The Wedding Day: "Conscience - the only incorruptible thing about us"
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Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury, in Somerset on April 22nd 1707. His early years were spent on his parents’ farm in Dorset before being educated at Eton.
An early romance ended disastrously and with it his removal to London and the beginnings of a glittering literary career; he published his first play, at age 21, in 1728.
He was prolific, sometimes writing six plays a year, but he did like to poke fun at the authorities. His plays were thought to be the final straw for the authorities in their attempts to bring in a new law. In 1737 The Theatrical Licensing Act was passed. At a stroke political satire was almost impossible. Fielding was rendered mute. Any playwright who was viewed with suspicion by the Government now found an audience difficult to find and therefore Theatre owners now toed the Government line.
Fielding was practical with the circumstances and ironically stopped writing to once again take up his career in the practice of law and became a barrister after studying at Middle Temple. By this time he had married Charlotte Craddock, his first wife, and they would go on to have five children. Charlotte died in 1744 but was immortalised as the heroine in both Tom Jones and Amelia.
Fielding was put out by the success of Samuel Richardson's Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. His reaction was to spur him into writing a novel. In 1741 his first novel was published; the successful Shamela, an anonymous parody of Richardson's novel.
Undoubtedly the masterpiece of Fielding’s career was the novel Tom Jones, published in 1749. It is a wonderfully and carefully constructed picaresque novel following the convoluted and hilarious tale of how a foundling came into a fortune.
Fielding was a consistent anti-Jacobite and a keen supporter of the Church of England. This led to him now being richly rewarded with the position of London's Chief Magistrate. Fielding continued to write and his career both literary and professional continued to climb.
In 1749 he joined with his younger half-brother John, to help found what was the nascent forerunner to a London police force, the Bow Street Runners. Fielding's ardent commitment to the cause of justice in the 1750s unfortunately coincided with a rapid deterioration in his health. Such was his decline that in the summer of 1754 he travelled, with Mary and his daughter, to Portugal in search of a cure. Gout, asthma, dropsy and other afflictions forced him to use crutches. His health continued to fail alarmingly.
Henry Fielding died in Lisbon two months later on October 8th, 1754.
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was an English novelist, dramatist, and prominent magistrate. He was born into noble lineage, yet was cut off from his allowance as a young man and subsequently began a career writing plays. He wrote over 25 dramatic works, primarily satires addressing political injustice. When Fielding's career as a playwright ended with new censorship laws, he turned to writing fiction. His work as a novelist is considered to have ushered in a new genre of literature. Among his best known masterpieces are The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild (1743) and The History of Tom Jones (1749).
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The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction - Complete 20 Volumes: The Great Classics of World Literature: Notre Dame, Pride and Prejudice, David Copperfield, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Anna Karenina… Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joseph Andrews and Shamela Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Harvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJonathan Wild Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRomance Classics Collection Vol: 1 (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Regency Romances of All Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTom Jones (Diversion Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Books of All Time Vol. 4 (Dream Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The History of the Life of the Late Mr Jonathan Wild: "All nature wears one universal grin." Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (Complete Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJoseph Andrews, Vol. 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJonathan Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Joseph Andrews Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmelia: "Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea." Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The History of the Life of the Late Mr Jonathan Wild the Great Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Works of Henry Fielding; Vol. I; A Journey from This World to the Next and a Voyage to Lisbon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Old Man Taught Wisdom: “A good countenance is a letter of recommendation” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Works of Henry Fielding Edited by George Saintsbury in 12 Volumes Volume 12 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmelia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Amelia (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Works Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Journey from This World to the Next Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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