The essay is an original contribution to the study of intertextual references in Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, namely of its debt to Dante’s Comedy which has never been discussed by critics. The central part of Tom Jones, the so-called “epic of the road”, shows amazingly striking parallels with Dante’s Purgatorio: the essay provides evidence for correspondences between characters and settings, besides pointing out Fielding’s aiming at a perfect structuring of his narrative material, for which he also draws on numerological symbology, overtly recalling Dante’s fascination for numbers and symmetry. Moreover, the two authors’ reflections on their work in terms of matter and style share a concern for the definition of the “comic” and of the writer’s engagement in the ambitious task of defining human nature, which they both considered the very subject of their work.
A Foundling at the Crossroads: Fielding, Tradition(s) and a "Dantesque" Reading of Tom Jones
FERRARI, ROBERTA
2007-01-01
Abstract
The essay is an original contribution to the study of intertextual references in Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, namely of its debt to Dante’s Comedy which has never been discussed by critics. The central part of Tom Jones, the so-called “epic of the road”, shows amazingly striking parallels with Dante’s Purgatorio: the essay provides evidence for correspondences between characters and settings, besides pointing out Fielding’s aiming at a perfect structuring of his narrative material, for which he also draws on numerological symbology, overtly recalling Dante’s fascination for numbers and symmetry. Moreover, the two authors’ reflections on their work in terms of matter and style share a concern for the definition of the “comic” and of the writer’s engagement in the ambitious task of defining human nature, which they both considered the very subject of their work.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
