Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Mr. Blifil

Mr. Blifil wants to hog everything for himself: he longs for all of Squire Allworthy's fortune and he desires Sophia. Since Tom also has a claim on Squire Allworthy and since Tom and Sophia are in love, Tom and Mr. Blifil spend most of the novel in competition with each other for both Squire Allworthy's favor and Sophia's affections.

But Mr. Blifil's role as the novel's main villain isn't just a matter of his desires overlapping with Tom's. Mr. Blifil's real evil lies in his hypocrisy. Mr. Blifil seems saintly, with his preaching and his moralizing. But on the inside, he is a spiteful mix of pride, power-hunger, and twisted desire. Mr. Blifil's behind-the-scenes manipulations and general dishonesty are mirror opposites of Tom's open, honest, and generous nature. They are like total inverses of each other morally speaking, which is what makes Mr. Blifil the perfect antagonist to Tom's protagonist.