Tom Jones

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling is a seminal 18th-century comic novel by Henry Fielding, published in 1749. It chronicles the picaresque adventures of Tom Jones, a good-hearted but impulsive foundling discovered as a baby in the bed of the benevolent Squire Allworthy, who raises him alongside his scheming nephew Blifil. Tom’s journey from rural Somerset to London brims with romantic pursuits—especially his steadfast love for the virtuous Sophia Western—misadventures, duels, and encounters across social classes, all while Fielding interjects witty philosophical commentary on human nature, morality, and hypocrisy. The tightly plotted narrative culminates in revelations about Tom’s true parentage, rewarding his innate virtue over calculated vice in a vibrant panorama of 18th-century English life.