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Gower, R. Past
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into Present. London: Longman. 1990.
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,; '.::;n).e development of the noveL " .
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; novelina)' be defined as a work of narrative fiction, usually In prose.
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B: Other influences
! As a distinct literary form, the -novel came into being in Britain in the
! eighteenth century.
j) Pllritollism: This had alw3Ys encouraged:
! These are some of the factors \·vhich are said to have influenced its a pr<lClical Cltlitude Lo \vo rld affairs. When Christianity lost some of
! development: d)
its spiritual ,1Ild emotional force, practic(li principles began to
A: Literary don'lin3te religious thought. \-Vriters were expected to inform, to be
influences 'useful' (lnd to u rge moral behaviour.
b) a belief in the individual conscience. Puritans followed the 'inner
i) joumalism: Earl), journalism aimed to record the facts of daily living,
light', the \'oice of God.
paying attention to detail. easy readability and immediacy of interest
c) a spirit of self-enquiry. The spirit of Puritanism encouraged the
In the eighteenth century journalism set out more to cllliSi1fcll than
devdopment of the 'spiritual autobiography', such as John
entertain its readers. One of the most important early undertakings of
B un yan ' s Gmc£' lIiJOlllldillS (1666).
English journalism was a periodical called Th" ral/cr (started in 1709).
d) a love of truth. Stricter Puritans, ho\,\'ever, opposed the theatre,
ii) Parallel atl forms: Biography (see pages 64-65), diaries (se e pages not only bCC<Hl:"l? they considered it a centre of immoral behaviour
83-91) and personal memoirs were very fashionable in the eighteenth andldisnrd('r but because it put on works of fiction, which they
century. equated with lies. lilt-er Puritans, known as Dissenters, saw art as
j iii) Letter writil1g: \;Vith imprOVf.'cl communications, letter writing vvas irrelevnnt to the serious business of living.
I cultivated as an art. Lellers \'\'ere C01l1posed \-"Idth care and at length.
i
ii) TIlt' ri:,/' of filt' IIliddle r/,7SS: The movement had begun in Chaucer's time
I iv) Tnwef litera/lire: vVith the stead y growth of overseas trade, books such but th e big iJl(]'case in the seventeenth century, as the interests of
!
.105 NC"ii' Voyage [\0111,,1 t!le World (1697); by the navigiJtor and explorer g entry in the cOllntryside and the money-making middle classes in the
Capl.1!1l VVil!iam Dumpier, \-'v'ere widely reild. Th e y \vere written in a !m.vns g rew closer togdl1e1', p r ovid ed a new and large reading public
lively, slraighlforw<Hd sly le and contained precise scientific observation, in th e eight('cnth century. As a result:
v) The RI'siom!inll COllll'riiC':; of A1i1I/!I('rs: Between 1660 and 1710 elegant 8) edl.lGltion \\,il. S .1v'1ilable to mo re people i.lnd was less exclusively
comic plays were performcd w i th chZlrZlctcrs drawn Tn<1.inly from the 'cldssic.:li' t1l,\11 th e education aVClililble to the upper classes;
I ..ondnn ilrislocracy, Plots c on L.l ined love intrigues, witty sexual b) the re was J1l0l"l' leisure time available/particularly for women;
sllggl:'�-tivencss and sp.lrklillg convers.1liollZd rcpdrlee. They were c) there \VtlS gre,:ller individu<11ism - tl belief that one must earn a
noted for their humour, lheir rt.:'<.llisnl and their satire of the social living by onL"� own dfurts;
surLJC€ of lift...>. d) there W.1S a growi ng des ir e to be opened up to new worlds outside
vi) 1'1117 pimu'sI7uL' ((!IJ('cllliol1: This convenlion wOoS <l fOl"lTl of prose fiction one's imm e dia te existellce;
originClting in S p<li n in the sixteenth century, dealing \·vith the e) th t'lT was grcater spiri tual and social alienation and a belief that
Cl d vl.:.'n tur e s of rogues - mischievolls, dishonf!st people who were fond human destiny \\'ilS uncertain.
o! pIJying lricks. In Eng lish ficlion the term 'pica resque' refers to a
iii) Scielltlfic pJri/oS01J/IY: The oplimistic philosophy of '/lzllur31 philosophers',
serie s of epis odes where the u ften dClring hero is forced to seek his
such as John LOt.:kl� (1632-170'n, wa� cons istent with, and he l pe d lead
fortune outside of stJb!e society. An early example is Thomas Nashe's
to, Cl gn.:'ilter belief in reJson at -the l�xpense of the imagination, After
Ul1fortul1ate Trmxllcr ("1594-).
the Restoration, moderation Dnd rC'iigiol1s to l eran ce repl a ced p.1ssionate
vii) The }/lockrO]]/(1I1;i' of knight errantry (such as DOll Quixote de la Mancha,
religi ous co nviction , (! nd attent i on \-\',15 mo re focused on the social
1605-1615, by the Spzll1ish -writer Miguel de Cervantes) where, in
destiny of the individual ;llld lhe (l ets and circumstances of the social
comic vein, wanderi n g knights try to put injustices to right.
world.

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