Widely considered to be one of the first true English novels, Fielding's "Tom Jones," written in 1749, revolves around the life and experiences of an orphaned baby who grows up to be a kind-hearted, if overly vigorous, young man. Tom is brought up by the generous Mr. Allworthy on his Somerset estate, where Tom eventually falls in love with his beautiful neighbor, Sophia Western. Because of his partially unknown parentage, however, their respective guardians are against the match. When Tom is banished due to his occasionally heated temper and sexual encounters with local girls, he has an adventure full of danger and surprise, and he ultimately follows Sophia to London, who herself flees from an undesirable arranged marriage. Generally acknowledged as Fielding's greatest work, "Tom Jones" takes the hero through an inventive plot that will entertain and astonish readers to the revealing conclusion.

亨利·菲爾丁（Henry Fielding，1707年4月22日-1754年10月8日）英國小說傢，戲劇傢。其代錶作品《湯姆·瓊斯》對後世影響極大。

生平

1707年菲爾丁生於英國薩默塞特郡，就讀於伊頓公學。他的妹妹後來也成為瞭著名作傢。菲爾丁寫瞭一部浪漫小說，卻因此引起瞭官司，之後他前往倫敦繼續寫作。1728年菲爾丁前往荷蘭萊頓學習，迴到英國之後，他開始為劇院創作劇本。他當時的一些作品對當時沃爾波爾爵士領導的英國政府進行瞭辛辣的諷刺，特彆Golden Rump一劇，作傢的諷刺功力初露鋒芒，但也導緻瞭1737年政府宣布實施劇院許可證法案。

這一法案使得上演的劇本時刻受到懷疑，在舞颱上諷刺政治已經不再可能。菲爾丁因此退齣劇院，重操法律舊業。1748年他成為米德爾塞剋斯和威斯敏斯特的治安官員。