Rise of English Novel | The Eighteenth Century Novel

Novel took its birth from Medieval stories. Medieval stories were in the shape of ballads etc. There were the stories of King Arthur. There were stories of wicked wizard. There were stories of damsel in distress. These novels were mere rambling stories. The people liked such stories in the Middle Ages.

In the Elizabethan Age, 'Prose Romance' reached its climax. Sidney's 'Arcadia' is a popular piece of such writings. In the masterpieces, the writings were using flat characters, well-knitted plot and good prose style. Morality was presented in these novels.

In the 17th century, a new genre was introduced 'Picaresque Novel'. It remained popular till the days of Fielding and Smollett. The word 'Picaresque' has been taken from a Spanish word 'Picaro' which means a villain or rogue. The story bases on hero's adventures. On the way, he meets many misadventures. Such stories were full of digressions. Its examples are Fielding's 'Joseph Andrews' and Le Sage's 'Gil Blas'. These were picaresque stories.

Richard Head wrote 'The English Rogue' which is a popular picaresque novel. The readers are taken to different beautiful lands.

By the end of 17th century, the novel took a slight shape. In these novels, we can find well-knit plot, art of characterization and heavy dialogues. Bunyan's 'The Pilgrim's Progress' was considered as an allegory and it showed a smooth plot and variety of characters.

Daniel Defoe took to the climax the tendencies of 17th century. He became popular when he wrote 'Robinson Crusoe'.

In the early 18th century, the essayists were using the features of novel in their essays. There were loose-knit-plots and good characters in their essays. The motive of the writers was to create humour. Four well-known writers were dominating the world of novel. Professor Saintsbury says;

 

"Smollett, Sterne, Richardson and Henry Fielding are the four wheels of the van of English novel in the 18th century."

 

Let's discuss their masterpieces so that we may get a clear-cut idea of the features of 18th century.

Richardson's first creation is 'Pamela'. It was written in 1740. It was a novel of sentiments. It got success. It's matter, manner and morality were new. His other novels are 'Clarissa' and 'The History of a Young Lady'.

Richardson liked Henry Fielding from the core of his heart. Both were reformers. Fielding was a satirist whereas Richardson was a preacher. Fielding's well-known novels are 'Tom Jones', 'Amelia', 'Shamela' and 'Joseph Andrews'. Fielding wrote about realism and satire. His last novel is 'Amelia'. It was written in 1751.

Smollett was a great writer of the age. He was at the same time a surgeon, sailor and a hack-writer. He wrote a picaresque novel 'Roderick Random'. His another novel is 'Peregrine Pickle'.

Sterne is a popular novelist if this age. In his hands, novel reached its climax. He was the writer of 'Sentimental Journey' and 'Tristram Shandy'.

To conclude, we may say that 18th century has produced a number of literary figures. It was Henry Fielding who gave depth and new conception to English novel.