Tom Jones story
Tom Jones is a 1963 British period comedy film, an adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic 1749 novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. It is directed by Tony Richardson from a screenplay written by John Osborne, and stars Albert Finney as the titular character. The cast also features Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, Edith Evans, Joyce Redman, Joan Greenwood, Diane Cilento, and David Warner in his film debut.
28 total · 3 choice · 9 major · 16 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| carefree way of life | choice | The hero of the story Tom Jones was a pantomimically happy-go-lucky character. For example, when Tom learned that he'd fooled around with his own mother, he broke the fourth wall by shrugging impishly to the camera. |
| life in early modern Europe | choice | The story jestingly explores what life might have been like for assorted individuals in 1740s England. There are no signs of late modern trappings such as industrialization. |
| love conquers all | choice | Tom and Sophia's love for one another was opposed by prevailing social norms in general and her father in particular. Nevertheless, fate conspired to make Tom an acceptable match in the end. It is implied that they tied the knot. |
| brother and brother | major | Tom's adoptive brother Blifil schemed to discredit Tom in the eyes of their father. |
| disapproving parent | major | Squire Western would have nothing to do with his daughter Sophie marrying Tom. He locked her up in her bedroom and found for her a more suitable groom. |
| father and daughter | major | Squire Western would have nothing to do with his daughter Sophie marrying Tom. He locked her up in her bedroom and found for her a more suitable groom. |
| prejudice against someone of a different social class | major | Among the many class prejudices that were featured, the ones that concern Tom's marriage prospects stood out. As a foundling of supposed lowly origins, Tom was impossible for Squire Western to consider as a son-in-law and the squire was outraged when he found his daughter Sophia was in love with Tom. By contrast, when it was revealed that Tom was, in fact, the nephew of Squire Allworhty and his presumed heir, Squire Western completely changed his tune. Likewise Molly was seen as an impossible match for Tom due to her impoverished origins. |
| romantic infidelity | major | Tom slept with an array of women despite remaining devoted to Sophie. A point made by the narrator was that philandering just made men more attractive to women. |
| social inequality | major | The story jestingly explores the varying fortunes between different social classes in 18th century Britain. The women Tom slept with exemplified this (e.g., the impoverished Molly, the land owner's daughter Sophie, and the aristocratic Lady Bellaston). |
| stepfather and stepson | major | Squire Allworthy had raised Tom, whom everyone thought was an illegitimate baby conceived out of lust, as his own son. He loved Tom and did everything he could to help him within the limits of what society would permit. |