“A Right Judgment”: Rape Trial Conventions Revisited in Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones

This article argues that in both Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749), Henry Fielding, who practiced law and wrote novels when both were undergoing significant transformations, takes what could have been archetypal scenes of rape and rescue and makes them illuminating explorations of how jurie...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bissonette, M.B (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications Ltd 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
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520 3 |a This article argues that in both Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749), Henry Fielding, who practiced law and wrote novels when both were undergoing significant transformations, takes what could have been archetypal scenes of rape and rescue and makes them illuminating explorations of how juries determine the truth. In presenting these attempted rape scenes within the implicit format of a contemporary rape trial, Fielding directs the reader to observe the missteps in the process of judicial decision-making, as well as the steps and missteps in his or her own determination of the trustworthiness of characters and their testimony. © The Author(s) 2016. 
650 0 4 |a Abraham Adams 
650 0 4 |a Fanny Goodwill 
650 0 4 |a Henry Fielding 
650 0 4 |a Joseph Andrews 
650 0 4 |a jury 
650 0 4 |a Justice of the Peace 
650 0 4 |a Matthew Hale 
650 0 4 |a Mrs. Waters 
650 0 4 |a rape 
650 0 4 |a Tom Jones 
700 1 |a Bissonette, M.B.  |e author 
773 |t Law, Culture and the Humanities