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A Comparison of Henry Fielding's Novel and Tony Richardson's Film of TomJones

The narrator in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones is one of the most memorable characters in the novel. He transports us from event to event, positioning us to watch what unfolds and to receive his engaging commentary on those events. In Tony Richardson's 1963 film version of Tom Jones, therefore, it is somewhat surprising that the character of the narrator has been greatly reduced in scope. Even though the narrator in the film does speak the occasional witty comment at the beginnings of scenes, his main purpose is merely to provide a summary of events in the novel that have been cut out in the film script. A close examination of the film, however, reveals that the novel's narrator is still present, although that presence is created by the camera, the musical score, and changes in the events of the script itself rather than through the character of the narrator. The film version of Tom Jones employs these techniques of film in order to recreate the effects of the novel's narrator.

To Guide and EngageUs

The narrator in the novel Tom Jones is our guide and a friend who engages us in the world the novel creates. By following along with the narrator, we are witness to important conversations and can become a part of that world. In Book I, Chapter IV, for example, the narrator says, "Miss Bridget rings her Bell, and Mr. Allworthy is summoned to Breakfast, where I must attend, and, if you please, shall be glad of your Company". By speaking of himself as a participant in these actions, moreover, the narrator becomes a character in his own right, just as much as Bridget or Mr. Allworthy. This impression is strengthened when the narrator reveals his own feelings about what he relates, as when he tells us that "we can no longer bear to be absent from Sophia". This confession allows the reader to see him as a human being with desires and preferences. As we watches the story of Tom Jones unfold, we therefore gains an intimate relationship with the narrator who is always present to provide these impressions. When the narrator bids us farewell in the opening of the final book of the novel, we are not merely saying goodbye as if we were "Fellow-Travellers in a Stage-Coach, who have passed several Days in the Company of each other". We are saying goodbye to a friend.

In the film, however, the narrator's occasional presence is not enough to engage us in the same manner. We do catch glimpses of his dry humor, as when he slyly comments on Tom's compliance with Molly's wishes in the bushes, saying: "To those who find our hero's behavior startling, the answer is simple; Tom had always thought that any woman was better than none, while Molly had never felt that one man was quite as good as two." These comments do not occur frequently enough, however, to allow us to become as intimately connected to the narrator as in the novel. In addition, the narrator in the film often merely plays a summary role, recapping and clarifying scenes that had to be eliminated because of the necessities of fitting 650 pages of text into a two hour film. While this function allows us to follow the story, it does not create the same type of bond that forms with the narrator in the novel.

Functionally, however, the narrator of the novel is still in the film: in effect, the camera acts as the narrator in order to make us feel a part of the world of the film. While it is relatively easy for modern viewers to forget that the camera is meditating between the action and themselves, in this film Richardson calls our attention to that mediation in order to recreate some of what was lost by reducing the narrator's role. The camera angles allow us to feel that we are being guided through the world of the film, peeking over everyone's shoulder to get a view of the action. In the first conversation between Western and his sister, for example, she is standing on the second level of the house while he is on the first. As they converse, the camera angle switches from her perspective looking down on him to his looking up at her. This shifting camera angle recurs over and over again in the film, allowing us to feel that we are observing the action as if we were a character participating in the scene. The camera allows viewers to become the same kind of invisible participant in the story as does the novel's narrator when he requests their company at the breakfast table.

In addition, the interaction between the characters and the camera in the film recreates the role of the novel's narrator by engaging us in the story. At various points in the film, characters look at and even speak to the camera and hence to the viewer. When the innkeeper does not believe that Tom actually had a 500 pound note to pay his bill, for example, Tom speaks to the camera, asking us to confirm that he indeed had the money. These reminders are scattered throughout the film; other examples include Tom's aside to the viewer about Black George's "big hungry daughters," Sophia's smile to the camera when she and Tom are sailing, and Jenny Jones' summary of the story she told to Mr. Allworthy. We are thus repeatedly made to feel as if we were actually in the world of the film because we are able to be noticed by the characters. Moreover, we are encouraged to feel that the characters are speaking to us, involving us in that world just as we are involved in the world of the novel by being guided through it by our friend the narrator.

The Issue of Judgment

In the novel Tom Jones, however, the narrator does not merely engage us; he also helps us to see how the novel presents Fielding's views of how people should be judged. To some extent, the narrator lays out these rules of judgment explicitly. He states, for example, that "it is a more useful Capacity to be able to fortel the Actions of Men in any Circumstance, from their Character, than to judge of their Characters from their Actions", and he later adds the corollary statement that we are "not to condemn a Character as a bad one, because it is not perfectly a good one".

The insights he provides into the characters in the novel, moreover, encourage us to see the benefit of following these precepts. The reader knows, through the auspices of the narrator, the true characters of Tom and Blifil. The narrator tells the reader that "though [Tom] did not always act rightly, yet he never did otherwise without feeling and suffering for it", showing that he is at heart a good person. The narrator's commentary on Blifil similarly allows a glimpse of his true character. The narrator tells the reader that "it would be an ill Office in us to pay a Visit to the inmost Recesses of [Blifil's] Mind, as some scandalous People search into the most secret Affairs of their Friends, and often pry into their Closets and Cupboards, only to discover their Poverty and Meanness to the World". He thus implies that such "Poverty and Meanness" of character would also be found in Blifil's mind were it to be explored. The characters in the novel, however, have remarkably different impressions of Tom and Blifil because they judge the two men on the superficial level of their actions without looking at the characters that underlie them. Blifil has "Qualities which gained him the Love of ever one who knew him, whilst Tom Jones was universally disliked" by the neighbors. Even Mr. Allworthy is deceived into believing that Tom's actions indicate a bad character rather than being the result of one fault, imprudence; only late in the novel does he realize Tom's true character, when he tells Tom that "Virtue, I am now convinced, you love in a great Degree". The narrator allows us to see clearly the unfairness done to Tom when he and Blifil are judged on actions alone. By providing a negative example, the narrator thus helps us to appreciate the benefits of judging based on the general tendency of a person's character.

While the film version of Tom Jones does not explicitly state Fielding's views on judgment, it still encourages us to see the problems arising from misconceptions about character. As in the novel, we receive insights into the true natures of the characters, although the narrator's reduced role in the film means that he does not provide this knowledge. Since Fielding's narrator reminds us that music often sets the stage for certain types of characters, saying, "thus, the Heroe is always introduced with a Flourish of Drum and Trumpets, in order to rouse a Martial Spirit in the Audience . . . when Lovers are coming forth, soft Music often conducts them on the Stage", it seems appropriate that the film version of Tom Jones influences our impression of characters through dramatic cues, visual as well as audio. When Blifil suggests to Thwackum and Square that they wait to tell Mr. Allworthy about Tom's fight with Thwackum, the low, dark sounds of the clarinet in the musical score reveal his sinister motivations and provide insight into his character. Visually, moreover, Blifil has a dark complexion and only smiles when he is trying to ingratiate himself with others, as when he speaks to Allworthy and Western about marriage with Sophia. Even during the frivolity of the hunt, Blifil's mouth remains resolutely set, reinforcing the viewer's negative impression of him. On the other hand Tom, with his smiling face and blonde hair, exhibits the traits of the conventional hero. These visual and audio cues, like the narrator's character descriptions in the novel, reveal to us that Mr. Allworthy and others misjudge the true natures of Tom and Blifil. As we see how this misjudgment increases Tom's difficulties throughout the tale, we are encouraged to recognize the negative effects of basing judgment on actions alone.

A Comic Atmosphere Maintained

While this manipulation of our perceptions is enacted to present Fielding's ideas about the weighty issue of judgment, the story of Tom Jones is not entirely a solemn and serious one; both the novel and the film also manipulate our perceptions of the actions to maintain a comic atmosphere. The narrator in the novel keeps us of the opinion that "since nothing irreparable has so far happened to [Tom], nothing ever will", leaving us free to laugh at Tom's antics even when he is involved in seemingly serious situations. The narrative method he employs, communicating both the motivations of people's actions and ironically pointing out the implications of those actions, "is bound to influence out expectations from the first, and to the extent that it does so, we tend to anticipate the coming troubles with no more than comic fear". When he describes Mrs. Wilkins' entry into Mr. Allworthy's room, for example, the narrator tells us that her delay was due to modesty, that "she had indeed given her Master sufficient Time to dress himself; for out of Respect to him, and regard to Decency, she had spent many Minutes in adjusting her Hair in the Looking-glass". While revealing this understanding of human actions, the narrator also distances himself from those actions, puncturing the seriousness of Mrs. Wilkins' modesty by observing that she follows its dictates "notwithstanding all the Hurry in which she had been summoned by the Servant, and tho' her Master, for ought she knew, lay expiring in an Apoplexy or in some other Fit". This dry wit of the narrator makes it difficult to believe that he can tell a tale that will have a tragic outcome.

The narrator also keeps us from taking the tribulations of the characters entirely seriously by succinctly summarizing potentially sobering emotional scenes in a comedic manner. When Tom is banished from Mr. Allworthy's, for example, the narrator devotes only one sentence to Tom's response, telling us that "he presently fell into the most violent Agonies, tearing his Hair from his Head, and using most other Actions which generally accompany First of Madness, Rage, and Despair". The narrator then quickly makes a transition to the next scene when he tells us that, "when [Tom] had in this Manner vented the first Emotions of Passion, he began to come a little to himself". The description of Tom's emotional state, moreover, suggests the stylized displays of grief from comedic plays rather than a realistic response, encouraging the reader to see his potentially troubling state of mind in a humorous light.

The comedy is most pervasively maintained, however, by dramatic means such as by the music in the film score. In the opening scene, an insistent, tinkling melody repeats many times, and the speed and levity of this music suggest that we are about to watch a comic film. When the statement that it was "the opinion of all that [Tom] was born to be hanged" immediately follows this scene, therefore, it is virtually impossible for us to believe that such an event will be the film's actual outcome. Furthermore, the comic music acts like the narrator's dry delivery in the novel, recurring throughout the tale to reassure us that Tom's actions will not ultimately have tragic consequences. When Tom grabs his arm after throwing the ball for Sophia's dog, the music reassures us that he is only pretending to be injured. In a more potentially serious scene, that music reaches our ear when Tom arrives at Lady Bellaston's after receiving her gift of new clothes following their tryst. Tom seems to have committed a horrible indiscretion by allowing himself to become a kept man and thus sacrificing all chances for happiness with Sophia. The tinkling music from the opening scene, however, allows us to feel confident that Tom will recover from this lapse in judgment and that his story will not end tragically.

In the film, the camera also takes on part of the role of the novel's narrator, refusing to concentrate on potentially serious scenes and instead transforming them into comedic sketches. At Upton, for example, Tom's chances of regaining Sophia's affections could easily appear to have vanished; not only is he unfaithful to her when he sleeps with Mrs. Waters, but she discovers his indiscretion. In order to prevent the viewer from dwelling on the potentially tragic consequences of Tom's actions, the film goes into fast motion after Tom is discovered in Mrs. Waters' bed. By both quickly transfering our attention to another scene and presenting the events of the tale in a comedic manner, this rapid speed of action has an effect similar to the novel's description of Tom's feelings on being expelled from Mr. Allworthy's estate.

Maintaining Our AllianceWith Tom

Comedic style alone, while reassuring to us, is not necessarily sufficient to keep us interested in the story, however. No matter how reprehensible Tom's actions may seem, we must still wish him to succeed or else we will not have the motivation to follow his story. In the novel, the narrator maintains our alliance with Tom. In some instance, he does so by employing a technique similar to that which he used to promote a comedic response; he presents generalized narration, quickly diverting our attention to other scenes that more clearly show Tom's good qualities. When Tom meets with Lady Bellaston, for example, the narrator dryly informs us that "it would be tedious to give the particular Conversation, which consisted of very common and ordinary Occurrences, and which lasted from two till six o'Clock in the morning". Although the narrator allows us to speculate on the nature of this "Conversation," he does not dwell on the affair; rather, he turns our attention to its results, saying "it is sufficient to mention . . . a Promise that the Lady would endeavor to find out Sophia". We are left with the impression that Tom has not been fatally distracted from his goal, and thus we continue to sympathize with him.

In the film version of Tom Jones, visual cues act the part of the narrator in the novel, similarly encouraging us to align our sympathies with Tom. Tom is made to look visually ridiculous in scenes that might otherwise cause us to focus on his indiscretions, engaging our sympathies with him. When he talks to the pregnant Molly, for example, he holds a chicken that keeps flapping in his face. When he arrives at Lady Bellaston's in his new clothes, the camera lingers on the huge, wondering eyes of her servant as he gazes on Tom, allowing us to perceive how ridiculous he appears even to other character in the story. His subsequent sneezing fit as a result of taking snuff further increases our sympathy and embarrassment for him, thus distracting us from thoughts of his moral lapses. As in the novel, too, we are always reminded that his true interests lie with Sophia. Even when Tom is in bed with Lady Bellaston, the camera reveals that his thoughts are fixed on Sophia. He reaches around Lady Bellaston to read the letter Sophia has sent him, reminding us that Lady Bellaston is his means for reaching around to Sophia herself rather than a true deviation from his purpose. Because of what we see, we cannot totally condemn Tom, just as in the novel we cannot condemn him because of what the narrator tells us.

Tom's Redemption

Even when Tom's character is not misrepresented, however, we must admit that his actions, while motivated by the best of intentions, are not always worthy of praise. Although in the novel the narrator deflects our attention from the full implication of these deeds, we still often feel that Tom has been mistaken in his course of action. Despite Tom's rationale for his relationship with Lady Bellaston, for example, we still feel that he has erred as he seems to become entrenched in the relationship, receiving invitations for meetings that he feels honor bound to accept. In order for us to feel that he deserves to gain Sophia, it is necessary for him to be redeemed in our eyes.

Towards the end of the novel, therefore, the narrator retreats from his style of comedic deflection of serious events, allowing us to see Tom suffering in prison so that we believe he is sufficiently punished and contrite. First Nightingale arrives, telling Tom that Fitzpatrick is close to death and that the witnesses against him are adamant in their story. Rather than merely summarizing Tom's anguished words as in earlier scenes, the narrator relates them to us: "Well, my Friend, I am now indifferent as to what shall happen, at least with Regard to my Life; and if it be the Will of Heaven that I shall make an Atonement with that for the Blood I have spilt, I hope the Divine Goodness with one day suffer my Honor to be cleared". The narrator similarly allows us to see Tom's anguish and repentance when he discovers that he has slept with Jenny Jones, whom he believes to be his mother: "I am myself the Cause of all my Misery. All the dreadful Mischiefs which have befallen me, are the Consequences only of my own Folly and Vice. . . . O Good Heavens! Incest - with a Mother! To what am I reserved?". We thus believe that Tom is suffering and becoming repentant. The narrator does not abandon his techniques for maintaining comedy entirely; the passage immediately following each of those quoted above reverts to the more generalized narration of before, telling us first that "a very mournful Scene now past between the Prisoner and his Friends, at which, as few Readers would have been pleased to be present, so few, I believe, will desire to hear it particularly related" and then describing generally how Tom "fell into the most violent and frantic Agonies of Grief and Despair". The emphasis has shifted, however, to foreground Tom's suffering more than in earlier portions of the novel.

In the film, cuts in the script mean that Tom does not hear the terrible news in prison that he does in the novel. We can infer that he is suffering from the sounds of clanking chains and the references to hanging in the song "Poor Tommy" that plays while he is in prison, emphasizing the fate he expects to meet. Because we do not hear him repent, however, his redemption in our eyes is not as complete as it is in the novel. In order to enact the effects Fielding achieved with his narrator, therefore, the film once again manipulates the events of the plot. In the novel, Tom never approaches the gallows, while in the film he actually starts to hang before being rescued by Squire Western. This hanging scene is not merely a gratuitous scene, however; it is a continuation of Tom's suffering. Not only is the song that reveals Tom's suffering in prison, "Poor Tommy," a part of this scene as well, but we can easily imagine the anguish Tom feels as he seems to have no way of escaping an ignoble death. In the absence of the expression of his repentance included in the novel, this scene serves to prolong Tom's suffering in order to convince us that he has been sufficiently punished for his misdeeds.

Tom's Punishment Justified

Because we sympathize with Tom, however, our engagement in his story also depends on our being led to feel that he deserves the punishment he receives; if we felt that he did not, we could easily become frustrated at the unfairness of the story. In the novel, the narrator allows us to see why Tom's punishment is justified. When Mr. Allworthy expels Tom from the house, for example, the narrator reveals see how Tom's small faults and pranks have been amassed against him. Although the insight the narrator provides into Tom's character reassures us that Tom acts from an overflow of good nature rather than from any base motivations, he also lets us see how Tom's exuberant celebration of Mr. Allworthy's recovery can be misrepresented by Blifil to make Tom's offense seem punishable. Blifil hoards Tom's offenses, particularly those concerning his tryst with Molly and his fight with Thwackum, hoping that "the joint weight of many facts falling upon [Tom] together would be the most likely to crush him". The narrator, moreover, explicitly reminds us that "the Reader must be very weak, if, when considering the Light in which Jones then appeared to Mr. Allworthy, he should blame the Rigour of his Sentence". However misguided Mr. Allworthy's judgment, we can see why, from Mr. Allworthy's perspective, he deserves punishment.

In the film, we do not have the benefit of an ever-present narrator to remind us that Mr. Allworthy's decision was justified. In this case, the film actually expands on scenes that are not treated seriously in the novel in order to recreate the effects achieved in the novel with the narrator. In the novel, the narrator converts the scenes surrounding Mr. Allworthy's illness and Bridget's death into succinct, humorous statements to deflect the reader's concern from them; he merely relates that Mr. Allworthy has "a Cold, which had been attended with a little Fever" and that Bridget "had been seized on the Road home with Gout in her Head and Stomach, which had carried her off in a few hours". In the film, however, these events are not only shown explicitly but made more serious in order to make Mr. Allworthy's actions against Tom understandable. We feel shock and sadness at Bridget's death in the carriage accident because we see it explicitly, and we are similarly touched by the danger to Mr. Allworthy as a result of that mishap. When Tom enters whistling in the scene following the accident, therefore, our immediate reaction is that he is being callous, even as we realize that he does not yet know of these events. Because we are led to entertain these thoughts of Tom, we find it is plausible when Mr. Allworthy similarly misconstrues his boisterous behavior as demonstrating a lack of feeling and punishes him for it. We are therefore reminded, as we are by the narrator in the novel, that from Mr. Allworthy's perspective his decision is justified.

Suspense

Moreover, the addition of the hanging scene allows the film to capture the suspense that is included in the novel through the intervention of the narrator. Although in the novel the narrator's style of storytelling helps to reassure us that nothing terrible will happen to Tom in the end, his words still build suspense by leaving room for us to doubt. The narrator tells us, for example, that "to bring our Favourites out of their present Anguish and Distress, and to land them at last on the Shore of Happiness, seems a much harder Task; a Task indeed so hard that we do not undertake to execute it". Because of our close relationship with the narrator, we seriously consider the possibility that, despite our expectations, the novel may end unhappily for Tom. The narrator therefore allows the tale's end to be more emotionally pleasing because that ending releases this tension. In the film, however, we do not have this type of relationship with the narrator or with any of the other characters; when Blifil tells us that there is no hope for Tom, we are not convinced that such an ending is an actual possibility. We do trust the camera and the musical score that have been our guide throughout the film, however. By allowing us to see Tom on the gallows and hear a song that suggests that he will be hung, this final scene causes us to entertain the doubts about Tom's end that in the novel are suggested by the narrator.