MEG-03 Block 1 Summary |  Henry Fielding: Tom Jones

  • Last Updated On August 13, 2025

Table of Contents

Here you will get the detailed summary of IGNOU MEG 3 Block 1 – Henry Fielding: Tom Jones.

We have provided the summary of all units starting from unit 1 to unit 8.

Prepare Faster

Prepare Better

CLICK HERE

Introduction

Block 1 of the IGNOU MEG-3 focuses on Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones and offers a detailed exploration of the novel through eight structured units. These units collectively examine key literary aspects such as the nature and form of fiction, initial responses to the novel, major themes, characterisation, structural and socio-cultural dimensions, feminist interpretations, critical perspectives, and narrative techniques.

The block aims to help learners engage with the novel both as a work of literary art and as a reflection of its historical and cultural context. It guides readers through the intricacies of plot construction, thematic depth, and stylistic features, while also encouraging critical thinking about broader issues like morality, social order, and gender roles as presented in the text.

By combining textual analysis with theoretical insights, this block provides a comprehensive framework for understanding Tom Jones as a novel that blends comic elements with serious moral and social concerns. It equips students to appreciate the novel’s artistic unity as well as its relevance to various literary and critical traditions.

Prepare Faster

Prepare Better

CLICK HERE

Unit 1 – Some Aspects of Fiction

This unit introduces the basic elements of fiction and their relevance to the study of the novel Tom Jones. It defines fiction as a narrative form that includes invented characters and events, and focuses on elements such as:

  • Plot: The structured series of events in a story.

  • Characterisation: How characters are created and developed.

  • Setting: Time and place of the story.

  • Point of View: Narrative voice and perspective.

  • Theme: Underlying ideas and messages.

It also distinguishes between different types of fiction—realistic, picaresque, historical—and shows how Tom Jones combines many of these features.

Unit 2 – As We First Read Tom Jones

This unit gives a reader’s first encounter with the novel, discussing the narrative style, the tone of humour, and the digressive structure of the story. It focuses on:

  • The episodic structure of the novel.

  • The picaresque tradition: adventures of a roguish but appealing hero.

  • The moral seriousness behind the comic tone.

  • Introduction of characters like Tom, Squire Allworthy, Blifil, and Sophia.

  • The blending of moral commentary with narrative entertainment.

It guides the student to approach the novel not just as a story, but as a work of art with a strong authorial presence.

Unit 3 – Important Thematic Areas in Tom Jones

This unit discusses the key themes in Tom Jones, such as:

  • Morality and virtue: The contrast between appearance and reality.

  • Hypocrisy vs honesty: Seen in characters like Blifil (hypocritical) and Tom (flawed but genuine).

  • Justice and society: Squire Allworthy as a symbol of benevolent justice.

  • Growth and education: Tom Jones as a Bildungsroman (novel of development).

  • Fortune and fate: Role of chance and coincidence in Tom’s life.

The thematic analysis reveals how Fielding combines comedy with serious moral inquiry.

Unit 4 – Characters as Characterisations

This unit analyzes major and minor characters, focusing on how they serve both thematic and narrative functions. Highlights include:

  • Tom Jones: A generous but impulsive young man whose moral development forms the core of the novel.

  • Sophia Western: Intelligent, virtuous, and Fielding’s ideal woman.

  • Squire Allworthy: Symbol of justice and goodness.

  • Blifil: Represents hypocrisy and selfishness.

  • Lady Bellaston, Partridge, Square, and Thwackum: Add satire and contrast to the central characters.

It also discusses stock characters, satire, and Fielding’s technique of using names that reflect personality (e.g., Thwackum, Square).

Prepare Faster

Prepare Better

CLICK HERE

Unit 5 – Artistic Unity or Socio-Cultural Concerns?

This unit debates whether Tom Jones is mainly a well-structured artistic creation or a commentary on 18th-century society. It explores:

  • The tightness of structure: Despite its digressions, the novel is architecturally sound.

  • Unity of plot: Events are connected and serve the purpose of Tom’s moral growth.

  • Reflection of society: Gender roles, class mobility, legal institutions.

  • Critique of social hypocrisy, particularly among the upper classes.

It concludes that Fielding successfully combines form and content—artistic unity and social critique.

Unit 6 – Feminist Concerns in Fielding

This unit explores the representation of women in Tom Jones and how the novel engages with early feminist ideas:

  • Sophia Western: Seen as a strong, intelligent woman with agency, though still constrained by patriarchal norms.

  • Lady Bellaston: Represents female desire and manipulation—offering a counterpoint to Sophia.

  • Women’s social roles: Marriage, property, and reputation are central to their lives.

  • Criticism of double standards in sexual morality.

  • Discussion of whether Fielding can be seen as sympathetic to feminist issues, despite his era’s limitations.

Unit 7 – Some Critical Opinions on Tom Jones

This unit surveys critical receptions of the novel over time:

  • Early praise for its moral seriousness and narrative energy (e.g., Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

  • Realist critics: Admired its lifelike characters and detailed observation.

  • Formalist critics: Focused on its tight plot and use of irony.

  • Modern feminist and Marxist critics: Highlight limitations in gender roles and class representation.

  • Post-structuralist readings: Emphasize the narrator’s authority and the instability of meaning.

The unit shows how the novel has remained a subject of debate, adapting to new critical perspectives.

Unit 8 – Narration in Fiction and Their World Preferences

This unit focuses on narrative technique, especially the role of the narrator in Tom Jones:

  • The narrator is intrusive, witty, moralising, and acts as a character in his own right.

  • Frequent authorial digressions allow commentary on society, literature, and human behaviour.

  • The narrator engages directly with the reader, creating intimacy and trust.

  • The use of third-person omniscient narration with direct address.

  • Contrasts with more modern, impersonal narration—this was typical of Fielding’s Augustan style.

The unit also connects Fielding’s style to the moral and philosophical concerns of his time, reflecting Enlightenment values.