Humour and Irony in Tom Jones

Paper Name:-Neo classical Age 

Name:-Joshi Deepti M

Semester:-1         Roll no:-8

Topic:-Humour and Irony in Tom Jones

Date:-01/10/2012

Submitted to:-Heenaba zala

                        Department of English,

                        Bhavnagar University

 Humour and Irony in Tom Jones

Introduction:

                        Tom Jones, Fielding’s masterpiece and, in all probability, the greatest novel of the eighteenth century, was written between 1746 and 1749. S.DIANA NEIL describes it as,

  ‘A great novel in itself and a microcosm Of the next hundred years in prose fiction’

Tom Jones is a comic epic and the essence of comedy lies in humour and also by the use of irony in humors way. R.P.C MUTTER describes Fielding’s humour as,

 ‘A broad, sane, extroverted humourNever malicious and never petty’

In Fielding, humour may be of three varieties,

1. Farcical Humour

2. Ironical Humour

3. Satirical Humour

1. Farcical Humour:

                               Fielding appears to have matured and mellowed while writing Tom Jones. There is much less of buffoonery and horseplay, but it is not totally absent. For example, unsophisticated comments made by partridge on Garria’s performance of Hamlet in London and another one is his most comic interruption of the story narrated by the man of Hill.

        The episodes employing farcical humor offer fine examples of ‘Writing upon low subjects without writing in a low manner’. Byron observes,

                                

 ‘It does not depend upon low themes or Even low language, for  Fielding revels In both; but is he ever vulgar? No. yo See Man of education, the scholar’

2. Ironical Humor:

                               A light and gentle irony is diffused throughout the novel. There is the scene of Molly in which she is crying, streaming down her cheeks and her voice choked makes loud protestation of her love and swears that she can never live without Tom, when suddenly the rug curtain falls to disclose, in a posture, the philosopher square, the professed champion of ‘The unalterable rule of right and the eternal fitness of things’ it is an ironical comment on Molly and on square.

                                     Even ‘Bridget’ who appears ‘inconsolable’ after the death of her husband with whom she has not shared even a single happy moment. Than also Blifil urges to Squire Allworthy that not to be soft towards a bustard child, while he himself carrying on a illicit affair with Bridget .So there are hardly any chapter in Tom Jones that do not provide example of this humour, Irony over flown even into the chapter dealing with the death of captain Blifil is given the title:”A receipt to regain the affection of a wife”

Satirical Humor:

                            Fielding does not indulge much in satirical humour. But whatever satire is employed by him is very different in tone from the stem and scathing satire of Swift. And Fielding makes his satirical humour against groups and classes, person and doctors, beaus and booby, wailing maids and fine ladies, methodolist and jecobites.Secondly he produces satirical humor at the cost of the manners and morals of the contemporary society in general and even humanity at large.

Humour in Situation and Parody:

                                                        Fielding has produced humor even through situation also like through ludicrous misunderstanding as when Sophia and Square (her aunt) discuss a person would be acceptable to them as Sophia’s lover, each mistakenly imagining that they are speaking of the same person or through deliberate pretence as when Tom, Sophia pretend that they are totally unacquainted with one another. If we talk about Parody, than at Upton Inn, Tom is subjected to and Lady Ballston accidently come at the lady’s residence and a mock trail and Fielding gives a nonsensical but delightful parody of the technical jargon of lawyers.

Humour through character:

                                          There is the humour of character presented through characters like Squire Western and Partridge. Western is a complex figure of comic violence; Partridge is a mild version of Sancho Panza.Square is discovered in Molly’s room when she is vociferously articulating her love for Tom. Then once she makes a dramatic appearance just when Lord Fellamar is about to rape Sophia.

                                              There is the humour of character presented through characters like Squire Western and Partridge. Western is a complex figure of comic violence; Partridge is a mild version of Sancho Panza.Square is discovered in Molly’s room when she is vociferously articulating her love for Tom. Then once she makes a dramatic appearance just when Lord Fellamar is about to rape Sophia.

*Irony in ‘Tom Jones’:-

                                          The most outstanding aspects of fielding’s style is the recurrence of finely balanced passage of irony. These passages appear. Generally speaking in two different forms. One form is actually juxtaposition of two passages in which a character first utter grand word about a noble philosophical idea and then fielding reveals the hypocrisy of the character by showing him acting in direct opposite to his so-called philosophy. He does this to Blifil thorough the novel; Blifil is by far the most thoroughly evil and hypocritical character. A variation upon this motif occurs when a character, again in stentorian tones utterly condemns a particular vice and than immediately commits this vice.

                         The other kind of irony in Tom Jones is more difficult to describe. It occurs when the narrator is speaking directly to the reader and irony and humor depend upon a certain progression which begins with seeming praise or at least neytrality,but through the description of one element in a character, the whole passage becomes direct, unmitigated condemnation because it reveals the lack of a more essential element in that character, he used this in Mrs.weatern’s character, first Fielding speaks about  her knowledge, her different types or reading and etc.but at the end of passage he sum-up like-

 “To sum-up the whole, no species of disguise “Or affection had escaped her notice; but as  To plain simple working of honest nature, as  She had never seen any such, she could know          Butlittle of them”

Here, Fielding, by giving more and more evidence of the Lady’s store of knowledge builds his praise to a climax. Then, with concluding sentence had destroyed the framework upon which the praise is built by implying that this knowledge of disguise and affection is totally useless because Mrs. Western has not “Plain simple working of honest nature”. And the force of the criticism of Mrs. Western is particularly strong because”Manners.custums, ceremonies. Fashion “are juxtaposed with “plain simple honest nature”     

                                                 Further, as is quite often the case with the Fielding, there is a double irony working here. Besides her concern with the intricacies of love, Mrs. Western is attempting to counsel both her brother and her niece on a subject of which she has no experience, or at least no success.

Other irony:-

                       There is also the irony in the treatment of Dr.blifil by his brother captain Blifil after he was married to Bridget.Fialding prefaced that event aptly as follows:

  One of the maxims which the devil, In a late visit upon the earth, left toTo his disciples is when once you are  Got up, to kickthe stool from under You. In plain English, when you have   Made your fortune by the good officesOf a friend, you are advised to discard Him as soon as you can”

There is irony also in the circumstances of captain Blifil’s death,

                   
“Just at the very instant when his heaWas exulting in meditation on tHappiness which would accrue to himBy Allworthy’s death, he himselfDied of apoplexy”

Another instance is in the conduct of physicians called to examine the dead captain Blifil. They began to debate about the cause of his death. In the meantime Mrs.Blifil had fallen in a fit and then recovered from physician. But they “Fell to prescribing with great diligence”. She continued a whole month with all the decoration of sickness, and received constant message from her acquaintance to enquire after her health.

            There is irony in the talk between the landlady and her maid. At the Upton who had seen Tom jump out the bed of Mrs.Woters and than seen Fitzpatrick and his Irish acquaintance occupying the believe the first story saying-

   “What better proof any lady can give of Her virtue than her          crying out……..”

This refusal to believe arose because Tom Jones had ordered a better supper and found no fault with her perry.But she was outraged at the second report of the mind and exclaimed,

 “Two gentlemen in the same bed!That is impossible. They are twoErrant scrubs……”

   And the reasons:-

  “He would never have sneaked away to Another room to save expense of aSupper and a bed to himself. They ar  Certainly thieves, and a their searchingAfter a wife is nothing but pretence

         There is irony also in Mr. Westerns giving up the pursuit of Sophia and joining the chos.Fielding tells the story of Grimalkin here whom Venus had converted from a cat into the fine woman. No sooner she saw a mouse than she leapt out of the bed of her husband to pursue the little animal.

But the most telling irony is the irony of the fate of Blifil. He had tried every deceit to get rid estate of Allworthy and Western. But he losses them both and Sophia too.

                                              So Ton Jones is full of irony and humour even irony is also there in humour.

                     In nutshell there is hardly any chapter which does not produce irony and humour. We can say about his humour that Fielding’s humour in Tom Jones is distinguished in four qualities. First, it is exuberant, secondly, his humour is highly spontaneous.thirdly,it is tolerant and fourthly, it is exercised on realities. Even he says about Tom Jones:- 
“I have employed all the wit and humo Of which I am master in the followin  History; wherein I have endeav  Laugh mankind out of their favor Follies and vices.”