Henry Fielding, página 2 de 6

A vivid, romantic comedy, Tom Jones is also a clever social satire. This well-loved classic has recently been made into a wonderfully warm and funny television serial.

Classic / British English (Available May 2008) When Mr Allworthy finds a baby boy in his bed, he decides to keep him and gives him the name Tom Jones. But Tom can't keep out of trouble, and is sent away. Follow Tom's travels and read of his adventures along the roads of eighteenth-century England.

'Kissing, Joseph, is but a prologue to a Play. Can I believe a young fellow of your Age and Complexion will be content with Kissing?'Henry Fielding's riotous tale of innocents in a corrupt world was one of the earliest English novels, blending bawdy slapstick, philosophical musing and pointed social satire to create a work of moral complexity and generous, life-affirming humanity. Published in 1742, it tells the story of the chaste servant Joseph Andrews who, after being sacked for spurning the advances of the lascivious Lady Booby, takes to the road, accompanied by his beloved Fanny Goodwill and the absent-minded, much put-upon Parson Adams. There they encounter robbers, tricksters, seducers, mishaps and strange twists of fortune, in a series of adventures filled with exuberant comedy.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Tom, a foundling, is discovered one evening by the benevolent Squire Allworthy and his sister Bridget and brought up as a son in their household; when his sexual escapades and general misbehavior lead them to banish him, he sets out in search of both his fortune and his true identity. Amorous, high-spirited, and filled with what Fielding called the glorious lust of doing good, but with a tendency toward dissolution, Tom Jones is one of the first characters in English fiction whose human virtues and vices are realistically depicted. This edition is set from the text of the Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding.

When Lady Booby s ever virtuous servant Joseph rejects her determined advances, she dismisses him. He then embarks on a search for his beloved, the pristine Fanny Goodwill. He is accompanied by his friend and guide, the hapless Parson Adams, and after Joseph reunites with Fanny, the three embark on a series of adventures. But they soon find that their dearly held scruples come into conflict with the various people thieves, lovers, judges, self-professed Christians they meet on the way. Written in avowed imitation of the great picaresque novel Don Quixote, Joseph Andrews uses clever characterization to pit the wholesomeness of life in the country against the hypocrisy of the city. Quick-witted and thoroughly entertaining, this novel both volumes of which are included in this edition is regarded as one of the earliest masterpieces of the genre.

The eponymous hero is first introduced as a baby, discovered in the astonished Mr Allworthy's bed. A charitable gentleman, he adopts Tom, feeling an instant affection for the boy whom the rest of his family condemn as 'born to be hanged'. This panoramic comic novel relates Tom's picaresque adventures, the coincidences and frustrations encountered along the way, and his devotion to the beautiful, apparently unattainable heroine, Sophia Western. Fielding's sharp, sardonic touch has made Tom Jones a much-loved classic.

"Siempre he creído en el amor como el único fundamento de la felicidad en el matrimonio, y mi opiniónes que todos los matrimonios que obedecen a otros motivos son un auténtico crimen."De esta manera condena Fielding la mayoria de enlaces de su epoca, cuando lo mas comun era casarse para obtener beneficios economicos o una mas alta posicion social. En todas sus novelas trata Fielding el tema de la virtud y la constancia en el amor, pero la peculiaridad de"Amelia"en relacion a las anteriores ("Tom Jones"y"Joseph Andrews") es que aqui ya no se aborda el problema de la tentacion del soltero enamorado sino el de las tentaciones a las que se ven sometidas dos personas que, por amor, han contraido matrimonio.Henry Fielding, junto a su contemporaneo Samuel Richardson, establecio la novela como genero dentro de la litetura britanica."Amelia", escrito en 1751, ultimo de los trabajos narrativos de Fielding, se adelanta a lo que sera la gran novela inglesa del siglo XIX.

Cuando Henry Fielding publica «Jonathan Wild» en 1743, el autor era ya uno de los hombres de letras más reconocidos, admirados, odiados y polémicos de su tiempo, a pesar de que su carrera como noveli

Joseph Andrews es un libro que ha de leerse como quien escucha m#sica y al escucharla busca no tanto dejarse arrastrar por la armon#a de los sonidos como percibir con la mente el dise#o total que da forma a la composici#n. Esta novela refleja la vida, introduce la Inglaterra del siglo XVIII y nos descubre el mundo creado por Fielding. De la f#rmula poema #pico-c#mico en prosa que Fielding (1707-1754) elige para encuadrar Joseph Andrews dentro de la tradici#n literaria cl#sica, el elemento m#s significativo es sin duda el adjetivo c#mico. A partir de la figura de Don Quijote y con la creaci#n del vicario Adams, Fielding consigue mantener el afecto de los lectores hacia el personaje, a pesar de su absurdo comportamiento, gracias a las virtudes que lo adornan. El autor no hace el menor esfuerzo por pasar inadvertido: no nos ofrece el placer de la simulaci#n de la realidad, sino el espect#culo del arte y de la inteligencia es fruct#fera conjunci#n. Quiz# lo m#s destacable de Joseph Andrews sea la presencia de ese narrador que se muestra alternativamente ir#nico y moralista, que jam#s se identifica plenamente con ninguno de los puntos de vista que expone y que se obstina en su independencia sin concedernos otra segurid

In the PENGUIN CLASSICS series, a single volume containing two novels written by Henry Fielding. It includes SHAMELA, written in 1741, in which the heroine sets out to catch a rich husband and JOSEPH ANDREWS, written in 1742, in which the eponymous hero loves one woman but is pursued instead by the Lady to whom he is servant.