The Rise of the Novel

Ian Watt

Realism and the Novel Form

Watt's chapter addresses the following queries:

1. Is the novel a new literary form?

2. Was it coined by Daniel Defoe and Samuel Richardson?
3. How does their fiction differ from earlier prose fiction from Greece, the Middle Ages and the
seventeenth century?

Defoe and Richardson do not constitute a common literary school. What they have in common is
the embodiment of genius and Realism under the same generation, the eighteenth century. But
sheer accidental genius would not have been possible had the social and literary conditions not
been favorable. Although they consider themselves founders of a new genre by breaking with all
that was familiar at the time, they never canonized the different characteristics of their fiction, as
the term 'novel' was not coined until the end of the eighteenth century. However, Realism is seen
as the defining characteristic of their work, and the premise from which their elements of fiction
depart from older forms, way before Realism was to be coined as an artistic movement in
nineteenth century France.

Realism was first used as an aesthetic description to denote 'human truth' as opposed to
'poetic idealism', to the extent where Realism came to be known as an antonym of idealism; the
first denoting the newly developing literary perspective, whilst the second projecting the
previous and current traditional and prevalent trend. However, the English novelists Defoe and
Richardson were the ones to properly employ their understanding of Realism as an original
feature to create a new literary form. The novel then portrays all varieties of human experience,
as its Realism does not reside in the kind of life it presents, but in the way it presents it. In other
words, it is not concerned with predetermined assumptions of previous literature, nor the reader's
conclusion of the atmosphere as much as it is fixated on walking the reader through the
protagonist's experiences. This is so because the novel draws attention to the problem of
correspondence between the literary work and eighteenth century reality it attempts to imitate.

The genre arose in the modern period, as its intellectual orientation was separated from its
classical and medieval heritage, with its rejection of universals in the eighteenth century. Modern
Realism comes from the position that truth should be sought and discovered by the individual.
The Realist novel then is concerned with:

a. The general temper of realist thought as innovative and rejecting traditions.

b. The methods of investigation it employs depend solely on individual experience, which is
free of past assumptions and traditional belief.
c. The problems it raises are fixated on the issue of semantics, form and diction employed, in
addition to its meaning to correspond with the reality that it imitates.

But how does the novel correspond with reality? And what are the characteristics of the novel?
1. The pursuit of truth is conceived as a wholly individual matter, entirely independent of the
tradition of past thought. Previous literary forms reflected the general tendency of their
cultures and conformed to traditional practice. Plots were based on past history or fable, and
merits of the author were judged up9on conformity to the accepted models in the relative
genre used. However, originality in the novel relies on being true to individual experience
which is always unique and new. The novel cannot imitate any other literary work, since its
basic task is to maintain fidelity to human experience, thus focus on any earlier convention
endangers its success.

2. An untraditional plot: Defoe and Richardson stood out with their break from traditional plots,
as unlike their contemporaries, they did not take their plots from mythology, history or
legends of earlier literature, and so they differ from Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton – who
believed that nature was complete and unchanging, therefore unifying all human experience.
However, from the seventeenth century onwards, there was a growing tendency to focusing
on human experience to replace collective tradition to project reality, and this shift helped the
rise of the novel as it was for the first time fully projected as so in a literary genre. This trend
was most prominent in England in the eighteenth century, thus focusing on the original and
authentic and giving Realism its modern meaning. For instance, Defoe rejected traditional
plots and projected authenticity in his fiction although the prevalent trend was still an
inclination toward traditional plot representations. He allowed his narrative to flow
spontaneously from what he felt his protagonist would do next. He further allowed his
protagonists to tell their own life stories in the form of autobiography.

3. Rejection of Universals as a result of embracing the psychological approach: the new trend
for philosophic realism and the formal characteristics of the novel that Defoe employed was
focused on particulars. Although the early eighteenth century was still governed by a
classical preference for the general and the universal, a contrary aesthetic tendency for
particularity soon began to assert itself. This came as a result of embracing a psychological
approach to solving literary problems.
Lord Kames was the first to speak of the psychological approach as he declared that
"abstract or general terms have no good effect in any composition for amusement, because it
is only of particular objects that images can be formed". It this sense, Defoe and Richardson
were the first to employ this approach in literature by focusing on the protagonist's unique
experiences way before the approach was used in critical theory. One example that comes to
mind is the 'stream of consciousness' that Defoe specifically employs, granting the reader full
access to the internal thoughts and emotions of the characters.
In order to project the concept of particularity, Defoe and Richardson focus on
characterization and the full presentation of background information. Their novels
particularly focus on the individualization of its characters and the detailed presentation of its
environment. For instance, focus is shed on naming the protagonist and all the supporting
characters the way they would be in reality in order to create a full social life. First and last
names should be ordinary in order to project the ordinary every day individual. The function
of full names was first fully established in the novel. Whereas classical and renaissance
fiction focused on historical and prototype names, which set their characters in their expected
 roles, and gave the reader a predetermined assumption of what was expected in the literary
work.

4. Time: (My illustration not Watt's) To project Defoe's perception of time as a significant
element, an analogy may be given of the role that the joker plays in Batman. The traditional
projection of the joker's persona has throughout time been that of the antagonist spreading
evil tyranny. No access to his previous history is provided to justify his actions. But one look
into his past would change the audience's opinion of his present state. Such is the perception
that Defoe projects of the significance of time in illustrating fidelity and justice of judgment
to the characters described in his fiction.
The English philosopher John Locke defined personal identity as that of consciousness
through its duration in time. An individual is in touch with his continuing identity through
memory of his past thoughts and actions, and cannot be separated from them as his present
state is always the result of the accumulation of many past experiences. David Hume also
agrees by stating "Had we no memory, we never should have any notion of causation, nor
consequently of that chain of causes and effects, which constitutes our self or person". This
has been the main concern for Defoe and Richardson, which pertains to fixating the subject
matter of their fiction on the exploration of the protagonist's personality as it is defined in the
interpretation of its past and present self-awareness. And so, time becomes an essential
category in defining the individuality of the characters projected. In addition, ideas become
specific and particular only when they are set to a specific time. Time is then not only a
crucial dimension in the physical world, but also as a shaping force of man's individual and
collective history. It informs the experiences that individuals go through and places them in
the proper context of their time.
Locke and Hume's philosophies of human identity, memory and time were all employed
by Defoe and Richardson to add more realistic appeal to their newly formed fiction. Whereas
earlier literature used timeless stories to project the unchanging human experience and
condition. One example of the novel's insistence on the time process is the stream of
consciousness, as it projects a direct verbalization of what the character is instantaneously
thinking of and feeling. Another example of the process of time is the long term projection of
the development of the protagonist through time. The novel's depiction of the details of every
day lie surrounding the protagonist illustrates its focus on time, in order to give a convincing
biographical perspective. And so, the protagonist's personal identity is developed through the
duration of time and yet changes with the constant and continuing experiences that the
protagonist undergoes.

5. Space: a protagonist according to Defoe cannot exist and be projected in the process of time
without his projection in space, thus making up the novel's full setting. Defoe is the first to
purposefully and fully describe the physical context of the protagonist by choosing his
general and specific allocations and movements. He visualizes his entire narrative as though
it were an actual physical environment; of landscapes and physical objects that give a full
sense of the environment.
6. Diction (exhaustive presentation vs. elegant concentration): since the main aim that Defoe
and Richardson express is fidelity to authentic and true representation of the experiences of
characters, diction becomes of excruciating importance to give readers a believable
translation of their intended projections. Each character employs the language that suits his
social standing, time and place, as would in reality. Being true to the depiction of each
character now took precedence over illustrating the author's capacity to show off his
sophisticated diction and linguistic talent.
The previous stylistic tradition for fiction was not primarily concerned with the
correspondence of words to things, but rather with the extrinsic beauties which could be
bestowed upon description and action by the use of rhetoric. In other words, language had to
be adorned. Figurative language for instance, was a regular feature in the romances, but did
not portray a true account of its characters. It rather reflected the author's linguistic and
stylistic abilities and skills. The assumption of educated writers and critic was that an author's
skill was only demonstrated, not with words that corresponded with its characters, but rather
in the literary sensitivity with which his style reflected the linguistic decorum appropriate to
the literary tradition. However, Defoe and Richardson were criticized for their inaccurate and
clumsy choice of words, but their realistic intentions required their very shift away from the
accepted and expected literary tradition.
The analogy that Watt gives to the role that the novel plays in imitating life is that of the
role of the jury in a court of law: just life jurors, in order to give fair judgment, readers too
need to know all the particulars of a given case/novel:
a. They need to know time and place.
b. They need to be satisfied with the identities of the parties concerned.
c. They refuse to take evidence that is nonsensical, inaccurate and fantastical.
d. They expect the witnesses to tell the story with their own words.
e. They take the circumstantial view of life in order to fairly judge.

An anti-novel campaign was launched attacking the new genre because it was viewed as
immoral and considered antithetical to English values. However, the result was a
legitimization of the genre because it displayed non-romantic features, and it was the starting
point for women's writing in which they described decorum and piety. Furthermore, novels
of the eighteenth century focused on the plight of middle and lower classes fighting for
survival or social success. Plots followed chronological order of events. Language was
simple and clear. Protagonists belonged to the middle and lower classes, thus directly
addressing real social issues.

The Reading Public and the Rise of the Novel

With the fact that the novel's Realism involved a break from the current literary tradition, it
had its influence in societal changes that took place in eighteenth century England. Writing
is always affected by the growing reading class and its changing demands, and so the rise of
the novel came with journalism as the consequence of the effect that readers had on
literature. There was an increasing interest in reading when people were used to religious
pamphlets and newspapers. But what were the factors that affected the reading public and
the composition of new literary forms?

1. The limited distribution of literacy: the majority of lower classes; farmers and people
living in towns were illiterate and could not read or write, as the majority were laborers,
soldiers and sailors. Although opportunities to learn were available, education was
intermittent and not of high necessity to lower classes who needed to make ends meet,
did not have time to learn, because it meant time away from work and less wages. So,
reading and writing were a privilege they could neither afford nor had interest to pursue.
Children of lower classes attended school irregularly till the age of six, after which they
joined their parents as laborers. However, literacy was a necessity for middle working
classes because of the nature of their professions in commerce, administration and
banking.

2. Economic factor: in the eighteenth century the cost of books was high, restricting the
reading public to middle classes who could afford them. The first library though was
established in London in 1740, followed by a chain of others all over the country. They
provided all types of literature available for the wider public for a smaller fee. In
addition, Novel readers were mostly women because they were statistically reported to
be able to spare time and pass it reading with their domestication.

The highly structured and elevated linguistic forms that were prevalent before the rise of
the novel did not address realistic social issues, were not of interest to middle classes and
were too expensive because they addressed upper classes. Therefore, there was higher
demand for authentic fiction, simple language, direct and detailed plot, which addressed
practical issues of people's daily lives.