ding circumstances. For example, Tom is involved with Molly Seagrim, but his involvement is minimized by a character sketch of Molly that Sophia's maid Honour shapes when she states that Molly was always a forward, willing wench and that when wenches are so coming, men are not so much to be blamed, for it's only natural to act on this forwardness (398). This double standard is actually stated and "justified" by another woman, which accurately highlights the way of thinking in the 18th century that Fielding evidently recognized. Later, when Molly is found to be pregnant, Allworthy lectures Tom much in the same way he lectured Jenny Jones years ago, but according to Carlton, Fielding "minimizes its impact in Tom's case" (399). These two instances are a few of many examples of this double standard for men and women. Carlton sums up the view of women when he states, Fielding relies on . . . the traditional view of women, implicit in the fact that it is always the woman who is the aggressor in Tom's affairs . . . women are perceived as either "purer" than they are or more sexually ravenous than they are (the familiar virgin/whore' polarization), but never simply as they are. At one extreme, they are seen as semidivine beings . . . at the other, women are portrayed as insatiable sinks of lust (399-400).Sophia and Lady Bellaston seem to represent these two extremes precisely. Sophia is often referred to with heavenly and divine inferences, while Lady Bellaston is the instigator of an on-going affair with Tom. Tom is viewed as an innocent bystander who falls victim to an evil temptress' of sorts. Carlton tells us that another critic, Battestin, remarks that "at a time when the double standard was widely accepted, Fielding strove to define the morality of sexual relationships for men as well as women" (402). Carlton refutes this, however, by saying that rather than trying to make an ideal judgment about sexual behaviors of men and wome...
