Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Book IV initiates the love affair between Tom and Sophia. Fielding undercuts the romantic notion of love, however, with the manner in which he describes Sophia, and with the introduction of Molly Seagrim. After rallying his poetic powers in Chapter I for a theatrical presentation of his heroine, the narrator remains elusive in his description of Sophia in Chapter II. It may seem strange that a writer as concerned with detail as Fielding would avoid providing a full picture of his heroine, but his awareness of literary stereotypes of beauty encourage him to treat the topic of beauty with some irony and humor. Reminding the reader of the effort it takes to create a Sophia, the narrator promises to "endeavour with our utmost Skill to describe this Paragon, though we are sensible that our highest Abilities are very inadequate to the Task." Fielding's false modesty parodies previous writing in which heroines are described as walking perfections. Fielding's vision of the "novel" begins to truly emerge in Book IV. Fielding's narrative certainly takes precedence over florid descriptions and, as mentioned above, he even parodies classical writers' passion for extravagant language. Fielding's writing is pithy and pointed, and he packs each scene with narrative detail. He substitutes flowery, poetic language with a hardened, ironic sort of fictional reporting, and his main interest is to distinguish his characters from one another. Fielding also alludes, however, to people whom he actually knew in England at the time he was writing the novel, thereby grounding the novel in a real historical context. Fielding constantly uses hyperbole to achieve a comic effect. For example, in mock pomp he summons a muse in Chapter VIII to help describe the fight that breaks out between Molly and the parish women at church. With the muse's help, Fielding casts the scene as a widespread war, sprinkling the description with military jargon. The humor of the scene comes from the contrast between Fielding's overflowing, grandiose prose and the grotesque image of two topless women fighting in front of their church.