James Baquet

    Some readers may know the popular Welsh singer Tom Jones. What they may not realize is that he was in fact born Thomas John Woodward, and that the stage name “Tom Jones” was given by his manager (Gordon Mills, the same genius who dubbed Arnold George Dorsey “Engelbert Humperdinck” after a 19th-century German composer).

    Where, then, did the name “Tom Jones” come from? It was the title of a novel that used to be widely read, but has lost its popularity in the last few decades, now known mainly to fans of the “Great Books.”

    “Tom Jones” was written by Henry Fielding (1707-1754). Though best known for his literary output, Fielding was once equally well-known for his accomplishments as a London magistrate. He has a significant place in the history of law enforcement: with his half-brother John, in 1749 he founded what some have called Great Britain’s first modern police force, the Bow Street Runners. (This preceded Sir Robert Peel’s Metropolitan Police Force by over 70 years.)

    Before becoming a magistrate, though, Fielding made his mark as a playwright, one who often savaged the politicians. He was best known for his satirical approach, and his first novel was in fact a parody of the popular novel “Pamela,” a maudlin story about the life of a mistreated maidservant. “Shamela” was published under a pseudonym in 1741, and its title may refer to the story being a “sham,” or to the “shame” of the protagonist.

    Next, under his own name, Fielding hit it big with “Joseph Andrews,” a slightly more serious novel about Pamela’s brother. A few years later he wrote his best-known work, the full title of which was “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.”

    “Tom Jones” is a picaresque novel — that is, its protagonist is something of an anti-hero, a lovable rogue (called in Spanish “picaro”), and is told in episodic form. It is also a Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story — one in which the hero grows up. The humorous and somewhat bawdy exploits it describes were immensely popular, and the story has been filmed at least twice.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. the responsibility of the police and some other government officers

    2. came before

    3. child abandoned by its parents and found and raised by someone else

    4. connected with sex, in an amusing way

    5. writings of an author

    6. attacked brutally

    7. false name

    8. gave someone a name

    9. judge

    10. Fake