English Novels - An Introduction
Novels are the literary form, considered to be the reflection of society.
It is the creation of West, and as compared to poetry and dramas, the novel is a recent genre.
In the 18th century, the novel took its shape as a literary form. If we talk about the reasons behind the evolution of the British novel in England, then there are plenty of them.
A few of them are listed below:
There is a huge difference between reading a novel and studying a novel. When we study a novel thoroughly then it becomes mandatory to read it in the context of the society from which it originated. Besides that characters, time, settings, time, point of view, language style and tone of the voice play a vital role in its analysis. In fact, because of the proliferation of critical theories, we look at the novel from a different point of views as feminist, Marxist, deconstructionist, historicist and post-colonialist etc. While you study for the British Novels re-reading of the novel is not possible so better approach is to read and analyse selected passages out of which beginning and the end of the novel is very important.
In the 18th century, the novel took its shape as a literary form. If we talk about the reasons behind the evolution of the British novel in England, then there are plenty of them.
A few of them are listed below:
1. Population increase
2. The middle-class emergence and economic ascendance.
3. Leisure Time availability.
4. Literacy rate increased.
5. Book Clubs and circulating libraries became popular.
6. Printing Technology and quality improved over the years.
7. Patronage System removal shifted authors attention towards public support.
Prominent novelists like Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne and Tobias Smollett was the product of the 18th century. The classical form of the novels reached its height in the 19th century when the work of Jane Austen, W.M.Thackeray, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy etc. came into existence. In the 20th century among many others, the main authors were E.M. Foster and James Joyce.
Tips To Develop An Approach To Study British Novels :
There is a huge difference between reading a novel and studying a novel. When we study a novel thoroughly then it becomes mandatory to read it in the context of the society from which it originated. Besides that characters, time, settings, time, point of view, language style and tone of the voice play a vital role in its analysis. In fact, because of the proliferation of critical theories, we look at the novel from a different point of views as feminist, Marxist, deconstructionist, historicist and post-colonialist etc. While you study for the British Novels re-reading of the novel is not possible so better approach is to read and analyse selected passages out of which beginning and the end of the novel is very important.
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