Characters analysis of "Tom Jones"
| Tom Jones |
CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF TOM JONES
Department of English (M.K.B.U.)
Parmar Dipali K.
Roll No: 30
M.A. Sem. 1
Batch: 2015-’17
Email Id: dipaliparmar247@gmail.com
Character List
1. Squire
Allworthy:
Respected gentleman,
"the favourite of both Nature and Fortune," and Tom's guardian. He
supports Tom as his own, though believing he is a foundling. Brother of Bridget
Allworthy.
2. Bridget
Allworthy:
Sister of Squire
Allworthy, she is unmarried at the beginning of the story, but becomes Mrs.
Blifil when she marries Captain Blifil. She is an unattractive woman alleged to
have been immortalized by Hogarth in his sketch "Winter's Morning."
Bridget is the mother of Master Blifil and, after her death, is revealed to be
Tom Jones's mother.
3. Mrs.
Wilkins:
Servant to Miss
Bridget Allworthy. A shrewish woman "universally hated and dreaded,"
she is given the task of finding Tom's mother.
4. Tom
Jones:
The eponymous hero.
He is believed to be an illegitimate child of low birth, but is brought up as a
gentleman. He is handsome, generous, popular and passionate. The novel charts
his progress to adulthood and his pursuit of Miss Sophia Western.
5. Jenny
Jones:
A bright young woman,
Jenny is "as good a scholar as most of the young men of quality of the
age." Jenny Jones is initially believed to be Tom Jones' mother. She is in
the employ of the Partridges and is dismissed by the jealous Mrs. Partridge.
Squire Allworthy provides for her in another parish in a bid for her to mend
her wanton ways.
It is later revealed
that Jenny was paid to confess to being the mother of the child to protect the
honor of Miss Bridget Allworthy.
6. Dr.
Blifil:
A friend of
Allworthy's. A bright man trapped in the wrong vocation. He falls in love with
Bridget Allworthy but, as he is already married, he convinces his brother,
Captain Blifil, to court her. He is cut out of the friendship and dies of a
broken heart.
7. Captain
Blifil:
A half-pay officer, Captain
Blifil is brought to Allworthy's estate to court Bridget Allworthy. He is an
unattractive man, but he and Bridget fall for each other. Captain Blifil is
keen to inherit Allworthy's property through his wife, and dies of an apoplexy
while imagining his fortune. Though he and his wife hate each other, she erects
a monument to his memory. He is the father of Master Blifil.
8.
Partridge:
Originally a
schoolteacher, Mr. Partridge is cast out by the community after allegedly
beating his wife and fathering Jenny Jones' child - neither of which he is
responsible for.
He later meets up
with Tom as Little Benjamin and accompanies him on his travels, in the hope of
winning Allworthy's favor again. Partridge remains a loyal and devoted friend
to Tom, even though he is something of a bumbler.
9. Mrs.
Partridge:
A bitter and jealous
woman, Mrs Partridge attacks her husband when she thinks he is the father of
Jenny Jones's child. She then accuses him of beating her, which helps to ruin
his reputation.
10. Square:
Mr. Square is a
philosopher. He resides at the Allworthy household as a friend but also as an
advisor to Tom Jones and Master Blifil. He believes that vice is a
"deviation from nature." His philosophy is juxtaposed with that of
Thwackum.
His elevated position
is ridiculed when he is found hiding in Molly Seagrim's bedroom. Square reveals
Tom's great loyalty to Allworthy in a letter sent from his deathbed.
11.
Thwackum:
Thwackum is a
teacher employed to educate Master Blifil and Tom Jones. He is a fierce advocate
that the human mind is "nothing but a sink of iniquity till purified and
redeemed by grace." He is an enthusiastic advocate of corporal punishment
and regularly thrashes Jones. He remains hypocritical till the end, and his
philosophy is juxtaposed with that of Square.
12. Black
George
A gamekeeper friend
of Tom's, and also the father of Molly Seagrim. Tom lies and steals to support
George, and George later assists by passing communications to Sophia. He also,
however, takes money which Tom misplaces, an act which is examined by the
narrator through the various eyes of the audience. Also goes by George Seagrim.
13. Blifil
Son of Captain
Blifil and Bridget Blifil. Master Blifil is favored by Allworthy when the man
realizes he is not as appreciated by his mother as Tom is.
Master Blifil is
sneaky and underhanded. He often seeks to put Tom in a bad light. Mrs. Western
believes that Sophia Western is in love with him, and a marriage is planned by
the two families. In reality, Sophia hates Master Blifil.
14. Sophia
Daughter of Squire
Western, Mrs. Sophia Western is the heroine of the novel. She is based upon
Fielding's much-loved first wife, Charlotte Cradock.
Sophia is an
intelligent and beautiful young woman - "Her mind was every way equal to
her person; nay the latter borrowed some charms from the former."
Sophia is drawn to
Tom's gentlemanly ways, though she believes him low-born. She is willful, as
she shows when she runs away from the arranged marriage with Master Blifil, but
also wants to make others happy.
15. Squire
Western
A neighbour of
Squire Allworthy, and father of Sophia. He is a keen hunter and is fond of Tom
until he hears of the affection between him and Sophia. Squire Western locks
his daughter away in a bid to force her to marry Blifil, and pursues her when
she flees. He is a boorish drunk.
16. Molly
Seagrim
Daughter of Black
George, Molly is the first girl to whom Tom is attracted. She is a beautiful
and passionate girl who has little modesty or virtue. When she becomes
pregnant, Tom admits to being the father and she is happy to sustain this
pretense even though it is untrue.
17. Mrs.
Seagrim
Molly's mother. She
colludes with her daughter in her many liaisons for money, and helps to cover
her daughter's pregnancy with a dress given by Sophia. Goes by Goody Seagrim.
18. Parson
Supple
Local curate. He is
present when Squire Western asserts that Tom is the father of Molly Seagrim's
child, and when Tom is found with Molly in the woods. He later travels with
Squire Western in the latter's hunt for Sophia.
19.
Northerton
Ensign Northerton is
an unsavoury and uneducated soldier who attacks Tom in an inn and causes a
severe head injury. He escapes custody but is later found assaulting a lady,
Mrs Waters, whom Tom rescues.
20. King of
the Gypsies
Tom has an
interesting conversation with the king of the gypsies regarding absolute
monarchy. He also deals wisely with an attempt to con Partridge.
21. Lady
Bellaston
London-based lady
whom Sophia turns to when she flees her home. Lady Bellaston falls for Tom
herself, and tries to keep him and Sophia apart. A vicious flirt, and entirely
cruel.
22. Mrs.
Miller
Kind and benevolent
lady with whom Tom and Partridge take rooms in London. Mother of Nancy Miller
and cousin of Mr Anderson, the failed highwayman. Mrs. Miller's support of Tom
is crucial towards his success. Also owes Allworthy for having helped her
earlier in life.
23. Mr.
Anderson
A poor man with a
large family, Anderson tries half-heartedly to rob Tom when they meet on the
road. Tom gives him money instead. He is later revealed to be the cousin of
Mrs. Miller. Tom's kindness to Mr. Anderson ultimately pays off by helping him
earn Mrs. Miller's support.
24.
Nightingale
A young gentleman
who takes to Tom when they live together with Mrs. Miller. Nightingale becomes
a devoted and true friend to Tom Jones. He ultimately marries Nancy Miller,
partially through Tom's help.
25. Mr.
Dowling
A lawyer who has
dealings with Allworthy and Blifil. He engages in dubious activities at
Blifil's behest, and keeps Bridget Allworthy's secret.
26. Lord
Fellamar
A gentleman who
falls for Sophia Western and attempts to rape her in order to win her hand. He
is prompted to cruelty by Lady Bellaston, and later favored as a match by Mrs.
Western.
27. Mrs.
Arabella Hunt
A young and wealthy
widow who asks for Tom to become her new husband. Tom gallantly refuses her
request.
28. Captain
Egglane
A military man
recruited By Lord Fellamar to have Tom Jones press ganged and sent to sea.
29. Mrs.
Honour
Sophia's loyal
servant. Honour loves her mistress and organizes her own dismissal to stay with
her lady. She is sometimes indiscreet but is well meaning. She sometimes
affects air and graces to seem above her station. Ultimately ends up working
for Lady Bellaston. Goes by Mrs. Abigal Honour.
30. Mrs.
Waters
Jenny Jones, by
another name. Tom rescues her later in the story, and they have a brief affair.
The affair later appears to be incestuous, until the truth of Tom's parentage
is brought up.
31. Little
Benjamin
Another name for Partridge,
and the one he uses when Tom first meets up with him on the road.
32. Elder
Nightingale
Nightingale's
father. He engineers a match for his son that keeps Nightingale from pursuing
Nancy Miller, until his mind is changed by Allworthy and by circumstance.
33. Nancy
Miller
Mrs. Miller's
daughter. A sweet girl who falls in love with Nightingale, and has his baby.
They ultimately marry.
Primary Characters of Tom Jones
1. Tom
Jones:
Jones’s character is
presented in the novel as a youngster up until he marries Sophia. The reader is
able to seen Jones’s maturation throughout the story. Tom shows as if he is
only capable of thinking what he is doing at the moment and not what might be in
the future. His actions are a backed up by his impulses at the time rather than
by analysis. A perfect example of these impulses is when he without hesitation
goes to bed with Molly Seagrim, Mrs. Waters, and Lady Bellaston while being
deeply in love with Sophie. Jones’s line of thought is very unpredictable
because he can go from deciding to join the army or go to sea as the solution
to his problems and suddenly change his plans from one moment to the next.
Jones’s
direct line of thought and concern for the welfare of other brings out the
characteristic that the reader should mostly admire about Tom. He never thought
that why he should help the person. He just impulsively helps everyone, this
being at the cost of his own welfare.
It is Tom’s own
carelessness and naïve attitude that brings him all of the problems he faces
through the novel. His constant concern for the present does not let him see
the consequences of his immediate actions. Though he brings on himself his own
misery. He eventually recognizes that his actions especially his affairs with
two middle-aged women and one that might even his mother lead him to realize
that what he was doing was wrong and from there on he decides to stop this
behavior. From this point, the reader sees how Tom is able to acknowledge the
importance of analyzing his actions before doing them.
2. Blifil:
Blifil, the
antagonist of Tom Jones, is a foil to his uncle Allworthy. In contrast to
Allworthy, whose altruism is almost excessive, Blifil not only acts vilely, but
coats his evil with sugary hypocrisy. When Allworthy and Tom confront Blifil
with his crimes, Blifil weeps not out of remorse, but rather out of terror. He
does not reform his ways, but merely his religion, expediently converting to
Methodism in order to marry a rich woman. As the static villain, Blifil stands
opposite the consistent goodness of Allworthy. Fielding uses Blifil's lack of
passion to condone Tom's abundance of "animal spirits" and to sharpen
his definition of love. The reader does not admire Blifil's chastity, since it
stems from an excessive interest in Sophia's fortune and in a desire to eclipse
Tom. Fielding's claim that physical pleasure is a necessary part of true love
is further validated when Tom's philandering is contrasted with Blifil's bitter
chastity.
3. Squire
Allworthy:
Allworthy is
supposed to be correct all the time hence his last name but his actions as the
novel progresses questions his decision making process and his better judgment
of what is right and what is wrong. He makes his conclusions on Jones’s actions
not by reasoning and analyzing the situation at hand but instead makes his
decisions following what he understands what is right and wrong. Allworthy at
the end of the novel admits that his decisions to reason the way he did and
judge Jones the way he did were wrong.
4. Sophia:
Sophia
Western, according to critic Martin Battestin, is an allegorical figure, meant
to represent the feminine ideal and therefore kept as anonymous as possible.
For example, the narrator does not provide concrete details of Sophia's
appearance and character when he introduces her at the beginning of the novel,
and by the end of the novel, we do not know much more. Although Sophia's
decision to run away from her violent father Squire Western signals her courage
and bravery—which the narrator says is becoming in a woman—she actually does
very little in the novel. As a woman and obedient daughter, Sophia must allow
herself to be acted upon, and even though she falls in love with Tom Jones
before he falls in love with her, she cannot, in all decency, say anything.
Similarly, Sophia puts up little resistance to her father's violence toward her.
Sophia
becomes the spokeswoman for male chastity at the end of the novel—ironically,
through her lecture to Jones, she provides the final obstacle to their marriage
and thus to the fulfillment of the comic plot. Through her generosity and
genuine courtesy, Sophia becomes a representative, along with Jones and
Allworthy of Fielding's vision of Virtue. She combines the best of the country
and the city, since she has manners, unlike her country father, but they are
genuine, unlike those of her courtly aunt, Mrs. Western. Similarly, Sophia
combines the merits of the novel’s two other heroes without any of their
faults—she is kind like Tom, but also remains chaste, and is generous toward
others, like Allworthy, without being blind to their faults.
5. Squire
Western:
Western like Tom is
a very energetic and lively character. He does not analyze things too much just
simply does what he feels like doing. It seems as if Western enjoys every
moment because of his friendly and jovial attitude. Western though is also a
very closed and stubborn man, once he believes in one idea there is no one who
can change his mind.
6. Thwackum
and Square:
Both these
characters teach and live in Allworthy’s estate for the economic advantages.
Their intentions are clear because they favor Blifil over Tom. Even though they
are both religious men money come before their beliefs.
Secondary Characters of Tom Jones
1. Bridget
Allworthy:
Bridget is the wife
of Captain Blifil. She is the mother of both Blifil and Jones. Throughout the
novel she cares for both her sons equally but before she dies she prefers Tom
because of good deeds and kindness he always should to her.
2. Jenny
Jones:
At the beginning of
the novel she is accused of being Jones mother and is forced to leave the town.
Later on Jones saves her from a robber. She changed her name to Mrs. Waters and
is successful in seducing Jones. At the end she marries Parson Supple a friend
of Squire Western.
3. Lady
Bellaston:
Lady Bellaston is a
single woman who lives in London and is a relative of the Westerns. She is a
very selfish and greedy person. Due to her selfishness and envy she felt towards
Tom and Sophia she ends up fighting them at the end of the novel.
4. Harriet
Fitzpatrick:
Sophia’s cousin and
wife of Mr. Fitzpatrick. Her true intentions were to get close to Sophia so she
can improve her status with the Westerns.
5. Mrs
Western:
Mrs Western is like
her brother in that she is very energetic and lively. She concentrates her
energies on gaining knowledge of the political world. She has had some
connections with life in court. She is a nagging and incurable adviser, even
when her advice is no wanted. What she wants is to be able to control a
significant amount of the Westerns estate and have some authority over Squire
Western. She does whatever is needed to reach her goal regardless of the
welfare of others.
6. Mr.
Partridge:
The schoolmaster; he
a quiet person with a demanding wife. After he is falsely accused of being
Tom's father he is asked to leave the town. Tom later in the novel meets him
except he changed his name to Little Benjamin. After they discover each other's
identity, Partridge decides to accompany Tom. Like the other characters in the
novel Partridge decides to follow Tom with the hope of being able to return to
the village and be hired by Allworthy. In some ways Partridge can resemble
Sancho Panza in Cervantes novel Don Quijote because of the way he decides to
accompany Jones in his pursuit of Sophie.
Conclusion
Fielding wrote this
novel to explain very clearly and lets the reader know what exactly was the
situation at that moment in time in England. Jones’s problems and the attitudes
of the other characters towards each other and the community can be interpreted
and represented in today’s society. Fielding offers an example of how a man can
overcome adversity and his vices to eventually become a man of prudence. For these
reasons is why Tom Jones is one of the hundred best novels in English
literature and should be read by anyone who considers themselves a student of
the literary arts.
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