Rise of the Novel


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Rise of the Novel

Introduction : The novel is a modern form of literature. It is born from print, a mechanical invention. A novel literally means a story/history that is closely connected to making of modern ways of thinking. It is one of the new forms of literature.  Novels produced a number of common interests among their scattered and varied readers. As readers were drawn into the story and started to identify themselves with the fictitious characters of the novel, they became absorbed with the issues like love, marriage, proper conduct for men and women etc.

The Rise of Novel : The novel first took firm root in England and France. Novels began to be written from the 17th century. But they really flourished from the 18th Century. New groups of lower middle class people such as shopkeepers and clerks, along with the traditional aristocratic and gentlemanly classes in England and France, now formed the new readership for novels.

Expansion of the Market for Books: The growth of readership expanded the market for books and also increased the earnings of authors. A novelist of the early 18th century, Henry Fielding, claimed that he was 'the founder of a new province of writing,' where he could make his own laws. Walter Scott remembered and collected popular Scottish ballads (ballad is a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas) which he used in his historical novels about the wars between Scottish clans.

Epistolary Novel : It is a type of novel, which is written in the form of a series of a letter by using private and personal form of letters to tell a story. Such types of novel was written by Samuel Richardson in 18th Century and the name of his novel was "Pamela". In this novel , he told the story through an exchange of letters between two lovers. These letters tell the reader of hidden conflicts in the heroine mind's.

The Publishing Market: In earlier time, poor people were not able to buy a novel because it was expensive. Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones" (1749) was issued in six volumes at three shillings each,which was more than what a labourer earn in a week. But soon the circulating libraries were started in 1740 and people had easier access to books. Technological improvements in printing brought down the prices of books.

  • In France, publishers found that they could make good profits by hiring out novels by the hour. Novels became popular for several reasons.
  • In 1836, a notable event happened when Charles Dicken's "Pickwick Papers" was serialised in a magazine. Magazines were attractive, illustrated and cheap.
  • In the same year, Charles Dicken's first publication was a collection of journalistic essays entitled Sketches by 'Boz'.
  • The magazine 'All The Year Round' was edited by him.
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