Novel: It’s Forms
Anuradha
. Assistant professor( Department of English)
S.M.College Chandausi,Sambhal U.P.
Novel
The term novel has been derived from the Italian word “novella”means
‘a little new thing’.
It is important gernevof English literature.
It is a narrative prose fiction that tells a story about specific human
experience over a considerable length.
In England the seeds of first novel are found in a prose romance – John
Lyly’s Euphues(1578).
Henry Fielding is known as the father of English novel.
Purpose of a novel
The main purpose of a novel are these:
To amuse the reader
To persuade the reader
To inform or teach the reader
To satrize a condition
The plot of a novel
Plot is an important part of a novel .
It tell about “what happens”” in a novel.
It is the sequence of events.
The main parts of a plot are these:
Exposition
Raising action
Climax
Falling Action
resoulation
Forms of novel
Picaresque novel
Gothic novel
Historical novel
Epistolary novel
Regional novel
Psychological novel
Science fiction
Campus novel
Stream of consciousness novel
Picaresque Novel
The word ‘picsresque’ is derived from Spanish word “Picaro” which
means “ a rouge”.
The picaresque novel is a tale of the adventure or misadventures of a
Picaro or rouge .
The rouge wander from one country to another,from one setting to
another, from one town to another, from one Inn to another, and in this
way the novelist gets an opportunity of introducing a variety of
characters and incidents,of painting society as a whole realistically.
The first picaresque novel in English was The life of jack Wilton or
The unfortunate traveler(1594)by Thomas Nashe.
Gothic Novel
The Gothic novel was a pre – romantic novel of terror,the supernatural,
great sensations of horror wonder, witchcraft, etc.
The setting used to be in the medieval period , often in gloomy runied
building or abandoned castles.
The chief practitioners of this gerne were –
Horece Walpole ( The castle of Otranto – 1764)
Mary Shelley’s Frankenst
Historical Novel
Historical novel is a combination of facts and fiction.
It combines history and imagination.
It’s setting ,a period of history and usually introduces some historical
personages and events.
Sir Walter Scott is the father of English historical novel.
Some historical novel are:
Charles Dickens: A Tale of two cities (1859)
Mackpeace Thackeray : Henry Edmond
Epistolary Novel
In epistolary novel narrative is conveyed through letters.
The action of novel progresses through letters.
It is usually written by one or more of the major characters.
Eg. Samuel Richardson : Pamela or Virtue Rewarded /(1740)
Alice Walker : Colour Purple
Regional Novel
The Regional Novel the setting is a particular region of common culture,
background and interests.
R.K.Naraya‘ fictional region is Malgudi in South India.
Thomas Hardy and William Faulkner are great regional novelist.
Es. Thomas Hardy : The Mayor of Caster bridge
R.K.Narayan : The Guide
William Faulkner : The Sound and Fury
Psychological Novel
A psychological novel analyses the motives, impulses and mental
processes
It depicts the inner struggles of the characters
Characterization is given more importance than plot
Eg. William James : The principles of Psychology
Science Fiction
Science Fiction contains imagined elements that does not exits in real
world.
It spans a wide rang of themes that often explore time travel,space
travel,are set in future.
It deals with the consequences of the biological and scientific advances.
Ex: Mary Shelley : Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus
H G.Wells : The Time Machine
Campus Novel
This type of novel is also known as an Academic novel.
The selling of novel is of universities and colleges
Such novel are comic and satiric in tone.
Ex. Mary Macarthy : The Groves of Academe
Kingsley Amis : Luck Jim
Stream of consciousness Novel
The phrase stream of consciousness used by William James in his
“Principles of Psychology(1890).
It is a modern form of novel
It analyses the motives and mental processes of characters
Henery James , Virginia Woolf, James Joyce’s are the great writers of
stream of consciousness novel
Ex. Virginia Woolf : Mr Dollaway
