La Narrativa de Henry Fielding y la Sociedad Inglesa del Siglo XVIII

La Narrativa de Henry Fielding y la Sociedad Inglesa del Siglo XVIII
ocupantes, como ilustra su reticencia a enviar a Molly al correccional, y como
ocurre con Booth, que comete adulterio entre los muros de la cárcel.
Fielding creía en la posibilidad de recuperación de los pequeños
delincuentes, pero dudaba de la posibilidad de redimir a los más endurecidos,
que vuelven a delinquir, como es el caso de Robinson en Amelia.
“Nothing conduces more to the good of a any society than the moderate punishment
of small offences; this is properly called correction, since by it, the manners of the party are
often corrected and he is prevented from the commission of greater crimes. Such punishments
should be always attended with reproof and endeavor to persuade the offender that he is
corrected only for his own good. It must be remembered however, that they are better and
milder dispositions which are to be much amended this way; and therefore shame should as
little as possible be mixed with such correction” 250
250 Fielding, Proposal, Arguments, LIII.
- 252 -