What Was Lady Bellaston’s Plan Against Sophia?
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Answer
What was Lady Bellaston’s plan against Sophia?
“Tom Jones” (1749) is a celebrated novel by Henry Fielding (1707–1754). In this novel, Lady Bellaston is a manipulative and cunning character. She designs a cunning plan to separate Sophia Western from Tom Jones because she desires Tom for herself. She wants to control Sophia’s future.
Tom deeply loves Sophia. So, Lady Bellaston sees Sophia as a threat to her plan. The narrator points out Lady Bellaston would do anything to separate Tom and Sophia –
and as she [Lady Bellaston] plainly saw that this young lady stood between her and the full indulgence of her desires, she resolved to get rid of her by some means or other…
Trying to Distract Sophia: Lady Bellaston is a wealthy and influential woman in London. She uses her power and resources to manipulate those around her. Lady Bellaston first tries to distract Sophia from Tom. To achieve this, she tries to make Sophia conform to her own lifestyle. She wants her to become a “lady of fashion.” She introduces her to Lord Fellamar, a wealthy and noble suitor. She praises Sophia’s wealth to Fellamar. She hopes to make him interested in marrying her. However, Sophia is not interested in Fellamar because she loves Tom.
Making Fellamar Jealous: Seeing that subtle manipulation isn’t working, Bellaston changes her plan. She falsely tells Fellamar that Sophia is in love with a “beggar and bastard” (referring to Tom) to make him jealous and determined to win Sophia over.
Planning to Ruin Sophia’s Reputation: Bellaston conspires with Lord Fellamar to ruin Sophia’s reputation by having him force himself on her. Lady Bellaston secretly encourages Fellamar to rape/or take advantage of Sophia. She thinks that if he rapes her, she will have no choice but to marry him to save her reputation. This would forcefully separate Sophia from Tom. Lady Bellaston sets up a situation where Fellamar can be alone with Sophia. When Fellamar tries to assault Sophia, she screams for help. Thankfully, Sophia’s father, Squire Western, arrives just in time and stops Fellamar.
Therefore, Lady Bellaston’s plan involves using Lord Fellamar to ruin Sophia’s reputation so that she will have to marry him, thereby separating her from Tom. She uses manipulation, lies, and an attempted assault to achieve her goal.