ABSTRACT
Fielding's approach to the marriage plot has received far more attention in Tom Jones than in any of his other novels, followed closely by Amelia. Fielding's use of the unstageable in this novel, however, went beyond the development of characters and situations that were judged inappropriate by mid-century standards. When Tom Jones was published, thirteen years had passed since Fielding was forced to abandon his throne as the Great Mogul of scandalous drama. The ending of Tom Jones seems to suggest that one way or another legacy of Cibber loomed large in Fielding's mind. The reconciliations and marriages with which Tom Jones closes at once enable and are enabled by the moral reformation of the protagonist. Another way Fielding attempts to distance the ending of Tom Jones from that of reform comedy is by making his heroine question the authenticity and durability of the moral conversion.
