The Country and the City in the Works of Henry Fielding: A Study in the Selection and Adaptation of Literary Conventions

Abstract

A contrast between the country and the city is one of the most pervasive motifs in Henry Fielding's writings. In most of Fielding's works, the central geographical, social, political, cultural and ethical division is that between rural and urban England. In these works, the city is the source of most, but not all, of the negative qualities being portrayed, whilst the country, although not idyllic, is the source of nearly all of the positive values. The action of Fielding's major works generally consists of a journey, by virtuous characters, from the relatively innocent rural environment, to the corrupt urban environment, where they triumph over evil persecution and are rewarded with a retirement to the country, where they establish, as far as this is possible, the ideal, happy life. In fact, the country-city contrast is seldom absent from Fielding's writings, occurring either incidentally as motif, or substantially as a major thematic and structural principle in the works involved. Most of Fielding's critics have noted this, but generally concentrate on one aspect of the contrast in one particular work or group of works. This thesis undertakes a study of the contrast as it occurs throughout Fielding's complete writings, arguing that the nature of the country-city contrast in Fielding's writings and, as far as these can be ascertained, Fielding's reasons for using it, are thoroughly in accordance with contemporary trends, and remain consistent throughout his career; also, that whilst the uses to which Fielding put the contrast remain consistent throughout his career, the artistic techniques with which he portrays the two environments change significantly. The argument of this thesis is that these different creative techniques which, broadly speaking, progress from being rhetorical to realistic, largely determine the effectiveness with which Fielding uses the rural-urban contrast to express his observations on life.