TOM JONES

a well-known novel (1749) by Henry Fielding . It describes the complicated adventures of a young man called Tom Jones. Tom is found as a baby and brought up as his own son by Squire Allworthy, a wealthy landowner. He falls in love with Sophie Western, the daughter of another landowner, but is unfairly forced to leave home. Tom then travels around England, often getting into trouble, especially because of his affairs with a number of women. Tom has a good nature but is often not careful in his actions. The novel has many comic scenes and a happy ending, when Tom marries Sophie. The book has been made into a film (1963), with Albert Finney as Tom, and into a BBC television series (1997).