Introduction


Miguel Cervantes

Herman Melville
A novel is a long prose (as opposed to verse) narrative, and it was once quite a controversial innovation in the world of literature. Before the novel came into being as a literary genre, the most common types of literature were poetry, often revolving around epic heroes, and plays that presented histories, tragedies, and comedies. Often acknowledged as the first novelist, Miguel Cervantes penned the first part of Don Quixote in 1604, but it took quite a while for the novel as a form to catch on. By 1750, Samuel Richardson still had to introduce his novel Pamela with a long explanation of its form and purpose. Today, the novel as a literary genre is so accepted and prevalent that it has become synonymous with the term “fiction.”

Essential Facts

  1. The novel gained in popularity as literacy increased and the middle class expanded. Reading for pleasure, rather than for instruction or religious purposes, became a favorite pastime.
  2. Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) is often cited as the founder of the modern English novel. Defoe established principles for the genre that are still followed today. Those rules include a dominant, unifying theme, a strong thesis, and an attempt to depict reality.
  3. Henry Fielding (Tom Jones) was the first writer to call himself a novelist. Though many of his contemporaries considered the form “lowbrow” writing and shied away from the title of novelist, Fielding embraced it.
  4. Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice) is often characterized as the greatest novelist of manners. Her books deal exclusively with the minutiae of upper-class society and landed gentry.
  5. According to the Modern Library, the three best novels of all time are (1) Ulysses by James Joyce, (2) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and (3) Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. A Tale of Two Cities Study Guide (eNotes) - Charles Dickens
  2. Don Quixote Study Guide (eNotes) - Miquel de Cervantes
  3. Moby Dick Study Guide (eNotes) - Herman Melville
  4. Origins and Development of the Novel Before 1740
  5. The American Novel
  6. The Three Musketeers Study Guide (eNotes) - Alexanfre Dumas

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. What Is The Greatest American Novel?
  2. A Farewell to Arms Study Guide (eNotes) - Ernest Hemingway
  3. A Tale of Two Cities Study Guide (eNotes) - Charles Dickens
  4. Alexandre Dumas
  5. Alexandre Dumas (Critical Survey of Long Fiction)
  6. Alexandre Dumas (Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century)
  7. Aspects of the Novel
  8. Charles Dickens
  9. Charles Dickens (Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century)
  10. Charles Dickens (Magill’s Choice: Notable British Novelists)
  11. Daniel Defoe
  12. Daniel Defoe (Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries)
  13. Daniel Defoe (Magill’s Choice: Notable British Novelists)
  14. Don Quixote Study Guide (eNotes) - Miquel de Cervantes
  15. Ernest Hemingway
  16. Ernest Hemingway (Critical Survey of Long Fiction)
  17. Ernest Hemingway (Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century)
  18. F. Scott Fitzgerald
  19. F. Scott Fitzgerald (Critical Survey of Long Fiction)
  20. F. Scott Fitzgerald (Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century)
  21. For Whom the Bell Tolls Study Guide (eNotes) - Ernest Hemingway
  22. Gabriel García Márquez (Critical Survey of Long Fiction)
  23. Gabriel García Márquez (Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century)
  24. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  25. George Eliot
  26. Great Expectations Lesson Plans - Charles Dickens
  27. Great Expectations Study Guide (eNotes) - Charles Dickens
  28. Guide to Literary Terms - Novel
  29. Henry James
  30. Herman Melville
  31. How Did The Novel Develop?
  32. James Joyce
  33. Jane Austen
  34. John Steinbeck
  35. Leo Tolstoy
  36. Middlemarch Study Guide (eNotes) - George Eliot
  37. Miguel de Cervantes (Critical Survey of Long Fiction)
  38. Miguel de Cervantes (Cyclopedia of World Authors)
  39. Moby Dick Study Guide (eNotes) - Herman Melville
  40. Moll Flanders Study Guide (eNotes) - Daniel Defoe
  41. One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide (eNotes) - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  42. Origins and Development of the Novel Before 1740
  43. Origins and Development of the Novel, 1740-1890
  44. Oxford Companion to English Literature Artice on The Rise of the Novel
  45. Robinson Crusoe Study Guide (eNotes) - Daniel Defoe
  46. Saul Bellow
  47. Sir Walter Scott
  48. The American Novel
  49. The Art of the Novel
  50. The Count of Monte Cristo Study Guide (eNotes) - Alexandre Dumas
  51. The Epistolary Novel
  52. The Fantasy Novel
  53. The French New Novel
  54. The Great Gatsby Study Guide (eNotes) - F. Scott Fitzgerald
  55. The Influence of Ernest Hemingway (Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism)
  56. The Irish Novel
  57. The Sentimental Novel
  58. The Silver Fork Novel
  59. The Three Musketeers Study Guide (eNotes) - Alexanfre Dumas
  60. Ulysses Study Guide (eNotes) - James Joyce
  61. War and Peace Study Guide (eNotes) - Leo Tolstoy
  62. William Faulkner