The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Tom receives a letter from Blifil saying that Allworthy wishes him to leave the area. Tom decides to travel to the seaside town of Bristol.

Mrs. Western lectures Sophia on the prudence of marrying a man who is well-off. Sophia, in tears, responds that she will never marry Blifil. Her father shouts that she shall, and he and his sister fall to arguing again.

The narrator paints a picture of the Squire’s marriage, in which he was rude, inattentive, and came to hate his wife. He mentions the Squire’s allegiance to “the king over the water,” James II, rather than George, the Hanoverian king. The narrator emphasizes again that the Squire is devoted to and adores his daughter.

Sophia retires to her room to brood over her muff and Tom’s letter. Mrs. Honour tries to convince Sophia that she could have any husband she wants, but Sophia is not consoled.

Sophia, though reluctant, agrees to receive Blifil when he visits. Blifil pursues the match because he wants the Western estate and wants to get revenge on Tom. Blifil assures Allworthy and the Squire that Sophia does indeed love him but is only being modest by professing that she doesn’t. The marriage is arranged.

Mrs. Honour informs Sophia that her marriage to Blifil is set for the following morning. Sophia decides to run away. She knows a woman in London, one she met while staying with her aunt in Bath, whom she believes will take her in. She promises to reward Mrs. Honour for going with her.

Mrs. Honour debates telling the Squire about Sophia’s plans until she quarrels with Mrs. Western’s lady’s maid. The maid tells Mrs. Western that Mrs. Honour insulted her.

Mrs. Western tries to get the Squire to send Mrs. Honour to the bridewell (jail) but the Squire is reminded, in his capacity as an arbiter of justice, that Mrs. Honour has not actually broken the law or disturbed the peace. Mrs. Honour is dismissed from service. Sophia briefly considers accepting Blifil to please her father but is reminded of her affection for Tom.

The guide that Tom hires to take him to Bristol does not know the way. Another man, a Quaker, shows Tom the way to a public house, where he takes a room for the night. The Quaker tells Tom that his daughter ran away just that week and married without his consent. He had locked her up, meaning her to marry a man of his choice, but she broke free and married a man he disapproved of. He vows he will do nothing to support the new couple. When the landlord learns from the guide that Tom is a “bastard” who has been turned out of the house, he refuses to give Tom a room. Tom decides to sleep in a chair.

A group of soldiers enters the inn and orders several rounds of drinks. They are marching to meet a band of Jacobite rebels. Tom offers to pay for their drinks and offers to go with them as a volunteer. They spend the next day marching and find another inn that evening.

Tom joins the officers for dinner but quarrels with an ensign named Northerton, who is uneducated and misinterprets Tom’s Latin phrases. Tom proposes a toast to Sophia, and Northerton claims that Sophia had affairs with several men while she lived in Bath. The two men fight, and Northerton breaks a bottle over Tom’s head, knocking him unconscious. Northerton is taken away under guard, and a surgeon is called to tend to Tom.

The pompous surgeon makes out Tom’s injury to be worse than it is. A lieutenant speaks with Tom and agrees that, as a matter of honor, Tom should challenge Northerton to a duel.

Tom obtains a sword and sneaks to the guardhouse where Northerton is held. The sentinel thinks he is seeing a ghost and faints from fright. Tom discovers that Northerton has run away. The sentinel, when asked why his prisoner is gone, says that a demon carried him off.

The narrator reveals that the landlady helped Northerton escape. Tom tells the lieutenant not to punish the sentinel and reveals his role as the ghost.

The narrator states that unlike with ancient literature, the only supernaturally themed literary devices available to modern writers are ghosts, which should be used sparingly, as the historian must confine himself to recording true events. The narrator observes that authors of comedy very often have heroes who are “notorious Rogues, and their Heroines abandoned Jades” (307) through the first four acts, then suddenly transform into worthy gentlemen and “Women of Virtue and Discretion” (307) in Act Five.

The landlady, a busybody, pretends to Tom that Sophia has stayed in her house, claiming that she heard Sophia speak of Tom. When Tom mentions he is base-born and was turned out of the house by Allworthy, the landlady turns cold and abruptly leaves.

The surgeon insists that Tom needs more tending for his head wound, but when he learns from the landlady that Tom is not a gentleman, he refuses to treat him any further.

Tom summons a barber to shave him and is entertained by the man’s many Latin references. The barber overhears the landlady describing Tom’s relationship with Allworthy, which she has greatly embellished.

The barber dines with Tom and questions Tom about his history.

The next day, Tom calls the barber to dress his wound. The barber is none other than Partridge, whom Allworthy dismissed from the post of schoolteacher on the assumption that Partridge fathered Tom. Now, Partridge affirms that he is not actually Tom’s father.

Partridge offers to accompany Tom in volunteering with the army. Partridge believes that Tom is Allworthy’s son. Partridge plans to regain Allworthy’s good graces and patronage by helping Tom and Allworthy to reconcile. Tom and Partridge pack and depart. The landlady presents them with a greatly inflated bill.

Tom and Partridge arrive at the Sign of the Bell in Gloucester, an inn which the narrator praises, commending its landlady. Tom joins the landlady for dinner, along with an attorney, Mr. Dowling (the same man who brought news of Bridget’s death to her son, Blifil). There is another lawyer whom the narrator calls a petty-fogger—a contemptuous term for a lawyer who makes a great fuss over minor cases. After Tom leaves, this person tells greatly embellished stories of him to the landlady, maligning his character. She therefore treats Tom coldly, and Tom leaves the inn with Partridge.

Tom and Partridge walk by moonlight to the next town. Tom complains of the pangs of love, while Partridge wishes to turn back and find an inn. Partridge is a Jacobite—a supporter of Prince Charles—and believes that Tom wishes to join those rebelling against King George. Partridge continues to hope that he will benefit if he manages to reconcile Tom and Mr. Allworthy.

The travelers come upon a house in the middle of the night and knock on the door. The woman within doesn’t want to admit them, but Tom offers to pay her. Partridge, who is highly superstitious, thinks the woman looks like a witch. She is the housekeeper for the Man of the Hill, who is out for a walk. As he returns, they hear him being attacked by robbers. Tom takes a sword off the wall and rescues the Man of the Hill. The Man has lived alone for many years with only his housekeeper and, when asked, agrees to tell his life story.

The Man of the Hill was born in Somersetshire, the younger son of a gentleman farmer. He attended Exeter College in Oxford, where he fell in with a young man named Sir George Gresham, who lived well beyond his means. In trying to keep up with Sir George, the Man of the Hill fell into debt, and his father refused to help him. The Man stole money from his roommate and ran away to London. The woman he ran away with turned him in, and the Man on the Hill was sent to jail in Oxford. At this point, Partridge interjects with a story of his own about a man from his parish who was said to have been attacked by and fought with a ghost.

The Man on the Hill explains that when no charges were brought against him, he went back to London. There he fell in with a school acquaintance, Watson, who got him involved in gambling. He fell deeply into debt. Partridge continues to interject with talk of devils and spirits.

The Man on the Hill continues his story, stating that one night, he rescued a man being attacked by a mob. The man turned out to be his father. The Man on the Hill lived quietly at home for several years, immersed in study. When he went to Bath to take the waters, he rescued a man who threw himself into the river. The man turned out to be his friend Watson, who was in despair over his gambling debts.

The Man on the Hill continues his story, saying that he gave Watson money to pay his debts, then observed that Watson continued to gamble just as before. The Man on the Hill became involved in the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion, in which the illegitimate son of Charles II tried to unseat James II and was captured and killed. When the Man on the Hill and Watson were both captured, Watson gave false evidence against the Man of the Hill. After finally being set free, the Man on the Hill withdrew from human society and resolved to live alone, surviving on a small annuity he received in turn for signing over his inheritance to his brother.

The Man on the Hill now describes his travels in Europe. Tom speculates that he must have met a great variety of people, but the Man replies that people are all the same. Tom asks if the man is ever lonely, and he says he spends his days contemplating God’s creation. Tom thinks that the Man has judged all men by the worst of them and asserts that no one is completely bad.

The narrator wishes to distinguish his “historic Kind of Writing” from “foolish Novels, and monstrous Romances” (370). While he has not drawn his material from records, the narrator admits, he has endeavored to capture nature. He gives a list of qualifications that historians ought to have: genius, learning, knowledge gained by conversation, and a heart capable of feeling. He is concerned that some of his readers might be laughing at him.

At dawn, the men climb a hill and enjoy the view. Tom hears the scream of a woman and runs to her rescue. He sees Ensign Northerton attempting to strangle a woman. Northerton runs away, and Jones escorts the woman to Upton. She is older than he, and not beautiful, but her Tom were torn in trying to defend herself, and he is struck by the glimpse of her breasts.

They arrive at an inn in Upton. The landlady is suspicious of the lady’s ragged clothing and warns that she runs a reputable inn. When Tom asks her to furnish the lady with clothing, the landlady attacks him with a broom. The landlord joins in the attack. Partridge intervenes to stop the landlady, who turns on him, and then the maid, Susan, joins in what the narrator calls the Battle of Upton. He describes the fracas in epic terms, comparing Susan to an Amazon. The landlord and lady cease when a coach arrives and a young woman and her maid seek lodging.

A serjeant (a highly ranked English barrister) enters and recognizes the lady that Tom rescued as the wife of Captain Waters. The landlady begs Mrs. Waters’s pardon. The landlord apologizes to Tom, and they all sit down to drink together.

Even heroes need to eat, the narrator says, and so Tom joins Mrs. Waters in her room to have dinner with her. Tom is very handsome, and Mrs. Waters finds his company agreeable. The narrator, again in epic terms, describes her as using feminine artillery to attract Tom’s interest.

The others converse around the kitchen fire. The serjeant informs the party that Mrs. Waters is the common-law wife of the captain and was not married in a church or civic ceremony. Partridge brags that Tom is the heir of Mr. Allworthy. The serjeant quarrels with Partridge, not understanding his extensive quotations in Latin. The young lady who arrived earlier wishes to proceed with her journey but is detained because her coachman has been injured in fighting the serjeant.

The narrator turns to the history of Mrs. Waters. She lived with Captain Waters as his wife, then began an affair with Northerton. She made plans to meet him, but after he escaped from jail, Northerton resolved to flee to Wales and decided to rob Mrs. Waters of her money. This is the moment in which Tom intervened. The narrator notes that Northerton’s behavior should not be taken to reflect on all men of the army, and he declines to judge Mrs. Water’s behavior at all.