What is the novel?
-
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, new, from
Latin novellus, from
diminutive of novus
new (adjective); Italian novella
(noun)
-
Definition: an invented prose narrative that is usually long
and complex and deals especially with human experience through
a usually connected sequence of events
-
Started as epistolary (Richardson, Clarissa)
-
18th century: the loss (and reclamation of) virtue (Defoe, Moll Flanders);
-
19th century: orphan rediscovers noble heritage /
inheritance (Bronte sisters); the Bildungsroman (literally,
novel of education; journey of protagonist from imprisonment of childhood
toward mature freedom
- Bildungsroman = Novel of Education / Coming
of Age Novel
- Additional vocabulary: exposition, turning point(s),
climax, and denouement (outcome, ending)