The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling · Chapter
Chapter the Last explained
The novel concludes with the marriages of Tom Jones and Sophia Western, and young Nightingale and Nancy.
What happens
The novel concludes with the marriages of Tom Jones and Sophia Western, and young Nightingale and Nancy. Allworthy and Western reconcile with the couple, and various characters' fates are resolved: Blifil is given an annuity, Black George flees, Partridge returns to teaching, and Mrs. Waters marries Parson Supple. The final scene depicts a joyful dinner where the secret marriage is revealed, and the narrator reflects on the happiness of the virtuous.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
The chapter culminates in the happy marriages of Tom and Sophia, and Nightingale and Nancy, emphasizing love as the foundation of marital bliss.
Benevolence and Generosity
Allworthy and Tom show generosity by providing for Blifil, Partridge, and Black George's family, rewarding virtue and mercy.
Fortune and Fate
The resolution of various characters' fortunes—Tom's rise, Blifil's fall, and the happy outcomes for the virtuous—reflects the novel's theme of poetic justice.
Characters to notice
- Tom Jones
Marries Sophia, is reconciled with Allworthy, and becomes a happy and prudent husband and father.
- Sophia Western
Marries Tom, reconciles with her aunt Mrs. Western, and is praised for her modesty, affability, and virtue.
- Squire Allworthy
Generously provides for Tom and Sophia, settles an annuity on Blifil, and takes Mr. Abraham Adams into his house.
- Squire Western
Resigns his estate to Tom and Sophia, retires to a hunting house, and becomes a doting grandfather.
- Master Blifil
Receives a £200 annuity from Allworthy, supplemented by Tom, and lives in the north, planning to enter Parliament.
- Mr. Partridge
Receives a £50 annuity from Tom, resumes teaching, and is engaged to Molly Seagrim.
- Mrs. Miller
Rejoices in her daughter Nancy's marriage to young Nightingale and in Tom's happiness.
- Mrs. Western
Reconciles with Sophia and spends time with her in the country.
Key passages
“She lives in reputation at the polite end of the town, and is so good an economist, that she spends three times the income of her fortune, without running into debt.”
Mrs. Fitzpatrick maintains a respectable social standing while spending far beyond her means, a satirical comment on her financial irresponsibility.
Highlights the irony of her 'economy' and her reliance on social connections.
“Whatever in the nature of Jones had a tendency to vice, has been corrected by continual conversation with this good man, and by his union with the lovely and virtuous Sophia.”
Tom's vices are reformed through Allworthy's guidance and his marriage to Sophia, emphasizing the redemptive power of virtue and love.
Summarizes Tom's moral growth and the novel's moral conclusion.
“Thus, reader, we have at length brought our history to a conclusion, in which, to our great pleasure, though contrary, perhaps, to thy expectation, Mr. Jones appears to be the happiest of all humankind.”
The narrator concludes that Tom Jones, despite earlier misfortunes, ends up as the happiest man, rewarding his inherent goodness.
Direct address to the reader, affirming the novel's comic and moral resolution.
