Dr. Vijayalayan's Literature Notes

  Picaresque novel denotes a type of novel that relates the adventures of a picaro, which is Spanish for ‘rogue’ or ‘rascal’. Originally emanating in Spain during the 16 th century, it made its entry into English literature famously in the Elizabethan prose romance The Unfortunate Traveler or The Life of Jack Wilton by Thomas Nashe published in 1594. It is however noteworthy that not until the 18 th century that picaresque novels proper started appearing in England. The novelist Tobias Smollett could be identified as by far the most successful exponent of this type of fiction. His works such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1750), The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) are some noteworthy instances of picaresque novels that helped establish the genre in English literature.   1.        The hero of a picaresque novel is not someone who ...

       Historical novel is a type of novel in which an imaginary narrative is set against the background of a historical event or incident. Jane porter is generally attributed the credit of originally developing this genre in England, though the novelist Walter Scott is widely considered as its greatest exponent. Some of his works that helped establish this novelistic variety include Waverley (1814), Guy Mannering (1815), Rob Roy (1817), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), Ivanhoe (1820), Kenilworth (1821), and The Talisman (1825).   1.        Historical novel is basically a creative work of art in which the fundamental objective of the author is to relate a narrative that captures the imagination of the reader. Historical accuracy therefore is not an imperative that a historical novelist needs to be too concerned about. In fact, authors of historical novels often take liberties with historical accounts and details in portray...

       A gothic novel epitomizes a type of novel that is specifically written with the objective of inducing awe in the reader, much like the spectacle of a classic gothic construction tends to do so in the mind of an onlooker. Originally emanating in Germany, gothic novels made their foray into English literature in 1764 with the publication of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto , the first English gothic novel proper. Other noteworthy instances of this novelistic form include Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).   1.        Gothic novels are invariably set in antiquated spaces such as old castles, manor houses or monasteries, which are typically dilapidated and situated in out of the way places like wilderness or mountain range. They are characteristically filled with several hidden chambers, underground passages and corridors, which impart ...

NATURE: Unlike drama which is a performative art meant to be acted out, novel exemplifies a narrative art that is specifically written with the view to be read. As such, there are three characteristics that define its essential nature. Firstly, it recounts a narrative that is fundamentally imaginative in character. Even if the narrative is derived from real life incidents, it ought to be presented as a figment of the author’s imagination. Secondly, the imaginary narrative that the novel relates is to be done through the medium of prose. This is basically the aspect that differentiates a novel from that of an epic or a ballad, both of which also relate a narrative but in poetry. Thirdly, the length of the novelistic narrative is required to be of a certain word limit, the generally stipulated norm being 50,000 or more. This final aspect though may seem arbitrary is indeed vital in that it is how a novel is normally discriminated from other forms of prose narratives such as short storie...

Antisentimental comedy denotes a comic subgenre that became popular during the second half of the 18 th century. Oliver Goldsmith is invariably identified as the playwright who pioneered this form of comedy, and his She Stoops to Conquer (1773) is frequently cited as the play that brought antisentimental comedies into vogue on the English stage. The credit of having developed this variety of drama into a subgenre proper is however more rightfully due to the playwright Richard Sheridan and his three plays, The Rivals (1775), The School for Scandal (1777) and The Critic (1779) . As the very term posits, antisentimental comedies were basically conceived in conscious reaction to the sentimental comedies that remained in demand for much of the first half of the 18 th century. The basic point of contention for Goldsmith and the other antisentimental proponents was simply that the latter by replacing humour with pathos, and designating the expressed purpose of comedy to be the cultivati...