Marriage Issues in Tom Jones Essay example -- Tom Jones Essays

Marriage Issues in Tom Jones Throughout Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, there are many examples of marriage. There is Squire Westerns marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatricks marriage, the mentions of Allworthys wife, the marriage of Nightengale and Nancy, and the marriage of Nightengales cousin and the clergyman, and finally the marriage of Tom and Sophia. Some of these marriages end with a happy ending and some do not and we, the reader, are supposed to look at these marriages and see why they went wrong or why they are good. Through all these examples of marriage, Fielding is urging us to question the current institution of marriage and what it is based on. Fortune is a big issue in the guard, especially when marriage is involved. Squire Westerns wifes father marital her off to the Squire against her will because of his fortune, and she became more of his servant than his wife. He treated her badly and they ended up hating apiece other. Mr. Fitzpatrick also married his w ife for her money, which is made evident by the letter sent to Mr. Fitzpatrick by Sam Cosgrave concerning Mr. Fitzpatricks debt and Mrs. Fitzpatricks ready money (379). Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mrs. Fitzpatrick grew to resent each other, he treated her horribly, and he spent all of her money. Using these examples, Fielding challenges the reader to question if money should be the foundation of marriage. Squire Westerns marriage is prearranged by the Squire and Mrs. Westerns father (just as he would like to do for Sophia). It was a tradition in this time for marriages to be prearranged by the parents according to fortune, title, etc. Women had no voice in whom they were to marry and the marriage became more of a t... ... Injustice and Oppression...(575) and he likewise says in the book that no one should be married to each other except on the basis of love. Fielding is trying to get the point across to the readers that marriage should be based on love, not fortune, estate, o r prearrangement. In this book fielding gives the reader examples of how a marriage can be if it is prearranged with fortune in mind or how it can be when it is based on love. He challenges the reader to question the current institution of marriage and all its faults. He, then, suggests a happy alternative through love. In this book fielding is challenging his readers to think about the world around them and about issues such as injustice in marriage and oppression of women through marriage. drop dead Cited Fielding, Henry. The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. London Penguin, 1966.