The Novel
The 18th century saw the rise of a new genre: the novel. Yet one must first look back to the late 17th century to truly understand its origins. As popular as it is in modern culture, the novel was not as admired by the 18th century critic.
The novel did not begin as a revered form of writing. In fact, many saw the genre as a waste of time, not educational and could actually hurt one's state of mind. Carol Stewart notes this in her analysis of the form of the novel during that time: "This study is an account of how it was that the novel...a kind of writing regarded with suspicion at the beginning of the eighteenth century, began to supplant sermons and other religious works as a possible source of moral instruction for the reading public: The legitimization of function may be regarded as an episode in the history of secularization" (Stewart 2). This moral instruction began to overtake the religious lessons, possibly in a more acceptable and entertaining format. Women especially loved novels, and several in this study include female writers.
The novel as a genre eventually gained popularity, so much that they often sold out at booksellers: "By 1770 the novels of Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, and Smollett, along with those of approved women writers such as Sarah Fielding, Charlotte Lennox, and Frances Sheridan, had given the novel as a genre a degree of respectability, or at least currency" (Stewart 165). A best-selling novel would ensure monetary compensation for the author, and was more accepted by the general populace. These writings would eventually pave the literary path for writers such as Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte.
Other Novels for Study:
Cecilia, Frances Burney
A Sicilian Romance, Ann Radcliffe
Clarissa, Samuel Richardson
Vathick, William Beckford
Fanny Hill, John Cleland
Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne
Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathon Swift
The Female Quixote, Charlotte Lennox
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
The 18th century saw the rise of a new genre: the novel. Yet one must first look back to the late 17th century to truly understand its origins. As popular as it is in modern culture, the novel was not as admired by the 18th century critic.
The novel did not begin as a revered form of writing. In fact, many saw the genre as a waste of time, not educational and could actually hurt one's state of mind. Carol Stewart notes this in her analysis of the form of the novel during that time: "This study is an account of how it was that the novel...a kind of writing regarded with suspicion at the beginning of the eighteenth century, began to supplant sermons and other religious works as a possible source of moral instruction for the reading public: The legitimization of function may be regarded as an episode in the history of secularization" (Stewart 2). This moral instruction began to overtake the religious lessons, possibly in a more acceptable and entertaining format. Women especially loved novels, and several in this study include female writers.
The novel as a genre eventually gained popularity, so much that they often sold out at booksellers: "By 1770 the novels of Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, and Smollett, along with those of approved women writers such as Sarah Fielding, Charlotte Lennox, and Frances Sheridan, had given the novel as a genre a degree of respectability, or at least currency" (Stewart 165). A best-selling novel would ensure monetary compensation for the author, and was more accepted by the general populace. These writings would eventually pave the literary path for writers such as Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte.
Other Novels for Study:
Cecilia, Frances Burney
A Sicilian Romance, Ann Radcliffe
Clarissa, Samuel Richardson
Vathick, William Beckford
Fanny Hill, John Cleland
Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne
Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathon Swift
The Female Quixote, Charlotte Lennox
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe