Literary Studies

LMD1 Course summaries (2nd Semester)

History of British Literature:

British Literature Timeline:

18th century
Enlightenment.
The Rise of the
English novel

Watch Videos:

 Introduction to Medieval Literature_ Old English, Middle English and Historical

Context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9S7mp8slR0

 Introduction to Chaucer: Middle English and the Canterbury Tales:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSLaGOSuCUw
 History of English in Ten Minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfKhlJIAhew
Prof Ilhem Serir’s lectures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQmNS9LB4kg&t=4s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WVRPPWT9XQ&t=25s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fHEKgmuoy4&t=104s

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 Lecture 1 Old English Literature:
Early British Literature was oral, told in the form of songs, stories, proverbs, legends, myths, folk
tales, and riddles. It was recorded orally and transmitted from one generation to another through re-
telling, for the sake of amusement.

It is referred to as Old English because it is an Anglo-saxon language, it arrived to England by the

invasions of the Angles and the Saxons around the 4th century. The term “Old English” is thus a
reference to the language, not to the literature itself. This language is merely Germanic and is thus
different from today’s English. It was also affected by the arrivals of the Romans, the Christian
missionaries by the 7th century, and the Vikings. Most of this literature was composed orally in the
beginning by commons whose culture was rather limited because education was allowed for the
aristocracies and the people of the court only. It reflected their daily lives and their fantasies about
mythical creatures like Dragons. It included many references to wolves and eagles too. Snow and Ice
are symbols of sorrow and sadness in these literary works. They also had references to pagan elements
since they were composed in Scandinavia before the introduction of Christianity in the area.

Old English literature is characterized by the use of the:

 Alliteration, which is the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of each word of the
same verse.
 Caesura, which is a short pause that divides the verse into two lines.
 Rhetorical Devices: Figures of speech

Example: (this line is written in Anglo-Saxon)

Firum foldan, frea almihtig

caesura
Alliteration

READ, UNDERSTAND, AND KEEP THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEAS

The literary works of this period came in form of epic (a long narrative poem that exceeds a 1000
lines). Some of them were historical epics, like the Battle of Maldon, a poem about Anglo-Saxon
warriors preparing for a battle. The author and exact date of this poem are unknown, but it is known
that the battle itself took place in the year 991.

Other examples of epic poems from the period are the religious epic, like Caedmon’s Hymn, which
was a re-writing of the bible, and Cynewulf’s “The Fates of the Apostles, a short Martyrology. His
themes are about the evangelical missions from the time of the Christ to the Triumph of Christianity
under Constantine (Roman Emperor).

The oldest and most famous literary work of the period is Beowulf, it is a narrative epic poem,
composed in Scandinavia and transferred to England by the Anglo-Saxon invasion, thus its real author
is unknown. The poem was oral in the beginning but was transcribed after the arrival of the Christian
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 missionaries, thus, the transcribed version of the poem includes some modifications, merely related to
the introduction of Christian elements. Thus, the poem Beowulf contains both Christian and paganist
streams.

Beowulf is a poem that tells the story of a man whose heroism and courage were legendary. He was a
prince in King Horthgar’s mead-hall in Denmark, which was attacked by the monster Grendel for 12
years. Grendel was devouring the warriors of the area so Beowulf interfered and fought him to death.
Grendel’s mother came back for revenge, she fought Beowulf who also killed her and became famous
for his bravery and heroism. Beowulf becomes King of the Geats and after fifty years he fights a
powerful Dragon. He destroys the Dragon but is unfortunately killed with it.

The Paganist and Christian elements in the poem compose a form of duality, sometimes between the
character of Beowulf and the monsters he fights and sometimes within his own beliefs. These include
references to “fate” as a decision maker in the line “From Cain sprang many a devil sent by Fate”, but
it also entails that what is sent by fate is evil because what is sent by God in the poem is survival and
safety as in the line: “a signal of God, the sea became still” knowing that he was fighting the monster
of the sea ( which is a mythical figure).

Other forms of this combination appear in the “virtues of heroism” which are related to the aspects of
courage and revenge, to the gentleness of the new belief, symbolized in the period of peace marked by
Beowulf. One of the paganist aspects represented in the monster Grendel and his mother is the
“Ragnarok” which is a reference to the end of the world. In the poem Grendel and his mother are said
to be wearing God’s anger and thus are leading a fight against God which denotes evil, by fighting
them, Beowulf is actually fighting for God (Christian reference).

References:
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs1a/page.html

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 Lecture 2 Middle English:
Middle English as a language takes its roots back to the Norman Conquest, led by the Duke of Normandy
and, later, William I of England in 1066. The first stage of the language was known as Norman-English
because it was a combination between Anglo-Saxon (Old English) and French Norman. The language of
the Court and the monarchy was Norman while the language of the commons was Old English.
Anglo-Norman became the language of the kings and nobility of England for more than 300. While
Anglo-Norman was the language of administration and culture, Latin was mostly used for written
language, especially by the Church and in official records.
The transition went through different stages, through which some Norman words replaced Anglo_Saxon
words in some cases only, leaving them still in use in other contexts. Other words replaced the Anglo-
Saxon terms and made caused their entire disappearance. Example animal names in the field generally
kept their English names (e.g. sheep, cow, ox, calf, swine, deer), once cooked and served their names
often became French (e.g. beef, mutton, pork, bacon, veal, venison, etc). Sometimes a French word
completely replaced an Old English word (e.g. crime replaced firen, place replaced stow, people replaced
leod, beautiful replaced wlitig, uncle replaced eam, etc). Sometimes French and Old English components
combined to form a new word, such as the French gentle and the Germanic man combined to formed
gentleman.
1. TYPES OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE:
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was a historical document that recorded the history of the English people
for centuries in Anglo-Saxon language. It recorded its last entry by the fall of Old English in front of
Norman French.
Arthurian Legend The term Arthurian legend describes the body of stories and medieval romances (also
known as the matter of Britain) centring on the legendary King Arthur. Medieval writers, especially the
French, variously treated stories of Arthur’s birth, the adventures of his knights, and the adulterous love
between his knight Sir Lancelot and his queen, Guinevere.
Prose and Courtly Poetry, English began to displace Anglo-Norman as the language spoken at court
and in aristocratic circles. This gave the chance to Geoffrey Chaucer to flourish, whose genius
established English as a literary language. This literature discussed topics of morality and courtly love.
The stock figures of the ardent but endlessly frustrated lover and the irresistible but disdainful lady
were cultivated as part of the “game of love” depicted in numerous courtly lyrics.
2. The Canterbury Tales:
Geoffrey Chaucer began writing his famous “Canterbury Tales” in the early 1380s, and crucially he
chose to write it in English. The “Canterbury Tales” is considered the first great works of English
literature, and the first demonstration of the “artistic legitimacy of vernacular Middle English”, as
opposed to French or Latin.
It is a book that combines more than 20 stories told by 29 pilgrims on their road to the city of Canterbury
for pilgrimage. The stories were collected and inscribed by Chaucer and published in one book. The book
contains short stories written in the form of narrative poems and prose fiction. They discuss mostly social
issues like love, marriage, loyalty, betrayal, etc.
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 2.1.1.
The Canterbury Tales:
Is a collection of over 20 stories told by 29 pilgrims on their road to the city of Canterbury for
pilgrimage. The stories were collected and inscribed by Chaucer and published in one book. The book
contains short stories written in the form of narrative poems and prose fiction. They discuss mostly
social issues like love, marriage, loyalty, betrayal, etc.
2.1.2. The Wife of Bath’s Tale: this is a prose fiction told by a woman who married five different men.
The sotry starts with a prologue that speaks about her appreciation of marriage and of what she
wants from a man. The sotry itself, tells what the wife of bath really wants from her husbands. It
is characterized by the use of the assonance, which is the repetition of the same vowel sound or
syllable at the end of the words of the same sentence: “the she whispered in his ear, be glad have
no fear”

Summary provided by Pr. Serir

The Canterbury Tales ends with Chaucer’s Retracciouns where he renounces all his secular works
including those tales of Canterbury that are immoral. 

The Wife of Bath’s Tale Fragment 3, lines 857–1264

Summary (READ THIS SUMMARY AND REMEMBER ONLY THE MOST IMPORTANT
EVENTS)

In the days of King Arthur, the Wife of Bath begins, the isle of Britain was full of fairies and elves. Now,
those creatures are gone because their spots have been taken by the friars and other mendicants that seem
to fill every nook and cranny of the isle. And though the friars rape women, just as the incubi did in the
days of the fairies, the friars only cause women dishonor—the incubi always got them pregnant.

In Arthur’s court, however, a young, lusty knight comes across a beautiful young maiden one day.
Overcome by lust and his sense of his own power, he rapes her. The court is scandalized by the crime and
decrees that the knight should be put to death by decapitation. However, Arthur’s queen and other ladies
of the court intercede on his behalf and ask the king to give him one chance to save his own life. Arthur,
wisely obedient to wifely counsel, grants their request. The queen presents the knight with the following
challenge: if, within one year, he can discover what women want most in the world and report his
findings back to the court, he will keep his life. If he cannot find the answer to the queen’s question, or if
his answer is wrong, he will lose his head.

The knight sets forth in sorrow. He roams throughout the country, posing the question to every woman he
meets. To the knight’s dismay, nearly every one of them answers differently. Some claim that women
love money best, some honor, some jolliness, some looks, some sex, some remarriage, some flattery, and
some say that women most want to be free to do as they wish. Finally, says the Wife, some say that
women most want to be considered discreet and secretive, although she argues that such an answer is
clearly untrue, since no woman can keep a secret. As proof, she retells Ovid’s story of Midas. Midas had
two ass’s ears growing under his hair, which he concealed from everybody except his wife, whom he
begged not to disclose his secret. She swore she would not, but the secret burned so much inside her that
she ran down to a marsh and whispered her husband’s secret to the water. The Wife then says that if her
listeners would like to hear how the tale ends, they should read Ovid.

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She returns to her story of the knight. When his day of judgment draws near, the knight sorrowfully heads
for home. As he rides near a forest, he sees a large group of women dancing and decides to approach
them to ask his question. But as he approaches, the group vanishes, and all he can see is an ugly old
woman. The woman asks if she can be of help, and the knight explains his predicament and promises to
reward her if she can help him. The woman tells the knight that he must pledge himself to her in return
for her help, and the knight, having no options left, gladly consents. She then guarantees that his life will
be saved.

The knight and the old woman travel together to the court, where, in front of a large audience, the knight
tells the queen the answer with which the old woman supplied him: what women most desire is to be in
charge of their husbands and lovers. The women agree resoundingly that this is the answer, and the queen
spares the knight’s life. The old hag comes forth and publicly asks the knight to marry her. The knight
cries out in horror. He begs her to take his material possessions rather than his body, but she refuses to
yield, and in the end he is forced to consent. The two are married in a small, private wedding and go to
bed together the same night. Throughout the entire ordeal, the knight remains miserable.

While in bed, the loathsome hag asks the knight why he is so sad. He replies that he could hardly bear the
shame of having such an ugly, lowborn wife. She does not take offense at the insult, but calmly asks him
whether real “gentillesse,” or noble character, can be hereditary (1109). There have been sons of noble
fathers, she argues, who were shameful and villainous, though they shared the same blood. Her family
may be poor, but real poverty lies in covetousness, and real riches lie in having little and wanting nothing.
She offers the knight a choice: either he can have her be ugly but loyal and good, or he can have her
young and fair but also coquettish and unfaithful. The knight ponders in silence. Finally, he replies that he
would rather trust her judgment, and he asks her to choose whatever she thinks best. Because the knight’s
answer gave the woman what she most desired, the authority to choose for herself, she becomes both
beautiful andgood. The two have a long, happy marriage, and the woman becomes completely obedient to
her husband. The Wife of Bath concludes with a plea that Jesus Christ send all women husbands who are
young, meek, and fresh in bed, and the grace to outlive their husbands.

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 Lecture 3 Elizabethan Literature

Elizabethan Literature is the literature of the period of Queen Elizabeth in the sixteenth century. The
period witnessed great developments in terms of education and economy as common people had more
access to education than in the previous ages. Different forms of literature flourished in this period like
poetry and playwriting. Famous figures from the period are poets like Edmund Spencer, playwrights
Christopher Marlowe, philosophers and scientists who contributed in making the Renaissance like Francis
Bacon, and finally literary geniuses like William Shakespeare. It is said that Queen Elizabeth had a direct
influence on the literature of her age, it is a period referred to as the Golden age of English literature,
and it is argued that she has been a direct source of inspiration for these authors, as she supported theatre
in particular (Sparknotes).
Society was composed of different classes, starting by the Monarch, occupying the highest rank, followed
by the nobility and gentry whose wealth was very large, followed by the yeomen whose lands and wealth
were considerably smaller than those of the gentry. The next class is that of the farmers who rented the
lands of the gentry and yeomen to gain their living, then the laboring poor and the homeless . Each of
these classes respected their “positions” and had to behave according to them. These ranks and classes
were recognized by a precise code of dressing (Tutor2u).
The literature of this age came merely in form of Drama, which actually united the different social
classes despite their differences. The plays were performed by the labourers and lowest classes, and
because of the popularity of theatre in this period the same plays were staged to the lower classes in the
afternoon then to the upper classes at night. Thus, responses to these plays included different
perspectives. The period also witnessed the birth of the first theatre in England, in 1576. Very soon,
playwriting became a good source of income for authors who were excellent in developing different other
genres. William Shakespeare for example found the opportunity to develop the Blank Verse which is an
unrhymed Iambic Pentameter line (Luebering 177-188).
Drama derives from a late Latin word, meaning “a play”, itself deriving from Greek verb “drao”,
meaning “I do” and the related noun drama with the stem dramat- MEANING A “DEED”, “ACTION”,
OR A “DRAMA”. In short, the word bears two meanings, the first one is “doing a deed”, while the other
means “playing a role”. The word is thus appropriately used to refer to actions in prose fiction including
characters playing a role (performing) or where a “lively scenario is represented as taking place in real
time”. The term chiefly refers to “performance” (Whitla 122).
The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as: “A composition in prose or verse, adapted to be acted upon a
stage, in which a story is related by means of dialogue and action, and is represented with accompanying
gesture, costume, and a scenery, as in real life; a play’’. Martin Esslin thought that this definition
excluded other important elements of a play like the improvisation by actors, fantasy (as opposed to real-
life), and television, film and radio by centering the performance to the stage. He on the other hand
suggested it to be defined as an “art form based on mimetic action” (mimetic / mimesis means imitation).
Greek philosopher Aristotle, on the other hand, defined Drama as “arising from a human impulse to
imitate”(123)

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Literary figures of Elizabethan Drama:
Topics were about the middle classes in general, patriotic, romantic, historical, including music and love
interest. Some simply presented simple spectacle and song like George Peele’s Old Wives’ Tale (c.
1595) and Nashe’s Summer’s Last Will and Testament (1600), Robert Greene wrote comical histories,
mixing serious plot set among kings with comic action involving clowns, like his Friar Bacon and Friar
Bungay (1594).
One more great and very elegant author of the period is Christopher Marlowe, who also served Queen
Elizabeth 1 before he started writing. He began his writing career in London theatres in 1587. Marlowe
was controversial because of his reported atheism. His most famous work is The Tragicall History of Dr.
Faustus, published around 1604, a story of temptation and damnation. It uses figures such as the good
angel and the bad angel and the seven deadly sins, the devils Lucifer and Mephistopheles. In Faustus
Marlowe tells the story of Doctor Faustus, who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and
power. The devil Mephistopheles achieves glory as a fallen angel torn between satanic pride and dark
despair (Luebering 177-185).
William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564, —died April 23, 1616 ) is referred to as the greatest English
dramatist and poet of all times. His works covered themes that have always been accurate and symbolic
not only for his age but for all time. He is described as having a keenness of mind that applies not to
themes but “to human beings and their complete range of emotions and conflicts”. He was a source of
inspiration for other writers, and his plays still receive much appreciation in theatres to this very day. His
themes included ideas that only became trendy in the twentieth century like Postcolonialism and the
question of the Other (people that are marginalized and repressed) in his plays Othello, Anthony and
Cleopatra, and The Tempest. Other themes had to do with romantic love (Romeo and Juliet), Anti-
Semitism and Greed (The Merchant of Venice), Love and fantasy as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He
has a very particular way of staging conflict in his plays, his conflicts do not concern men only, but race,
class, politics, wars, even philosophies, and each time he depicts a dramatic hero finding himself in a fight
against what appears to be more a philosophical and ideological enemy rather than a simple person.
Shakespeare’s theatre was referred to as the Globe and his actors were referred to as the company. His
plays generally split into two main types, Comedy (having happy endings and comic events) or Tragedy
(like Hamlet).
IMPORTANT NOTE : revise The Merchant of Venice from the notes you’ve taken in class, focus on
the plot development, main events, characters, and themes of the play

References:
 Luebering, J E. English Literature from the Old English Period through the Renaissance. New York,
Ny, Britannica Educational Pub., In Association With Rosen Educational Services, 2011.
 Whitla, William. The English Handbook, A Guide to Literary Studies. Oxford: Blackwell, 2010. Print
 Čađo, Mojca. “Postcolonial Othering in Three Plays by Shakespeare: Othello, Antony and Cleopatra,
The Tempest.” Darhiv.Ffzg.Unizg.Hr, 2014, darhiv.ffzg.unizg.hr/5213/. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.
 “Conflict In Shakespeare.” No Sweat Shakespeare,
www.nosweatshakespeare.com/play-summary/play-themes/conflict-2/. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.

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 John, Terence, and John Russell. “William Shakespeare | Facts, Life, & Plays.” Encyclopædia
Britannica, 20 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/William-Shakespeare.
 N/A. “SparkNotes: Queen Elizabeth I: Elizabethan Literature.” Www.Sparknotes.Com,
www.sparknotes.com/biography/elizabeth/section9/.
 N/A. “Tutor2u.” Tutor2u, 2016, www.tutor2u.net/history/reference/elizabethan-society.

Further Reading:
https://sites.google.com/site/krishnashomeclub/index/preface/prefatory-remarks

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 Lecture 4 The Enlightenment (The Age of Reason) and the Rise of the Novel
The late sixteenth to the seventeenth century in Europe witnessed the Renaissance, which is a scientific,
cultural and intellectual movement, considered as the birth of sciences in Europe. The next period in
Europe, and England in particular is that of the Enlightenment, often referred to as the Age of Reason
(and Modernity), is a consequence of the Renaissance. The birth of sciences enhanced the intellectual life
in Europe, many philosophers and thinkers started to write about reason and scientific truth. The spirit of
this age centered around science as the only truth man can be sure of, thus any knowledge which is not
calculable, or scientifically proven, is not reasonable. Reason thus became synonym to truth, and science
becoming a definition of truth.
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER For Emmanuel Kant, the Enlightenment is “Man’s emergence from
one’s own self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s own understanding without
the guidance of another. This immaturity is self imposed if its cause is not lack of understanding, but
lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of the enlightenment
is therefore: Sapere Aude! Have courage to use your own understanding”. (Aufklarung is the German
translation of the word Enlightenment)
The Main Figures of the Enlightenment:
(READ ONLY TO UNDERSTAND) There have been many thinkers in the Enlightenment age who
wrote about this movement. The literature of this period was rather rational and intellectual instead of
fictional. The first thinkers to define the Enlightenment are French, German, and English philosophers
and scientists, who—together—formed a movement they called Philosophes.
This movement included Jean Jacques Rousseau (French), Renée Descartes (French), John Voltaire,
Denis Diderot, and others. These philosophers defined the Enlightenment starting from Descartes’
principle (I think therefore I am), thus relating man’s existence to his ability to think for himself (which
leads back to Kant’s definition of the Enlightenment)
Other British thinkers like John Locke, Isaac Newton, David Hume, related the Enlightenment to science
and truth, having Newton’s theory of the Gravity, and his essays about science, as an inspiration leading
them to conclude that natural and human laws contribute in making things happen.
Principles of the Enlightenment: (READ ONLY AND REMEMBER THE MOST IMPORTANT
IDEAS)

 Individualism: Man is the centre of the universe.

 Humanitarianism
 Secularism
 Human reason can discover the natural laws of the universe and determine the natural rights of
mankind.
 Human reason can ensure unending progress in knowledge, technical achievement, and moral
values
 The self is conscious, rational, autonomous, and universal—
 Man makes sense of the world through reason, or rationality, posited as the highest form of mental
functioning, and the only objective form.
 The mode of knowing produced by the objective rational self is “science.
 The knowledge produced by science is “truth,” and is eternal.
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  The knowledge/truth produced by science (by the rational objective knowing self) will always lead
toward progress and perfection.
 Reason is the ultimate judge of what is true, and therefore of what is right, and what is good
 In a world governed by reason, the true will always be the same as the good and the right

The Consequences of the Age of Reason (also factors of the rise of a new literary genre: the novel)
1. The rise of a new social class, the Bourgeois class, constituted of tradesmen of the middle class,
with limited education and large wealth
2. The spread of intellectual cafés which enhanced political and intellectual debates
3. The invention of the printing machine and the translation of the bible
4. Higher education rate among the commons
5. The need of a literature that represents the middle class to entertain them

References:
http://www.westga.edu/~mmcfar/Worksheet%20on%20the%20Age%20of%20Reason.htm
http://www.ministrytopostmoderns.com/explained/literature/155-literature-and-postmodernism
Fitzpatrick, Martin. The Enlightenment World. London: Routledge, 2004.

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 LECTURE 5 The Rise of the Novel
Before eighteenth century prose was less available to people and consisted of a language that laymen
could not manage to understand, since it was in Latin: In prose; there were books written in a heavy Latin
style discussing religious problems, and other books dealing with education and travel. People wanted to
be entertained and they found it in the drama and poetry of their period.
By the time of the invention of the printing machine, printed books became available and were in
prose, since verse could not suit the written form and was considered as ‘an artificial and difficult form of
communication’, thus, prose fiction became a new entertainer because this new narrative could reproduce
daily life (Stevenson 1960: 5). This new form employed a language accessible to all people for ‘poets and
playwrights demanded a great deal of sophistication from their audiences’ (Smith & co 1974: 1).
The novel, as a genre, has developed through the centuries and matured speedily in the eighteenth
century. It is connected with other literary genres such as prose fiction, drama, epic and poetry.

The Novel Defined

(READ ONLY AND EXTRACT THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEAS)
It is difficult to give a truly intelligible definition to the novel given its fluctuating structures and goals all
through its progress. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary introduces the novel as “a fictitious prose narrative
of considerable length in which characters and actions representative of real life are portrayed in a plot of
more or less complexity” (cited in Rees 1973, p. 106). Therefore, it is stated that a novel is a portion of
prose fiction of an important length. this definition emphasizes the term ‘prose’ signifying the familiar or
everyday spoken form of language lacking the occurrence of poetic rhythmic arrangement. Nevertheless,
there are a small number of novels written in verse as well, such as Vikram Seth’s The Golden Gate and
Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegi.
The other side of the description is associated with the length that is displayed in all most all novels to
distinguish its exclusive feature as a type in regards to the short story that is another genre. The lengths of
some novels are comparable to the length of short stories and for this reason, a term such as ‘novella’ is
frequently employed for shorter novels. The word novel is regarded to be derived from the Latin word
Novellus, Italian word novella (which meant a small new thing), and French word Nouvelle.
The novel is defined as “a narrative in prose, based on a story, in which the author may portray character,
and the life of an age, and analyse sentiments and passions, and the reactions of men and women to their
environment” (Evans 1976: 212).
Thus, the novel is a long narrative based on the daily lives of some characters, it represents their joys and
sorrows; successes and failures, and it portrays a certain period in history.
Why did the novel rise precisely at that period? Critics argue that the novel developed with the increase of
the reading public, this reading public that consisted of the rising middle-class, the novel became ‘an art-
form written by and for the now-powerful commercial bourgeoisie’ (Kettle 1969: 28).

The Factors that Influenced the Rise of the Novel (MUST BE REMEMBERED)

 Industrial revolution
It is one of the chief reasons that helped to the rise of the novel through the development of industries.
With the new equipment the work could be achieved rapidly and people could have time for relaxation
and entertainment during which people preferred reading novels.

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  Printing press
It was obtainable to manufacture several copies at a cheaper price. Even people with low salaries could
afford themselves books unlike in the past when only aristocrats were the reading community.

 The availability of newspapers and magazines

It increased the tendency of reading which finally led people to read novels. The publication of some
novels in magazines increased the access to novels in addition to the booking form. Hasan confirms that
the industrial revolution: “paved the way to the rise of the middle-class people” (2015, p. 2) who
enhanced the claim of reading resources for, they had an abundance of leisure time. Further, they had
desires to read about “their everyday experiences” (Hasan, 2015, p. 2) which encouraged authors like
Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and Henry Fielding to write prose fiction portraying real-life
experiences.

 The decline of romance and drama

Before romances were appropriate to be read by the privileged aristocratic or noble families, it could not
maintain the readership. The simple people were uninterested in romances because; they had no desire of
any sort to them. In addition to that, the stories were getting older and unrealistic then they were no longer
exciting to the people. The settings in which the stories in the romances took place were also unrealistic.

 Decline of drama
It was also one reason that helped the rise of the novel. During the rule of Cromwell in the 17 th century,
theatres (the most entertaining popular settings during the Elizabethan era) were forbidden and closed.
Additionally, the novel could attain a larger audience, unlike theatre which could attain only a restricted
audience.

 Rise of the middle class

It is one of the results of the industrial revolution was the rise of the middle-class. People became more
progressively wealthy and even poor people of lower status were able to raise their status. The middle-
class people started imitating the traditional landed gentry demanding books to read. Besides the
amelioration of the living standard, many people obtained education and became able to read. Women
readers increased with greater leisure time with the rise of the middle-class and it was a fashion for high-
status women to remain engaged in reading literature. The middle-class people looked for literature which
suited to their temper and taste.

 Mobile libraries
The innovation of mobile libraries made the increase in reading public easy. Reading was encouraged by
providing easy access to books since books were delivered to the homes if people are members in the
mobile library. It was very beneficial mostly for women. Even though the industrial revolution caused the
decline in romance and drama, the rise of the middle class and mobile libraries played a paramount role in
the rise of the novel. Finally, four authors precisely Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, and Sterne took the
novel to “the highest point of glory” (Roy, 2016, p. 8).

These lectures were elaborated based on the courses of Prof Serir, Dr Mouro, Dr Kheladi, Ms
Mengouchi, Dr Belmerabet.

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 Aspects of the Novel

The novel, as previously stated differs from its previous forms because of its numerous characteristics. It
is made of a plot, a setting and, most important, a set of different characters.
Plot:
Plot is a series of events or episodes that make up the action of a work of fiction and E. M. Forster
defines it as “a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality” (1966: 93). The reader questions the
reasons of the happenings of the events and this is called curiosity. It requires intelligence and memory.
Plot refers to the action or “story line” of the literary work. Both drama and fiction have plots, but
sometimes poems also do. Plot often involves conflict between two or more characters or between a
character and himself or between a character and external opposing forces. One has to bear in mind that
there is no action without conflict. Conflict in literature might include the following:

 Man VS Man or self?

 Man Vs Nature?

 Man Vs (God) Religion?

 Man Vs the supernatural?

Man Vs Technology?
The typical and traditional representation of plot in literature involves the following steps:

 Exposition: a phase within which conflict / action begins. The author at this stage often introduces
the characters, the setting and provides a description of the background.

 Rising action: these are the events that promote the conflict.

 Climax: this is the peak of conflict or the point of greatest emotional tension in the story.

 Resolution: a phase where the character solves the conflict or someone else solves it for him.

 Denouement: it’s the ending and therefore any remaining mystery after the resolution will be
solved, explained and clarified either by the characters or by the author.

Setting:
The setting is time and place. The novelist is concerned with men in a particular place at a particular time,
and according to Walter Allen, the greatest novelist is the one who is able to write about his time in a way
to distinguish it from another (1958: 23-24).
Characters:
Characterization went through different stages in order to reach the kind of ‘people’ we have in novels.
The first break with the old tradition was to select characters from lower classes, no more kings and
queens, nor knights. The new hero of the new genre was an ordinary man that we might meet throughout
our lives, and the importance of the realistic aspect of characters is demonstrated by Lionel Stevenson:
“no matter how believable the action may be in itself, it does not win the reader’s full credulity unless it is
performed by distinct individuals who are recognizable in terms of our experience” (1960: 8). The
character in a novel resembles strangely and realistically human beings in real life.

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The Different Types of the Novel:
 The epistolary novel: it is made up of letters exchanged by the characters, such as Pamela (1740)
and Clarissa (1748) by Richardson
 The picaresque novel: from picaro (dishonest and unusual) a kind of journey in search of an ideal,
with characters rather foolish and involved in situations too complex to be resolved.
 The comic novel: the characters and/or the situations they live are absurd.
 The historical novel: fictional narrative which constructs history and recreates it imaginatively.
 The psychological novel: modern and postmodern, it is fiction devoted to the investigation of
spiritual, emotional and mental life of characters caring nothing for plot or actions (Virginia
Woolf).
 Thesis novel: it deals with social, religious or political issue having a didactic purpose (Hard
Times by Dickens)
 The sentimental novel
 The gothic novel:
 The detective / thriller novel

Major writers of the 18th century:

Major 18th Century Novelists:
During the early years of the eighteenth century, Daniel Defoe (1659/1661-1731) produced Robinson
Crusoe (1719), and that was quite different from previous works. This book is about the adventures of a
common man, not those of a king, a knight or an extraordinary hero.
Yet, the real break from the previous tradition was made by Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) in Pamela
(1740) and Clarissa (1748), when he introduced the narrative combined with the epistolary form. He
added a “dramatic presentation of events through a series of letters, and the analysis of human emotions
and motivation in prose story form” (Smith & co 1974: 172-3), as well as sentimentality influenced all the
coming novelists. He was considered as sexual moralist and for women he was a prophet of emotion.
Henry Fielding (1707-1754) introduced irony and satire (the comic form) and used many characters to
represent all social classes. He wrote Shamela (1741); a total imitation of Pamela in which he ridicules
Richardson’s simplistic reduction of virtue to female virginity and it was a failure. Then, he wrote Joseph
Andrews (1742), The History of Tom Jones (1749), and many others. Fielding wanted to reform manners
whereas Richardson worked to improve them.
Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759) a comic novel on
morals in which he introduced sentimentality, and Tobias Smollett (1721-1771) a moralist and satirist
who used comedy to talk about what disgusted him in society as in The Adventures of Roderick Random
(1748).

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 Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
(READ ONLY AND EXTRACT THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEAS)

Summary extracted from https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/robinson-crusoe/book-summary

Robinson Crusoe, as a young and impulsive wanderer, defied his parents and went to sea. He was
involved in a series of violent storms at sea and was warned by the captain that he should not be a
seafaring man. Ashamed to go home, Crusoe boarded another ship and returned from a successful trip to
Africa. Taking off again, Crusoe met with bad luck and was taken prisoner in Sallee. His captors sent
Crusoe out to fish, and he used this to his advantage and escaped, along with a slave.

He was rescued by a Portuguese ship and started a new adventure. He landed in Brazil, and, after some
time, he became the owner of a sugar plantation. Hoping to increase his wealth by buying slaves, he
aligned himself with other planters and undertook a trip to Africa in order to bring back a shipload of
slaves. After surviving a storm, Crusoe and the others were shipwrecked. He was thrown upon shore only
to discover that he was the sole survivor of the wreck. Crusoe made immediate plans for food, and then
shelter, to protect himself from wild animals. He brought as many things as possible from the wrecked
ship, things that would be useful later to him. In addition, he began to develop talents that he had never
used in order to provide himself with necessities. Cut off from the company of men, he began to
communicate with God, thus beginning the first part of his religious conversion.

To keep his sanity and to entertain himself, he began a journal. In the journal, he recorded every task that
he performed each day since he had been marooned. As time passed, Crusoe became a skilled craftsman,
able to construct many useful things, and thus furnished himself with diverse comforts. He also learned
about farming, as a result of some seeds which he brought with him. An illness prompted some prophetic
dreams, and Crusoe began to reappraise his duty to God. Crusoe explored his island and discovered
another part of the island much richer and more fertile, and he built a summer home there. One of the first
tasks he undertook was to build himself a canoe in case an escape became possible, but the canoe was too
heavy to get to the water. He then constructed a small boat and journeyed around the island. Crusoe
reflected on his earlier, wicked life, disobeying his parents, and wondered if it might be related to his
isolation on this island. After spending about fifteen years on the island, Crusoe found a man's naked
footprint, and he was sorely beset by apprehensions, which kept him awake many nights. He considered
many possibilities to account for the footprint and he began to take extra precautions against a possible
intruder. Sometime later, Crusoe was horrified to find human bones scattered about the shore, evidently
the remains of a savage feast. He was plagued again with new fears. He explored the nature of
cannibalism and debated his right to interfere with the customs of another race.

Crusoe was cautious for several years, but encountered nothing more to alarm him. He found a cave,
which he used as a storage room, and in December of the same year, he spied cannibals sitting around a
campfire. He did not see them again for quite some time. Later, Crusoe saw a ship in distress, but
everyone was already drowned on the ship and Crusoe remained companionless. However, he was able to
take many provisions from this newly wrecked ship. Sometime later, cannibals landed on the island and a
victim escaped. Crusoe saved his life, named him Friday, and taught him English. Friday soon became
Crusoe's humble and devoted slave. Crusoe and Friday made plans to leave the island and, accordingly,
they built another boat. Crusoe also undertook Friday's religious education, converting the savage into a
Protestant. Their voyage was postponed due to the return of the savages. This time it was necessary to
attack the cannibals in order to save two prisoners since one was a white man. The white man was a
Spaniard and the other was Friday's father. Later the four of them planned a voyage to the mainland to
rescue sixteen compatriots of the Spaniard. First, however, they built up their food supply to assure

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enough food for the extra people. Crusoe and Friday agreed to wait on the island while the Spaniard and
Friday's father brought back the other men.

A week later, they spied a ship but they quickly learned that there had been a mutiny on board. By
devious means, Crusoe and Friday rescued the captain and two other men, and after much scheming,
regained control of the ship. The grateful captain gave Crusoe many gifts and took him and Friday back to
England. Some of the rebel crewmen were left marooned on the island. Crusoe returned to England and
found that in his absence he had become a wealthy man. After going to Lisbon to handle some of his
affairs, Crusoe began an overland journey back to England. Crusoe and his company encountered many
hardships in crossing the mountains, but they finally arrived safely in England. Crusoe sold his plantation
in Brazil for a good price, married, and had three children. Finally, however, he was persuaded to go on
yet another voyage, and he visited his old island, where there were promises of new adventures to be
found in a later account.

Characters
Robinson Crusoe: The narrator of the novel who gets shipwrecked.
Friday: Servant to Robinson Crusoe.
Xury: Former servant to Crusoe, helps him escape Sallee; is later sold to the Portuguese Captain.
The Widow: Friend to Robinson Crusoe. She looks over his assets while he is away.
Portuguese Sea Captain: Helps save Robinson Crusoe from slavery. Is very generous and close with
Crusoe; helps him with his money and plantation.
Ismael: Secures Robinson Crusoe a boat for escaping Sallee.
The Spaniard: Rescued by Robinson Crusoe and helps him escape his island.
Robinson Crusoe's father: A merchant named Kreutznaer.

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