Literature is wholly an expression of life, truth, and beauty. Be
it fiction or nonfiction, every novel has a lesson, every novel is related to a
human’s imagination and experiences. With time, different changes take place in
society. The social setup, current situations, and evolvements are core
subjects of a novel written at a particular time. Along with that, the themes
of a novel also varied according to the interest of people of that certain
time. Being human beings, we share the same feelings and emotions. We function
alike and can relate to each other. But we can think, imagine and create in our
ways. Our sentiments and thoughts might correlate but our opinions and
expressions are perhaps based on our surroundings. So, the difference in time
has affected its literature accordingly.
This article is copy protected!
|
Renaissance was the time of a huge revolution. It took a shift
towards the concepts of realism and humanism and to scientific theories from
God and religion. Universality was promoted along with breaking away from old
traditions. Libraries were being established and love for reading was growing.
The main purpose of this movement was to build the character of a human in such
a way that they excel both physically and intellectually. Not only literature
but art also took a dramatic turn from unrealistic works to creations based on
realistic perspectives.
Novel underwent many changes throughout time. For instance, if we
compare modern novels with classical novels, there are prominent differences
between them. The following novels broke some traditions and introduce new
ideas and adopt new techniques. The terms of style, content, depiction,
narration, themes, motifs, etc. all varied with time accordingly.
The middle of the 18th century was a time of the rise of modern
realistic novels. By the end of the 18th century, the gothic genre in novels
also appeared. It was a dreadful writing style that would evoke fear and terror
in people. The purpose of such literature is to make their readers experience
the written work through their imagination. The themes are mostly based on
supernatural and surreal ideas. Gothic literature includes "Wuthering
Heights" (1847) a Gothic romance by Emily Bronte; "The Scarlet
Letter" (1850), and "The House of Seven Gables" (1851).
The 19th century was a time influenced greatly by the romanticism
of the previous era. The focus of the novel was more on nature and imagination
instead of intellect and emotion. Jane Austen is the most celebrated author of
this time. She wrote books like “Sense and Sensibility”, “Emma” and her most
recognized novel “Pride and Prejudice”. Her novels' themes were related to
gender roles, feminism, class system, the role of colonialism, etc. Her writing
style was a mixture of both neoclassicism and romanticism. She encouraged
passion and imagination in her work. Other famous romantic novels include
"Jane Eyre" (1847) by Charlotte Bronte.
Moving on to the postmodern novels, we see a variety of writing
based on different themes, ideas, and other genres. We come across many books
where different writers contributing writing about the World Wars. Their impact
on society, the destruction it caused, and the causes behind them. Literature
both in fiction and non-fiction exists related to wars and battles. If we
analyze the novel “The Sun Also Rises” (1926), it shows the nothingness of
life. People were lost and had no idea what to do with life. Their life became
hollow and everything seemed purposeless. These were the aftereffects of World
War I which affected them psychologically and morally. The language of this
novel gives away gloomy sensations and the graveness of this sadness.
Novels like “Passage to India” highlighting the relation between
colonizers and colonized. Their friendship, conflicts, and factors contributing
to the biases against each other. This novel is written by English author E. M.
Forster, although it is fiction it has pretty much covered all the real
happenings in society. Another novel, “The Great Gatsby” written in 1925 by an
American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald is a renowned example of modern novels. In
this novel, the writer reflects on his real-life events. He used simple
understandable language. The story revolved around class differences, hunger
for wealth, love, and envy feelings. A movie was also featured based on this
novel.
To conclude, we can say that everything evolved with it including
art, music, and literature. So, it would not be wrong to say that prior works
would set a standard for the following ideas and something new was being
constructed from its influence. All this is an ongoing process and it will
continue with the changing world.
This article is written by Hafsah Afridi, one of the contributors at the School of Literature.
