The kindly gentleman, Mr Allworthy, returns home from a voyage to find that someone has left a baby boy in his house. He adopts the foundling, giving him the name Tom Jones. Mr Allworthy’s sister, Bridget, has a son called Master Blifil. While Tom grows into a wild but honest young man, Blifil becomes a scheming hypocrite. But what happens when Tom falls in love with a neighbouring gentleman’s daughter, Sophia, whose family wish her to marry Blifil?

Dossiers:
The Early 18th-century Novel
Tom Jones as a Hero