Birth of English Novel, Complete History

Well, it is said that nothing comes from nothing so the novel did not spring up just like that. It emerged from different genres and styles. Early forms of the novel are also found in various places including Japanese and Classical Rome works. Although European novel is considered to have begun with an influence from Spanish novel “Don Quixote”.

The novel dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. It is a long and detailed literary genre that is published as a book. The word novel is extracted from the Latin word “Novella”. Before Novel, there used to be different forms of continuous long narrative proses and dramas that were popular. Epic poetry and western letters also have some impact and contribution to the beginning of novel writing. Vissarion Belinsky, a literary critic said “The epic of our time is the novel”. Epic poems were also stories but arranged in verses while novels were in prose form. Also, essays and letters were stretched into a comprehensive story in an arranged manner.

A novel automatically reflects its society. People can relate to it. That was also a major reason behind the birth of the novel because issues related to each individual were being discussed. Each individual could interpret it in its way so they keenly read these long stories.

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Industrialism led to the promotion of novels Trade increased which as result improved economic conditions and raised the status of every class which led to upraise of the middle class. They were benefited the most from this reform. They invested in different factories, invented machinery, and also include some merchants who improved. People started to have vacant time to themselves which they wanted to spend somewhere pleasure.

The industrial revolution was the main reason behind the rise of the English novel. With the invention of the printing press and libraries, there was a rapid upraise in novel works. Newspapers and magazines were also easily accessible.  A book published with thousand copies could be read anywhere by anyone. They were affordable and people could easily get them. They could be carried anywhere. The idea of a mobile library was introduced where books were being delivered to their homes. People were becoming educated and the literacy rate was increasing, men and women took equal part in it. Beforehand people of the upper class only used to be facilitated with reading and writing but with the rise of the middle class, now people from every class were taking interest in reading.

The novels were focused on social, political, and economic themes and conditions present in England at that time. They shared common characteristics, as discussing the suffering of the poor, contemporary reforms, and suggested different solutions for the development of society. They mostly focused on individualism.

With the rise of the novel, another important genre “Drama” faced a decline. It did not hold the dominance as in the Elizabethan age. People start to find reading stories more interesting than watching them perform. As it was easy to entertain oneself through reading than paying for theater. They tend to find reading a more feasible way to create stories and scenarios in their mind. This literary form provided more freedom to writers than drama, as there was no restriction on the length of the text.

Romantic literary works were mainly for the reader from the high society. The ordinary people were least interest in it. It started to decline as a literary genre because it was were unrealistic. While people desired more realistic experiences like novels that were related to their everyday life. The main concern of novel writers at that time was social issues. So, with the industrial revolution, the concept of realism was introduced and novels were based on facts and reasons and people could easily relate to it. According to Ian Watt, “The novel is a full and authentic report of human experience”. Fiction writers took a turn from supernatural and imagination to realism, merging ordinary experiences with literature. 

The early English writings that are considered to make a base for this genre are “Robinson Crusoe” and “Pamela.” Robinson Crusoe revolves around a spiritual and individuality theme, Defoe broke the rules and brought revolutionary changes. He dealt with themes like trade, individualism, and freedom of consciousness. Whereas, Pamela was based on several letters merged in a book. Another name which contributed was “Henry Fielding” who wrote “Joseph Andrew” and got famous for it.

The novel is one of those literary forms that have not only survived to date today but kept growing and enhancing with time. There are different kinds, from medical to philosophical, from fairytales to horror, this genre has been best for telling stories or making someone understand a lesson in a describing manner. Unlike other genres, it does not look up to its classical models or follow any of prior rules but a writer writes what he wants to. Writers like Fielding, Smollett, Richardson, Sterne, and many other names, set examples by writing remarkable novels that are read till today.

This article is contributed by Hafsah Afridi, one of the team members at the School of Literature.