The relation of marriage to the novel as a genre - Essay Example

?The Relation of Marriage to the Novel as a Genre Introduction Literature is the reflection of life. Very pertinently, the literary works bear the mark of the time, age and society from which it has evolved. The 18th century novels are also not an exception in this regard. As regards to the literary genre, the novel started getting its formative and organised structure during this period and started captivating somewhere explicitly and in some cases implicitly, the myriad socio-economic conventions and troubles. Marriage as an institution has always fascinated the aesthetic world. Upon the cradle of this institution, much socio-political aspects of men and women and their conditions can be well explored and delineated. The 18th century England encountered many challenges on the great institutions of marriage and received many threats as well. These were reflected very obviously through the 18th century novels which evolved properly as a genre during the same period. A novel like “Moll Flanders” by Daniel Defoe is an exemplary creation which deals with women taking marriage as an advantage and treating the great institution as a means of business. In another novel, bearing the title, “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia” by Samuel Johnson, one gets the opportunity to come across a prince who is the representative of a conflicting idea about marriage as an institution. Pamela or Virtue Rewarded written during the same period by Samuel Richardson speaks about the status of the women regarding the areas like love, marriage, family and friends. All these novels along with the epoch–making masterpiece, “Tom Jones” by Henry Fielding together as a genre of art stand out in a cluster to explore and excavate the power and position of men and women in the society and the aftermaths of the marriages those happened without love. Thesis Statement The positions of marriage, love and family in the 18th century are very complicated. At the same plane, it executes some interesting perspective about the social demography and conventions of the period. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding is one of the novels in English literature written during the first-half of the 18th century and has much information pertaining to the marriage and its institution practiced during the time. This essay intends to delve deep into the much implicit themes of marriage as a social institution manifested at length through symbolism in the plot of the novel. The Role of Marriage in the Novel “Tom Jones” General Information about the Novel “The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling” by Henry Fielding popularly known by the name “Tom Jones”, was first published in the year 1749 on 28th February. It is a comic novel and an early prose written in English and can be described as one of the earliest novels. The book is divided into 18 fragments. Tom’s love with his neighbour Sophia Western on the one hand evolve the novel on the paradigm of Romantic Comedy and on the other hand, the conflict which aroused between Sophia’s father and Allworthy, serves as a platform for social commentary and indication of class discrimination in the contemporary society. The delineation of the issue of prostitution and other social vices like sexual promiscuity is again the indication for the open challenge to the social institution prevalent during the time. Though the inclusion of all these elements into the novel made it critically a book of “lowness” in many contemporary reviews but undoubtedly, the novel Tom Jones captivates many crucial social issues of the 18th century which have always found a serious attention of the modern critics of the novel. Marriage as an Important Facet in the Novel “Tom Jones” Throughout the novel “Tom Jones”, the readers are well hinted with the issue of marriage and sometimes as main plot, sometimes as a sub-plot and at places as interlude, the theme of marriage evolves out now and then. Very exemplary to the general thematic trend of the novels in 18th century and quite evident throughout the novel, marriage has tried to find out a strong place in Tom Jones’ life. He is a bastard and grows up to be an honest, kind-hearted lustful youth who is shown falling in love with Sophia, his neighbour. His marriage with Sophia despite of his voluptuous nature gradually becomes very important. He desires for her ardently and feels the need of marrying her. But his marriage with Sophia brings in front the first social conflict presented in the novel that can be treated as the first platform on which Fielding formulates his social commentary. Marriage in “Tom Jones” is also seen as a manifestation of class and social stature and hardly there is any value for love in the eyes of Sophia’s father. For him the class and the ancestral recognition of Jones become far more important than his love for his daughter. The delineation of the plot and the conflict pertaining to Tom’s marriage within it is very much deliberate. Fielding tried to display the poignancy of class and economy in any matrimonial alliance. All through the age, the novels of 18th century displayed marriage as a money making instrument or a platform to reach social status. Women and men both saw it as a means of upgrading themselves in the social ladder or to acquire property and money through the alliance. Tom Jones as well the tale of Harriet Fitzpatrick show the way marriage used to get manifested during the 18th century. Evidently Book XI of the novel recounts some events that happened with Mrs Fitzpatrick and narrates them to Sophia. She recounts the events that culminated into her marriage with Mr Fitzpatrick. And these events indicate the manipulations that used to take place in the 18th century English society. Fitzpatrick was courting Mrs Fitzpatrick’s aunt, Mrs Western and married Harriet when her aunt was out. Eventually Mr Fitzpatrick had to retune back to Ireland and hearing the news Mrs Fitzpatrick gets very exuberant until she is able to find out the fact from the letter of a debtor that Mr Fitzpatrick was eager to marry both aunt and the niece and tried his hand on the lady who would come into confidence faster. In this regard, the niece Harriet was an easy prey and Fitzpatrick was able to access the money easily. On telling her husband the truth, Harriet was imprisoned in her bedroom and was brutally tortured from where she could make an escape during their trip to England. This story of marriage captivated in the novel once again exhibit the way marriage was used to make money and acquire property during the 18th century. It was never a manifestation of love, and marriage without love was very commonplace event. Even the long tale of Fitzpatrick determines the status of women in the society which also stands central to the plot of the novel. Exploration of the Women Centric Nature of the Novel Tom Jones is undoubtedly a novel where the women characters play a major role. But the feminist interpretation of the play would launch the readers to a platform from where women in the play cannot be seen with a considerable constructive role. Sometimes they are projected as an instrument of seduction and sometimes as an easy way to reach the property, status and wealth. Even women are shown alluring with men with proper business motifs. The use of prostitution once again contributes to the degrading position of women in the society. But far from all these contentions, the major area of discussion lies in the fact that whether Tom Jones is a woman centric novel or by the domesticity of the genre, is it eventually culminated. Tom Jones is the protagonist of the novel and the novel is all about his trajectory. And without much hesitation, the readers can find lots of women characters coming across Tom Jones and his life with whom he makes many illicit liaisons. But the general trend of the novel during the period indicates many more occasions in other novels where the women characters of the novel are treated in the same way. Therefore, Tom Jones cannot be called a women-centric novel completely. But definitely the women characters play an important role in the novel and moving the plot of the novel forward. As Fielding tried to present a social documentary through this novel, so the roles of women characters became increasingly strong with the development of the novel and gradual progress of Jones’ life. Therefore, the myriad women characters peeping through the plot of the novel and at times getting engaged with voluptuous relationship with Tom Jones are representatives of the social conditions in which various women came from different strata of the English society. Conclusion The novel, “Tom Jones” is basically treated as comedy and a prose that was written during the initiation of the prose writing in English literature. At the outset, the novel might seem a light comedy written about a young man who is all set to live a very colourful life and finally falls in love with his neighbour. But this is not the end. The deeper implications of the novel manifested through the paradigms of symbolism and characters at places restate a steady social commentary throughout the novel. This social documentary evidently revolves round the institution of marriage in the contemporary society and love and family. The novel also indicates the position of men and women particularly in the society and the role of social status, virtue and economy associated with matrimonial alliances along with the prospect that it inculcated. After a deep delineation of all the intricate and subtle facts pertaining to the novel, it gets very evident that marriage as a curious thematic element was incorporated in the novel with a vision to delineate the social conventions that were prevailing at that time and definitely marriage as a thematic factor got captivated within most of the novels of 18th century. Henry Fielding too could not escape the pulse of the time and incorporated the conventions prevailing in the institutions of marriage as one of the major issues to deal with in his epoch-making novel, Tom Jones. Despite of many discrepancies and criticisms, Tom Jones will continue to charm its readers and would be treated as one of the finest epic prose ever written in English literature. Bibliography Fielding, Henry Tom Jones Spark Educational Publishing, 2004. Sherburn, G. "Introduction" in H. Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Modern Library, 1950. Read More