AS SEEN ON TV: TOM JONES, YOUNG AND OLDER

Two for Tuesday!

TOM JONES

AS SEEN IN:

'The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling'

CREATED BY:

Henry Fielding

PORTRAYED BY:

Stuart Neal - Young Tom

Max Beesley - Tom as an adult

TV STATUS:

Recastaways

(Due to the aging process)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"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. The novel is both a Bildungsroman and Picaresque novel. First published on 28 February 1749, "Tom Jones" is among the earliest English prose works describable as a novel. The novel, totaling 346,747 words, is divided into 18 smaller books, each preceded by a discursive chapter, often on topics totally unrelated to the book itself. It is dedicated to George Lyttleton.

Tom Jones is a bastard, the ward of Squire Allworthy, eventually revealed to be his nephew and the son of a long-deceased parson’s son, Mr Summers.

Tom Jones is a foundling discovered on the property of a very kind, wealthy landowner, Squire Allworthy, in Somerset in England's West Country. Tom grows into a vigorous and lusty, yet honest and kind-hearted, youth. He develops affection for his neighbour's daughter, Sophia Western. On one hand, their love reflects the romantic comedy genre that was popular in 18th-century Britain. However, Tom's status as a bastard causes Sophia's father and Allworthy to oppose their love; this criticism of class friction in society acted as a biting social commentary. 

The inclusion of prostitution and sexual promiscuity in the plot was also original for its time, and the foundation for criticism of the book's "lowness."

BCnU!