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MonkeyNotes-Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
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Lady Western
She is Squire WesternÂ’s snobbish sister. She had lived about
the court and acquired what can be termed as ‘worldly
knowledgeÂ’. She was a perfect mistress of manners, customs,
ceremonies and fashions. She had considerably improved her
mind by study, she had not only read all the modern plays,
opera, oratorios, poems and romances, in all which she was a
critic, but had gone through several notable histories. She had
also been through most of the political pamphlets and journals
published within the last twenty years. She had attained a very
competent skill in politics and could discourse very learnedly
on the affairs of Europe. She was moreover, excellently well
skilled in the doctrine of Amour and knew better than anybody
who and who were together. Regarding her participation in
affairs herself, her masculine person, added to her manner and
learning possibly prevented the other sex from regarding her in
the light of a woman. However she had considered affairs
scientifically and she knew all the arts which fine ladies use
when they desire to give encouragement or to conceal liking.
To sum the whole, no species of disguise or affectation
escaped her notice.
Lady Western is a lady who thinks that she knows best, while
in reality her understanding is limited to gross assumptions.
She guesses wrongly that Sophia is enamoured by Blifil and
more so she is convinced about this fact. Later, Lady Western
insists that she knows best how to handle Sophia. She is
presumptuous, vain and quite pompous. Lady Western thinks
that her court experience and her worldly mind elevates her to
a level far above that of her brother and his daughter. She
complains that SophiaÂ’s running away from home is the result,
of bad upbringing by her father-Squire Western. When Squire
Western goes after his daughter to London, Lady Western
advises him that he should go about winning his daughter over,
in a civilized way. But the Squire cannot resist himself and
charges into Lady BellastonÂ’s house and drags his daughter
away. Lady Western condemns this act and waxes eloquent
about the superior place occupied by women in English
Society. She thinks that they cannot be subjugated and
dominated. She manages to free Sophia from her bolted room
and takes the young lady with her. But Lady Western is not as
emancipated as she considers herself to be. When Lord
Fellamar expresses the desire to wed Sophia, Lady Western
leaves no stone unturned to coerce Sophia into marrying him.
She is impressed by his position in society and thinks that a
match between this Lord and Sophia would be highly
favorable. She thinks in materialistic terms and thus she is not
free from the shackles of societal conditioning. Infact it is
Sophia who is truly free and who would not marry anyone just
for the sake of position and money. Despite all the criticism
that Lady Western had heaped on her brother for employing
drastic methods with Sophia, she herself does not shy away
from these very methods. She nearly forces Sophia into
meeting Lord Fellamar. She is just as hypocritical as Miss
Bridget Allworthy, Squire AllworthyÂ’s sister.
Lady WesternÂ’s eyes are fooled by the worldly artificial
glamour of society. She is unable to appreciate the value of
straightforwardness, honesty and candor. She has to stand
apart while Sophia rejects Lord FellamarÂ’s persuasions and
marries her dear Tom Jones instead.
Lady Western represents the intellectual snobbishness of
society. She thinks that by being learned, she stands superior.
Her notion is mistaken and she is a true example of such a false
assumption. Table of Contents
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