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question concerning Fielding's morality of the Good Heart - the assumption that Tom's good-hearted altruism or good nature will somehow guide him to correct moral decisions. Kermode has argued that Fielding's moral criteria can finally be reduced "tocommon sense, which in this context is a supposedly instinctive understanding on the part of both reader and writer of Right and Wrong."3If Tom'snatural instinct could lead him to commit incest with his mother, then according to the principles of almost any age, and certainly of Fielding's own, there is something wrong with the morality of the Good Heart. But there is some distortion in limiting Fielding's moral criteria in TomJones, as Kermodehas done, to the morality of the Good Heart. Though the novel certainly suggests that Tom'sgood-heartedbehavior is morally superiorto the hypocrisy of someone like Blifil, Fielding himself questions the sufficiency of goodness and innocence to guide us in the properpath of virtue and protect us frommisfortune. In the dedication to George Lyttleton, Fielding declares that "to recommend goodness and innocence hath been my sincere endeavor in this history .... Besides displaying the beauty of virtue which may attract the admiration of mankind, I have attempted to engage a stronger motive to human action in her favor by convincing men, that their true interest directs them to a pursuit of her .... Lastly, I have endeavored strongly to inculcate, that virtue and innocence can scarce ever be injured but by indiscretion; and that it is this alone which often betrays them into snares that deceit and villainy spread for them" (p. 37).4 These sentiments are repeated throughout the novel, such as when Allworthy admonishes Tom:"I am convinced, my child, that you have much goodness, generosity and honour in your temper; if you will add prudence and religion to these, you must be happy; for the three former qualities, I admit, make you worthy of happiness, but they are the latter only which will put you in possession of it (V, 7). In these two passages (and in others including the author's lesson to "well-disposed youths") Fielding gives a rather complete statement of the moral criteria of TomJones. To "goodness of heart" and "openness of temper" it is necessary to add "prudence"and "circumspection"(III, 7).5 When Tom'sactions are examined, his lack of prudence and discretion emerges as his principal moral flaw. After he recognizes that his woes result from his own imprudence, the many obstacles of the plot fall away, and he is rewarded with his inheritance and finally with marriage to Sophia. Patridge's revelation to Tomthat he has "beena-bedwith Ihis] own mother" (XVIII, 2) plays an important part in Tbm'seducation because it serves as a test of the sincerity of his repentance. When Mrs. Waters visits him in prison and relieves him of his fears concerning Fitzpatrick, whom he has accidentally wounded in a duel, Tom'sthoughts turn to Sophia, and "he lamented the follies and vices of which he had been guilty; every one of which, he said, had been attended with such ill consequences, that he should be unpardonable if he did not take warning and quit those vicious courses forthe future"(XVII,9). Characteristically, Fielding throws an ironic light on Tom's repentance by remarking that "Mrs. Waters with great pleasantry ridiculed all this, as the effects of low spirits and confinement." But Tom'ssincerity is underscoredwhen he rejects her advances and their conversation ends "with perfect innocence, and much more to the satisfaction of Jones than of the lady." It is one thing, however, for Tomto repent and vow to sin no more when he hears that he has been freed of the guilt of murder and may yet hope to persuade Sophia to forgive him; it is another entirely
Winter, 1981
different matter for him to accept all the blame for his misfortunes when he learns from Partridge that Mrs. Waters is his mother. Patridge suggests, "Sure the devil himself must have contrived to bring about this wickedness" (XVIII, 2), but Tomreplies: "Sure ... Fortune will never have done with me, 'til she hath driven me to distraction. But why do I blame Fortune? I am myself the cause of all my misery. All the dreadful mischiefs which have befallen me, are the consequencesonly of my own folly and vice." At this point Tom, as Martin C. Battestin observes, "arrives at last at that crucial moment of self-awareness toward which the novel has been moving."" By refusing to take the way out offered him by Partridge and by accepting his own responsibility for his misery, Tom confirms his repentance. If he had shirked his responsibility, he would have been lost, but he accepts - he passes the test - and the comic spirit of the novel can take charge and deliver him. But the momentary suggestion of incest does much more than test the sincerity of Tom'srepentance; it also tests the reader's response to the moral issues Fielding raises in the novel. When we have finished reading Tom Jones and reflect on the incident at Upton - where Tom and Mrs. Waters spend the night - and the later confusion over the possibility of incest between Tom and Mrs. Waters, we realize that Fielding worked hard to contrive the ironic misunderstanding. It is not actually necessary for Tom.He has already recognized his own responsibility for his misery. Not only that, he has begun to repent even before the fight with Fitzpatrick which threatens him with the guilt of murder. He has withdrawn himself from Lady Bellaston, withstood the charms of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, and turned down the scheme of seduction against Mrs.Western. Later, he declares that he "shouldbe unpardonableif he did not ... quit those vicious courses for the future" (XVII,9), and he refuses the advances of Mrs. Waters, who is by the way, surprised to find him so altered. Although Tom's commendable reaction to his supposed incest is important, the reader's response is perhaps more significant. By introducing the problem of incest, Fielding removes a veil from the reader's eyes and enlarges the ironic field to include the reader as well as the characters of the novel. From the beginning of Tom Jones the reader is encouraged by the narrator to judge the characters and their actions. When Fielding relates the reactions of Allworthy's neighbors to his expectation of meeting his 3Kermode, p. 110. 4My text is The History of TomJones, ed. R.P.C.Mutter (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd., 1966); hereafter, I have cited quotations by book and chapter rather than by page to facilitate reference to other texts. 5Although prudence has been recognized for some time as an important part of Fielding's moral theme in Tom Jones, there continues to be considerable discussion of what Fielding meant by the word. See Eleanor N. Hutchens, "'Prudence':A Case Study," Chapter Five in Irony in Tom Jones (University of Alabama Press, 1965), Dove': pp. 101-18;Glenn W.Hatfield, "'TheSerpent and the 'Prudence'in TomJones," Chapter Five in Henry Fielding and the Language of Irony (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1968), pp. 179-96; Martin C. Battestin, "Fielding's Definition of Wisdom: Some Functions of Ambiguity and Emblem in Tom Jones," ELH, XXXV (1968), 188-217. 6Battestin, "Fielding's Definition of Wisdom,"p. 201.