Episode 3's A Love Triangle for 'Tom Jones'

As we begin the back half of Tom Jones both Sophia and Tom encounter high society in the fleshpots of the wicked big city. Sophia is threatened with physical danger from two unscrupulous suitors, while Tom has his morals tested by Lady Bellaston's desires. Bellaston coos with approval as her mentee, Sophia, is transformed from country girl to lady of fashion, complete with face paint and tight lacing. Tom and Partridge are in the less glamorous atmosphere of a shabby boarding house run by Mrs. Miller (Frances Grey), where Partridge happily teaches Latin to her youngest daughter and Tom befriends another lodger, Nightingale (Will Fletcher).

Happy endings? Only in fairy tales. And what difference does it make anyway, to the sum of human happiness? If I marry or not, if I am contented or miserable? Why did I ever think I was special? Why did I ever think you were?

When Tom receives a mask and domino (a dark concealing cloak) and an invitation to a masquerade at Ranelagh Gardens he is thrilled. It must be from Sophia! The pleasure gardens provide night-time entertainment with music, dance, and drink in an erotically charged atmosphere where everyone is masked. Tom, convinced that Sophia is there, approaches every dark-skinned woman with no luck. (Sophie is safely tucked up in bed at Lady Bellaston’s.) But the leader of the festivities, the self-styled Queen of the Fairies (Lady Bellaston), warns him that if he flirts with any more trollopes she’ll tell Miss Western.