Social morality in Tom Jones

By Henry Fielding

Morality in fielding's novelHis major novelsJoseph AndrewsTom JonesAmelia

styleStrong moral massage

Presented various ways

Allworthy’s words

“However quality the parents might be

the children were certainly innocent.”

Fielding’s personal qualitiesFielding’s belief that personal

qualities are more important than social standing. And his admiration for characters who share his belief.

Sophia’s description of Tom.So brave, and yet so gentle; so witty,

yet so inoffensive; so humane, so civil, so genteel, so handsome. What signifies his being base born, when compared with such qualifications as these?

Tom is not such a perfect picture of morality.

Nobility of heart V/S Nobility of birth So called social morality is the

result of irony in the novel.To give a moral lesson fielding

uses “ I ” and “ my ” readers.