that preceded it, thereby generating a momentum that drives the plot forward its appointed resolution. Chronological plot structure can be loose, relaxed and episodic. In Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the plots are composed of a series of separate and largely self-contained episodes, resembling so many beads on a string. The unifying element is the protagonist, as he wanders into and out of a series of adventuresRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesComprehension: Questions for Review 128 Key Terms 129 130 HRM Workshop Linking Concepts to Practice: Discussion Questions 107 Developing Diagnostic and Analytical Skills 107 Case Application 4-A: Casino Has No Sense of Humor Regarding â€Å"Dilbert† Comic 107 Case Application 4-B: Off-the-Job Behaviors 107 Working with a Team: Dealing in Gray Areas 108 Learning an HRM Skill: Guidelines for Counseling Employees 108 Enhancing Your Communication Skills 109 Linking Concepts to Practice: Discussion Questions