Ironic Construction Of Morality In Jonathan Wild The Great

Henry Fielding (1707-1754), one of the most outstanding eighteenth-century British novelists, was praised by Gorky as"the founder of the British realist novel". Fielding says that his Jonathan Wild the Great (1743) is mainly about"human nature". He emphasizes the main purpose of writing the novel is to expose the false and ridiculous disguise of human nature by intriguing the reader's surprise and delight, and to attain the aim of educating and influencing them. So the novel bears the mission of presenting the real truth of life, influencing people and improving their moral standards. Irony is one of the most common rhetorical skills in the novel, which has the features of profundity and reflection in the narrative plot, character portrayal, and emotional setting in the ambiguous statements. So Fielding implies his moral values in the ambiguous and contrastive narration and readers figures out his deep meaning through these superficies.Fielding uses irony throughout Jonathan Wild. He calls Wild, the bully villain"great man", and his robbery activities"noble behavior", and even"a glorious and a great cause"; the gallows is called the"Tree of Honor"; but he uses the word"mean"to describe the positive character Heartfree. In the light of irony, the more he"praises"Wild, the meaner the villain becomes in the eyes of readers; the more he"disdains"Heartfree, the greater he becomes. Specifically, through the typical image of Wild, Fielding satirizes the orthodox historians who praise the"success"of ancient and modern"great men"at the cost of others'welfare.Fielding also ironically contrasts the two women's chastity values. Wild's wife Laetitia sniffed at chastity and regards chastity only belongs to"poor-spirited creature". Lastly, her husband and adulterer are both executed, and she is doomed to the fate of being exiled. But Mrs. Heartfree, who defends to the death for chastity, gets happy family and wealth. Through their different attitudes and destinies, Fielding sings highly of female chastity.Fielding vividly describes those friend images around the heroes, whose loyalty not only leads to the moral"perfection"of the heroes, but also affects their own destinies. They help their masters'"moral perfection"through their own moral appealing. The moral preaching in the ironical form of Jonathan Wild strengthens and consolidates the ethics of goodness, chastity and loyalty by protruding the hypocrisy, carnality and betrayal.