A study of the drama of Henry Fielding (part 1) : from Tom Thumb the Great, a tragedy to the tragedy of tragedies, or the life and death of Tom Thumb the Great

Noguchi Tatehiko

doi:10.14988/pa.2017.0000011155

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フィールディング劇管見その1 : 『親指トム一代記』から『悲劇中の悲劇、親指トム一代記』へ
フィールディングゲキカンケンソノ 1 : オヤユビトムイチダイキカラヒゲキチュウノヒゲキオヤユビトムイチダイキエ
フィールディング劇管見その1 : 親指トム一代記から悲劇中の悲劇親指トム一代記へ

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Abstract

Unlike the happy ending of the original fairly tale, Fielding takes Tom Thumb as its hero a Lilliputian general winning over the giants. It is during Tom thumb 's triumphant return that he is swallowed by the red cow. As an afterpiece of The Author's Farce, The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great, A Tragedy was staged at the Haymarket Theatre in London on the 24th of April in 1730. By lengthening that two-act drama, Fielding renamed the piece The Tragedy of Tragedies, or the Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great reaching the stage next spring. There is no difference in the endings between the two; both Tom Thumbs are doomed to be swallowed by cows and all the main characters slaying one another except the king killing himself at the blood-stained final scene. To create a satire of the heroic drama which was cultivated by Dryden, Lee and their followers during the Restoration, and which was still popular in the first quater of the 18th century in England, Fielding slipped in a parody based on the fairy tale Tom Thumb.

Journal

言語文化

言語文化 10 (1), 43-71, 2007-08-25

Doshisha Society for the Study of Language and Culture

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