Henry Fielding – Tom Jones

CATHY NIJMAN
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?
HENRY FIELDING’S TOM JONES AND THE LAW

LLB (Hons) Research Paper Laws 524 – Lawyers as Writers Faculty of Law

Victoria University of Wellington


2007

“[It] is a more useful capacity to be able to foretel the actions of men … from their characters, than to judge their characters from their actions.”

– Henry Fielding Tom Jones, Book 3, chapter 1.

“[H]e had not divested himself of humanity by being an attorney. Indeed, nothing is more unjust than to carry our prejudices against a profession into private life, and to borrow our idea of a man from our opinion of his calling.”

– Henry Fielding Tom Jones, Book 12, chapter 10.





TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i

1. 
   INTRODUCTION 1
   
2. 
   FIELDING – A BIOGRAPHY 3
   
   1. 
      Family History and Early Life 3
      
   2. 
      Personal Life 4
      
   3. 
      Playwright, Student, Journalist, Novelist 5
      
      1. 
         Playwright and Student 5
         
      2. 
         Journalist and Novelist 6
         
   4. 
      Barrister 6
      

F Magistrate 7

3. 
   TOM JONES – IN CONTEXT 8
   

1. 
   The Plot 8
   
2. 
   Contemporary Criticism 11
   

4. 
   LAW AND THE LANGUAGE IN TOM JONES 13
   

1. 
   Justice, Mercy, and Judgment 13
   
2. 
   Trial by Analogy 15
   
3. 
   Law and Metaphor 19
   
   1. 
      Squire Western: Game laws and parental authority (hare today, gone tomorrow …) 20
      
      1. 
         Trespass and other felonies 23
         
         1. 
            Breach of the peace, and assault and battery 23
            
         2. 
            False imprisonment 24
            
         3. 
            Forced marriage 24
            
   2. 
      Squire Allworthy 25
      
      1. 
         Charges? What charges? 26
         
      2. 
         Evidence? What evidence? 26
         
4. 
   The Reader as Judge 28
   

5. 
   LAW OF EVIDENCE 30
   

1. 
   Circumstantial Evidence 31
   

1 (Mis)leading evidence / (mis)leading conclusion 33

2. 
   “Character” Evidence 34
   
3. 
   Lies, Damned Lies 36
   

1 Witness credibility 37

4. 
   Squire Allworthy 39
   

6. 
   MR DOWLING, ATTORNEY 41
   

1. 
   Barristers, Attorneys, and Petty-foggers 42
   
2. 
   Tom’s First Meeting with Dowling 43
   
3. 
   On the Road to Coventry 44
   
4. 
   Dowling, Blifil, and Allworthy 45
   

7. 
   THE TRIFLING INCIDENT OF LITTLE TOMMY 47
   

1. 
   Character Evidence 48
   
   1. 
      Tom Jones 49
      
   2. 
      Master Blifil 49
      
   3. 
      Thwackum, Square and Allworthy 50
      
2. 
   Deed and Doer 52
   
3. 
   Blifil – Guilty or Not Guilty? 53
   
4. 
   Closing Submissions: The Legal Case that is Tom Jones 54
   

8. 
   CONCLUSION 56
   

BIBLIOGRAPHY 59

i

ABSTRACT

Henry Fielding was a playwright and author before turning to a career in the law at age 30. By the time of Tom Jones’ publication in 1749, Fielding had been deeply involved in the law for 12 years. This paper focuses on the extent to which Fielding’s legal training and his professional experience as a barrister and magistrate are reflected in his portrayal of the law in Tom Jones. The analysis focuses on Fielding’s presentation of the story to the reader, and the way in which he invites the reader to judge events and characters as judges or jurors do in a legal case. The paper identifies the language Fielding uses to establish law as a central theme. Particular attention is paid to how the language reinforces the judicial character of the many “trials” within Tom Jones. The dominant themes of justice, mercy, and judgment are linked to the discussion of the main characters and their actions, and parallels with Fielding’s actions as a magistrate and his extra- judicial writings are drawn. Fielding’s use of the game laws as a metaphor for Squire Western’s views on the relationship between Tom and Sophia informs the discussion of Western’s character; and introduces the contrast between his character and that of Squire Allworthy. Fielding’s use of circumstantial and character evidence is liked to contemporary laws of evidence, and contemporary views of lawyers and the law. The analysis of the character of lawyer Dowling reinforces the importance of considering all available evidence, in context. The discussion of the trifling incident of little Tommy establishes the link between the earlier parts of the paper, this incident, the structure of the novel, and the structure and presentation of a legal case. The paper concludes that there is a direct link between Fielding’s parallel careers as a lawyer and writer, the content and structure of Tom Jones as a legal case, and the reader’s active role as judge (or juror).
Word Length: The text of this paper (excluding abstract, table of contents, footnotes, and bibliography) comprises 18,450 words.
Key Words:
Lawyers as writers
Henry Fielding 1707–1754
Tom Jones
Law – Great Britain – History – 18^th century Authors – English – 18^th century

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