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Biography & MemoirsThe Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the GreatHenry FieldingThe Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great

The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great

Henry Fielding

Biography & MemoirsEnglish
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Henry Fielding tells the life of Jonathan Wild, a real London criminal hanged in 1725, who controlled a gang of thieves while posing as a 'thief-taker' who…

Catalogue details

Author
Henry Fielding
Category
Biography & Memoirs
Language
English
Source
Project Gutenberg

About this book

Henry Fielding tells the life of Jonathan Wild, a real London criminal hanged in 1725, who controlled a gang of thieves while posing as a 'thief-taker' who caught them for rewards. With savage irony, Fielding treats him as a 'great man' in the manner of conquerors and statesmen, and sets his career of robbery, betrayal and murder against the sufferings of Heartfree, a good, simple jeweller whom Wild ruins.

Context and significance

Fielding published the book in 1743, and its real target was the 'great man' of British politics, the prime minister Robert Walpole. Compare Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which also used Wild, and Fielding's Tom Jones.

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