Indiana University
British prose fiction
Abstract for "Of True Greatness: An Inquiry into the Rhetoric of Henry Fielding, as Illustrated in the Characterization of the Hero": "Of True Greatness": Character and Rhetoric in Tom Jones
(Selections from a Work in Progress)
This presentation is part of a larger study of Henry Fielding’s novels that emphasizes the importance of the changing concept of the hero in 18th-century fiction. The first part looks at both the traditional moral view of Fielding’s heroes and the variety of types of heroes Fielding creates. This is followed by an analysis of the uselessness of the Preface to Joseph Andrews in discussing Fielding’s heroes. The main portion of the presentation is an analysis of the rhetorical techniques Fielding uses to embody his model hero, Tom Jones. These techniques include: the voice of the narrator, abstraction and generalization, irony and contrast, character commentary, and most importantly, the creation of Jones as a compendium of literary conventions presented in systematic contrast to other literary conventions, particularly the military hero. The careful examination of these techniques in the context of the novel (and 18th-century literary fashion), demonstrates that Fielding is primarily using Tom Jones to dissect and define the nature of the hero in the rhetorical structure of the newly-emerging novel form, and that Tom Jones is the hero of a comic novel not of a rational world.
Full Text of "Of True Greatness. . ."