The eighteenth century has gifted
English literature two entirely new forms
which are without any traces in the ancient
classical heritage. One of those was
'The Periodical Essay' and the other was
'NOVEL'. Both of these forms, especially
'novel', caught the spirit of the eighteenth
century as the age of intellectual,
sentimental and realistic plane and tried
to instruct the readers, which would help
them to a more purposeful and virtuous
life. Since the time of its origin, novel
has been gaining popularity and growing
gradually. Today, it is recognized as the
most dominant literary genre.
A novel is a relatively long narrative
fiction which describes intimate human
experiences normally in a prose form. The
present English word 'novel' is derived
from the Italian 'novella', meaning 'new'.
A novel narrates a story embellishing it
with more details of time, place, nature,
people and their minds, their gestures
and activities. It creates the picture of the
society of that time. Novel makes life easier
to understand than in drama and poetry.
In modern era novel has adopted literary
prose.
The novel as a literary genre has a
history of about two thousand years.Among
the early precursors of novel a collection
of tales known as Greek Romances dating
from the second to sixth century may top
the list. These imaginative and delightful
stories of ideal love and marvellous
4.1 History of Novel
SECTION FOUR
adventures profoundly affected the creative
writing for the next thousand years. Though
novel in the modern era usually makes use
of a literary prose the earlier threads of the
genre can be found in Virgil's Ecologues
or Malory's 'Morte De Arthur' or Geoffrey
Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales'.
Murasaki Shikibu's 'Tale of Genji'
(1010) has been described as the world's first
novel. The European novel is often said to
begin with 'Don Quixote' by Spanish writer
Miguel de Cervantes which was published
in two parts between 1605 and1615. In the
18th century, the appearance of newspaper
and magazines attracted a large number
of readers from the middle class. These
new readers had little interest in romances
and tragedies, which were appreciated by
the upper class. Thus, need for a new type
of literature arose that would express the
new ideas of the 18th century. The 18th
century new literature was characterized
by the spirit of realism and denial of
romantic features like enthusiasm, passion
and imagination. The foreground for the
novel was prepared by all these factors.
After 1740, novel originated as the literary
form in England. Increase in trade and
commerce, along with the Industrial
Revolution, had given rise to the middle
class. A class of people had emerged to
occupy an elite status. The realistic picture
of everyday life and problems of common
people depicted in the novels appealed to
the newly educated class and was regarded
by them as respectable reading material.174
Thus, novel as a form appears to have been
designed for both to voice the aspirations
of the middle and lower classes and meet
their longings. The spread of machines
could provide a time to the educated middle
class for reading and discussions about
the books. Drama and poetry were the
two literary forms that were fading away.
Novel was a combination of some features
of them and some new features were added
to the form. It was the prominent form in
the eighteenth century and onwards to
encompass the social, political and cultural
happenings and scientific progress.
'The Pilgrim's Progress' by John
Bunyan (1678) and 'Oroonoku' by Aphra
Behn (1688) initiated the plenteous and
colourful tradition of English novel and
was followed by Daniel Defoe ( Robinson
Crusoe, Mall Flanders), and Jonathan Swift
('Gulliver's Travels' - a famous satire).
Other major novelists of 18th century are
Samuel Richardson, ('Pamela, or Virtue
Rewarded' and 'Clarissa,' both epistolary
novels), Henry Fielding, Lawrence Sterne
and Tobias Smollett. The tradition was
enriched by many other stalwart novelists
such as Charles Dickens, Walter Scott,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Horace Walpole,
Thomas Hardy, Willkie Collins and H.G.
Wells. The 20th century is marked by the
modern topics and innovative styles and
techniques and widened angles of the
views by the novelists like E.M. Forster,
James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, Henry James,
George Orwell, Graham Greene, D.H.
Lawrence, William Golding and Anthony
Burgess. They widened the circumference
of the genre by writing political, social,
psychological and other modern issues in
their novels. There are immigrant authors
like Salman Rushdie (India), V.S. Naipaul
(Trinidad), Kazuo Ishigura (Japan) and
many others.
The contribution of women novelists
to this great pageant cannot be neglected.
The novel of manners 'Evelina' by
Frances Burney, Gothic novels by Ann
Radcliffe, a novel based on Science of the
age 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley are
landmark novels. Jane Austen has been
ruling over the minds of the people through
her novels. Bronte sisters Emily and
Charlotte have created their own place by
their incomparable works 'The Wuthering
Heights' and 'Jane Eyre'. Mary Ann
Evans alias George Eliot wrote the novels
reflecting psychological insight. Virginia
Woolf is the pioneer of the Stream of
Consciousness technique in English novel.
Agatha Christie created her own place
by writing many novels based on crime.
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are the
evergreen detectives created by her.Harper
Lee, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison and
Alice Walker have elevated the tradition
further to prosperity.
Indian Scenario :
'Rajmohan's Wife', by Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyaya serialized in
'The Indian Field' was the first novel in
English written by an Indian. The period
after that is marked by few more novels
written by the Indian writers. These
novels bore either nationalistic virtues
or social issues as their main framework.
Mulkraj Anand, R.K. Narayan and Raja
Rao were the major trio who prevailed in
the period after that. Novelists like Anita
Desai, Nayantara Sahgal and Arun Joshi
and Manohar Malgaonkar changed the
current of Indian English novel through
their works. Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth
and Upamanyu Chatterjee ameliorated
the Indian novel in English by adding new
features to it. Recent years have witnessed
the dazzling performance by Indian
novelists like Salman Rushsie, Arvind
Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai and
Kiran Nagarkar. The tradition of Indian175
English novel has undergone a vital change
since its birth and it has undoubtedly very
bright future.
Novella :
• A Novella, the word originated from
the Italian word 'novelle', is a type of prose
fiction which is shorter than a full length
novel and longer than short stories. It is
a well-stuctured yet short narrative, often
satiric or realistic in tone. It usually focuses
on one incident or issue with one or two
main characters and takes place at a single
tradition. Some of the famous novellas in
English are -
• 'The Heart of Darkness' by Joseph
Conrad
• 'The Turn of the Screw' by Henry
James
• 'Billy Budd' by Hermann Melville
• 'Death in Venice' by Thomas Mann
• 'Seize The Day' by Saul Bellow
• 'Pearl' by John Steinbeck
Elements of Novel/ Novella
There are six elements essential of
'Novel' or "Novella'. All these factors may
be related to one another in the work by an
author.
Theme : Theme is the central idea
in the novel which can be expressed in a
nutshell. It is a philosophical statement or a
truth which the writer has put forth through
the narration of the series of events in the
story and characters acting in the particular
setting.
Plot : Plot is essentially the story or the
course of events that make up the theme.
It is created by the conflict either internal
(inside the mind of the character) or external
(with other characters or entities). Plot may
be simple (one plot) or complex (consisting
the interweaving of many subplots).
Character : Characterization is related
to the plot as the course of events take
place because of the certain behaviour of
the characters.
Depiction of character can range from
a thumbnail sketch to deep, wordy, highly
detailed verbal sketch. The important
character may have been described in
its every aspect by the writer. The minor
characters are not given much importance.
The reader follows the actions of one
main character throughout the novel. This
character is referred to as the 'protagonist'.
Protagonist (main character) is in conflict
with a character or an entity or a force
(internal or external) which is known as
antagonist.
Setting : Setting is the background in
which the story takes place.
There are several aspects of the setting.
It includes place, period, time, climate or
weather and lifestyle. Plot and character
are the two major elements that are affected
due to setting.
Conflict : The struggle between
the opposite forces in the story is called
'conflict.' Conflict in the story provides
interest and curiosity about the plot.
Language / Style : The language and
the techniques used by the author for the
narration of the course of events is known
as the 'style'.
An author can use extensive vocabulary
and high phrases or he may be laconic and
would write only to the point or he may
mix both according to the requirement for
meeting his purpose. He may use linguistic
devices to make the narrative effective.
All these factors decide the 'texture' of
the narration and create an impact on the
readers.176
Types of Novel
Realistic novel : The realistic novel
is a fiction that gives the effect of realism.
Sometimes this is also called a novel of
manner. It can be characterized by its
complex characters with mixed motives
that are rooted in the social class. The
characters in the realistic novel interact
with other characters and undergo plausible
and everyday experiences.
Picaresque novel : The word
'picaresque' is originated from the Spanish
word 'picaro,' which means a rogue. A
picaresque novel narrates the adventures
of the protagonist, who is an eccentric or
a disreputable person, in an episodic form.
Historical novel : A historical novel is
a novel set in a period earlier than that of
the writing.
Epistolary novel : The word
'epistolary' derives from the Latin word
'epistola,' which means a letter. The
epistolary novel is that in which the writer
presents the narrative through a series
of correspondence or other documents.
Although letters are the most common
basis for epistolary novel, diary entries are
also a popular form of this type.
Gothic novel : The novels that include
terror, mystery, horror, thriller, supernatural,
doom, death or decay or haunted buildings
are called The Gothic novels.
Autobiographical novel : The
autobiographical novel is the novel based
on the life of the author. However, the
author changes the places and names of
characters or even may change or avoid
certain details of his life. It may or may not
be in the first person narration.
Allegorical novel : An allegory is
a story that bears more than one level of
meaning. The surface meaning of such
novel is different from the symbolic
meaning of it. The symbolic meaning of
an allegory may be political, religious,
historical or philosophical.
Utopian/ Dystopian novel : Utopia
is an imaginary community or society
possessing the ideal qualities. It is a common
literary theme, especially in science fiction
or speculative fiction.
Psychological novel : Psychological
novel is the work of fiction that treats the
internal life of the protagonist or even the
other characters as much as the external
factors.
Stream of Consciousness novel :
Stream of consciousness is a phrase coined
by William James in his treatise 'Principles
of Psychology.' (1890). It means the flow
of the thoughts. Incidents in the plot are
in the sequence of their occurrences. The
novelist narrates them as they enter the
mind of the character.
'Bildungsroman' novel : The German
word 'bildungsroman' indicates growth.
The fictional biography or autobiography
is concerned with the growth of the
protagonist's mind, spirit and characters
from their childhood to adulthood.
In the first half of the 20th century a
cult of 'pulp magazines' became popular
in which fantastic fiction for the general
entertainment of the masses was printed on
the cheap pulp paper. The pulp fiction era
provided a building ground for the detective
novels and science fiction.
Science fiction is a genre of speculative
fiction dealing with imaginative concepts
such as futuristic setting, futuristic science
and technology, space travel, time travel,
parallel universes and extraterrestrial
life. Science fiction often explores the
potential consequences of scientific and
other innovations. 'Frankenstein' by Mary
Shelly (1823) is considered the first novel