Marriage Issues in Tom Jones
Throughout Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, there are many examples of marriage. There is Squire Western's marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick's marriage, the mentions of Allworthy's wife, the marriage of Nightengale and Nancy, and the marriage of Nightengale's 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 book, especially when marriage is involved. Squire Western's wife's father married 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 each other. Mr. Fitzpatrick also married his wife for her money, which is made evident by the letter sent to Mr. Fitzpatrick by Sam Cosgrave concerning Mr. Fitzpatrick's debt and Mrs. Fitzpatrick's "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 Western's marriage is prearranged by the Squire and Mrs. Western's 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...
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... 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, or 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 it's 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.
Work Cited:
Fielding, Henry. The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. London: Penguin, 1966.
The angry tone of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Women” significantly contrasts with the cautionary tone of Austen’s “On Making an Agreeable Marriage,” seeking to reform society rather than guide people to live in that society. When Austen describes the drawbacks of loveless marriage, she writes that “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection” (Austen 72-73). Austen uses “preferred” and “endured” to warn her niece against marrying too quickly, creating a cautionary tone. Moreover, “anything” emphasizes the miserableness of a marriage without affection, beseeching Austen’s niece to verify her love before diving headfirst into a marriage. In contrast, when demonizing the education system, Wollstonecraft
He continues this argument by examining America's past, one that is very much violent. He states that, " violence i...
Human beings are not isolated individuals. We do not wander through a landscape of trees and dunes alone, reveling in our own thoughts. Rather, we need relationships with other human beings to give us a sense of support and guidance. We are social beings, who need talk and company almost as much as we need food and sleep. We need others so much, that we have developed a custom that will insure company: marriage. Marriage assures each of us of company and association, even if it is not always positive and helpful. Unfortunately, the great majority of marriages are not paragons of support. Instead, they hold danger and barbs for both members. Only the best marriages improve both partners. So when we look at all three of Janie’s marriages, only her marriage to Teacake shows the support, guidance, and love.
What do Drew Carey, Gene Hackman, and Lee Harvey Oswald all have in common? They are all, The Few. The Proud. The Marines. Like these young men, many people after high school join one of the many branches of the military. From the U.S. Bureau of Labor, nine out of ten high school graduates go into the military. However with the Marine Corps being the smallest of the branches, only one-fifth of them become Marines. In 2006, according to the Recruit Depot Parris Island for Marines, 99.9% of the students there were high school graduates. Of the 4,420 recruits in 2006, the average age for a Marine was 19.6. Since the branches were formed, the Marine Corps has developed into a military branch that is greatly respected for its achievements and responsibilities.
The first chapter begins with an exploration of love and marriage in many ancient and current cultures. Surprisingly many cultures either avoid the discussion of love in marriage or spit on the idea completely. China and other societies believed that love was simply a product of marriage and shouldn’t get too out of hand, while a few Greek and Roman philosophers shunned excessive
Expressions of Cambodia: The Politics of Tradition, Identity, and Change. By Leakthina Chan-Pech Ollier and Tim Winter. London: Routledge, 2006. 86-100. Print.
There were a few core groups responsible for the prohibition movement in the United States. The first movement that comes to mind is the temperance movement, which had been evolving for many decades before the years leading up to prohibition. “American women spearheaded what briefly turned into a nationwide movement, discovering their formidable power for the first time” (Behr, 53). In the early twentieth century, women were just starting to become a serious part of public policy. Suffrage for women was granted after the passing of the eighteenth amendment, but the Teetotalism (complete abstinence from alcohol) platform they adopted was a serious selling point for their movement, and was something that attracted women nationwide to their ideals. The earliest and most notable temperance group in the United States was the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Originally organized in Ohio in 1873, the WCTU was “the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching
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The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 and could be found in almost every southern state by 1870. In the south, the KKK was turned into a tool for white resistance for the Republican Party’s Reconstruction era policies which were aimed at establishing political and economic equality for black people. Due to the Reconstruction era policies, the members of the KKK waged an underground campaign of violence and intimidation directed at white and black Republican leaders. The KKK saw one way to its primary goal: the reestablishment of white supremacy through Democratic victories in the state legislatures all throughout the south. This was accomplished, causing the gradual increase of white supremacy in the south while the Reconstruction era waned. The KKK ended up disbanding in the waning years of the Reconstruction because of the Ku Klux Klan Act. This act designated certain crimes committed by Klan individuals to be federal offenses, including conspiracies to deprive citizens of the right to hold office, serve on juries and enjoy the equal protection of the law. The act also authorized
...ailed including Eugene Debs, leader of the American Railway Union who ordered the workers to stop pulling the Pullman cars. The government prioritized a strong healthy economy over a large and happy population.
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The first rise of the klan spread to almost every southern state by 1870. The Ku Klux Klan is also known as the KKK. The KKK’s uniforms started off as just random rodes and clothes. Soon the KKK changed their uniforms to white robes with a white pointed mask. The new uniforms also had the KKK symbol on the lower right shoulder. As the KKK’s numbers grew they started to carry out more and more crime. The Crime the KKK did included whippings,
Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the disposition of the parties are ever so well known to each, or ever so similar before hand it does not advance their felicity in the least (Austen 23).
The difference in social class between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth affect their ability to get married. Sir Walter doesn't like the idea of having equality with men in the service, because he thinks it makes them unworthy of certain attributes, which is not uncommon for this time period. In this situ...
Many novels speak of love and indulging in passion, but few speak of the dynamics that actually make a marriage work. Jane Eyre is one of these novels. It doesn't display the fleeing passions of a Romeo and Juliet. This is due entirely to Bronte's views on marriage and love. The first exception to the traditional couple the reader is shown is Rochester's marriage to Bertha. This example shows the consequences of indulging in passion. The opposite side is shown through another unlikely would-be couple, Rosamund and St. John. Through this pair, Bronte reveals the consequences of indulging in duty. Another view of marriage is also present in the book, through the character Jane Eyre and her actions.