Development of the novel - 18th century

                                                ASSIGNMENT

NAME:         Rabhadiya Vinod J

Year:             2013-14

Sem :              1

Paper No 2:  The Neo- Classical Literature

Topic :            Development of the novel - 18^th century

             

                                     

Submit To:

                                                          Smt.S.B.Gardi

                                                          Department of English

                                                          M.K.Bhavnagar University 

Introduction:

                       This period is called the classical age or the neo-classical age. It is also known as the age of 18^th century. Earlier, in the Elizabethan days, drama was the leading form of literature. In the puritan age, poetry on the highest position and drama declined as well. While in the restoration age heroic couplet was the voice and the choice of the people, which was mastered by John Dryden. Drama was also existed in this age, but it failed to get top position. Coming to the present topic, in the 18^th century, pop was dominant figure of that age. But some other persons were also there such as Jonathan Swift, Steel Henry fielding and Smelled etc. they also tried to write novel and made attempts to popularize the novel as the dominant from of literature.

                                                                 Let’s analyze the growth of novel in detail.

The emergence of the novel form:

                                                         Novel took birth in this era and got in maturity with passing of time. Samuel Richardson was the first person, who tried to write the first novel in this period like ‘Pamela’. It was published in 1740. A key concern in terms of the development of the eighteen century novel is the recurring preoccupation with realism and realistic depiction of society. We can see this in Defoe’s and Faulding’s preoccupations with the word “History” and the need to defend themselves against occupations of lying. And in their attempts to make their works as realistic as possible, whether by using first person narration as in Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe or by relying on Aristotle notions of “mimesis”. An alternative tactic was to use epistolary form, most notably in the works of Richardson, (and burlesqued by fielding in Shamble) or to use consciously anti-romance forms as a means of asserting the realism of their writing.

Shape and Forms:

                              It was necessary or need to shape experience into narrative order against working this means conflict between demands of narrative order and realistic portrayed. That time Defoe’s also wanted to produce a loose baggy monster of a novel with the thinking of narrative order. Then earlier we have the novelist like Henry Fielding. He is already self-conscious mind who used in his chapters and books. (See book-П Ch 1 of Joseph Andrews). This conflict between realistic intension and aesthetic narrative order is most clearly evident I sterna’s anti novel Tristan Sandy. In which we can see the conventions of the novel are exploded before the novel has had a chance to become a settled form. Eighteenth century novel turn between the demand not to offend, to teach and yet also to be realistic. The moral demands on writers exploded at the end of the nineteenth century (Hardly, James, George, Moore) but present here in the degree to which novelist deal with sex, adultery, passion and desire. Novel a morally uptight (hang up) form from the start same constraints apply to political issues.

Characterization, Social and Individual’s Identity and History:      

                                                                                                     The underlying emphasis within many eighteenth century novels is their emphasis or the individual and the extent to which they portray the inner life of the individual as distinct from his or her social class, rank, and status. This remained a continued tension within the novel thought the nineteenth century individual / society are seen to be antagonistic rather than self-supporting related to this the form and specification of individuation. Is the individual shown to be the product of social being or anterior to it?

Important of Novel in English Literature:  

                                                                  The novel is one of the important parts of English literature. Many novelist written novels in English and they had spend their lives into these work. They gave a significant moment of their lives into England, Scotland or Wales or Northern Ireland (or Ireland before 1922). However, given the nature of the subject, this guideline has been applied with common sense and reference is made to novels in other languages or novelists who are not primarily British appropriate.

Pour Wheels of Novels:   

1.     Henry Fielding           (1707-1754)

2.     Samuel Richardson    (1689-1761)

3.     Smelled                      (1721-1771)

4.     Lawrence Stern          (1713-1768)  

                                    

1. Henry Fielding:

                           He was born in 1707 at Somersetshire who was a younger son of an ancient family. He was educated at Eton and studied law at leaden. In 1748 he was appointed as a bow street magistrate a post which brought him a small income and much hard work. He himself was not puritan and his own excesses helped to undermine his constitution. In the hope that it would improve his health, he took a voyage to Portugal (1754), but he died some months after landing and was buried at Lisbon.

His novels are:

“Jonathan wild the great” (1743)

“A journey from this world to the next” (1743)

“Tom Jones” (1749)

“Amelia” (1751)

“The adventure of Joseph Andrews” (1742)

“Voyage to Lisbon”

                               The adventure of Joseph Andrews (1742) was the first novel by Henry Fielding. In this story Joseph Andrews, the hero is footman and the brother of lamella.

                                                        His great novel “Tom Jones” (1749) completes and perfects his achievements. In the book we have all his previous virtues, with the addition of greater summery of plot. The last work he produced his “Voyage to Lisbon”. This was a diary written during his last journey. His last novel, Amelia (1751) had as the original of the heroine Fielding’s first wife, and the character of the erring husband booth is based upon that of fielding himself.

                                             Like Richardson, Fielding had a genius for sounding the emotions of the human heart. But his methods are different. Unlike Richardson he has no heroes and few out and out villains. His characters are men, with all men’s weakness, and range of his portrait gallery has not often been exceeded. His work is totally different from Richardson’s bloodlessness.

                                              He is trying to show us life on the highway in the cottage, and among the streets of London. He frequently adopts an elaborate mock heroic style not quite in accordance with later taste. Fielding comic characters such as partridge, the humble companion of Tom Jones are numerous, diversified and exceedingly likable and lively.

                                                     He was a father of novel and he became the real founder of the modern novel.

2. Samuel Richardson: (1689-1761)

                                     

                                     Samuel Richardson was born in Derbyshire, the son of a joiner. By whom he was apprenticed to a London printer. The boy received very little education, but he had a natural talent for writing letters and even as awe find him frequently employed by working girls to write their love letters for them. Moreover, he was a keen observer of manners.

1.”Pamela or virtue rewarded” (1740)

2.”Clarissa or the adventures of a young lady” (1747-48)

3.”Clarissa Harlow” (1747-48)

4.”Sir Charles Grandison” (1753-54)

Richardson’s first attempts at writing fiction began at the age of thirteen when he was the confidant of three illiterate young women, for whom he wrote lone letters. This practice after ward stood him in good stead. At the age of fifty years his novel printed out of his own, called Pamela, or virtue rewarded (1740). His work was instantly successful. The characters especially the chief female characters, slowly but accurately make up during the gradual evolution of the simple plot, were new to the readers of the time and mark a great step forward in the history of the English novel.

          Another novel of Richardson is” Clarissa Harlow” show his characterization at the best, not only Clarissa but many of the minor characters are well drawn.

           Richardson’s greatest ability lies in characterization. His style lacks distinction. Their most striking feature is Richardson’s moral purpose. A professed teacher he is the embodiment of the religious earnestness of the rising puritan middle class.            

           The plots have little complexity and are slow in the development and novels tend tube shapeless. Though his last work, Sir Charles Grandison shows sign of more complexity and skill in this direction. His greatest ability lies in characterization. We can see Richardson’s part of history of the novel in which he introduction of characters of the lower-middle classes, whom he portrays with great accuracy.

3. Tobias Smollet:

                              Captain Tobias Smelled was born in 1721who was a Scotsman being in Dunbartonshire. Though he came of a good family, from an early age he had to work for living.

1.”The Adventure of Roderick Random” (1748)

2.” The Adventure of Peregrine Pickle” (1781)

3.” The Adventure of Ferdinand” (1753)

4.” The Adventure of Sir Launched Greaves” (1762)

5.” The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker” (1771)

“Roderick Random” is an example of the “Picaresque” novel. The hero is a roguery. He travels many lands, both good and bad.

                                                                                     Tobias Smellet however brings variety into his novels by endless shifting of the scenes, which cover many portion of the globe, by his wide knowledge and initial perception of local manners and customs and his use of a plain and vigorous narrative style. 

Important of Novel and History:

                                                       Before the 18^th century the place of novel is not a real one. At that time a fictitious prose and tale presenting a picture of real life. But we get the idea of the novel comes. After that a century later that real life became the dominant topic of the novel. There was beginning to buy and reading books especially women. The influence of book such as “Don Quixote” which was one of the books that provides a model for 18^th century writers.

                                                   The father of the English novel is generally considered tube “Daniel Defoe”. His three great novels are “Robinson Crusoe” “Moll Flanders”. And “Roxana” ware all published before 1730. Along with Defoe others pioneers Fielding (Tom Jones). We must added two Irish rebels, Jonathan Swift and Lawrence Stern, both these men to be regarded as novelistic masterpiece, Such as “Gulliver Travels” and “Tristan Shandy”.

                                                We can see that the early years of the development of novel the period of novel and novelists were like experimentation. They just experiment of the other past prose and forms. There were at that time no dominant form, they doing story telling of past. The writers were different from each other in spite of this their forms and works and prose’s were also different from others. So that time there was no any kind of formula or any style there this can be considered as novel form and provided models for novelists who followed.

                                                      There are some novels which were written during romantic Era. Romantic novel has several possible meanings. It’s generally written during Rom antic times and with the beginning of the Victorian era in 1837. There are romantic novels likes “Walter Scott” “Nathaniel Hawthorne”  “George Meredith”. The romantic period is especially associated with the poets ‘William Black’, ‘William Wordsworth’, ‘Samuels Taylor’ and many others.

                                           Many questions arise in our mind which we are reading and talking about the history and the theme of novel,  because at that time there was no any style any formation just only tales of past. Such questions are like: why are novels in prose? Why are they so often stories of adventures? And why is there a European but not a Chinese rise of the novel in the course of the eighteen century. So some we may imagine or thinking that the novel have different shape because to make the library field longer, larger and deeper, historically longer, geographically larger and morphologically deeper than those few classics of nineteenth century western European. In terms of the subsequent development of the novel, i.e. the realist 19^th century novel the period of the eighteenth century is a mixture of consolidation and experimentation.

                            It was in the Victorian era (1837-1901) that the novel became the leading library genre in English. Another important fact is that the number of women novelists who were successful in the 19^th century even though they often had to use a masculine pseudonym. At that time at the heart and centre of the readers were only women novelists.

              The 1830 and 1840 we can see the rise of social novel which also known as social problems novel. Many ways were a reaction to rapid industrialization and the social political and economic issues associated with it. There was also a point or a matter of commenting on abuses of government and industry and the suffering of the poor who were not profiting from England economic ways and facing many problems. The stories of middle working class, poor class how gives it sympathy was beautifully natured by “Charles Dickens Oliver Twist” (1837-38).