The Novel

The novel is perhaps one of the most novel of literary forms; having derived from the novella, it was established as a long prose fictional work by the 17th century. The emphasis in early novels was on character development moreso than plot, and the purpose of the work was little more than frivolity or escapism. As the form evolved, however, a number of categories developed, including historical novels, psychological novels, epistolary novels, colonial novels, proletarian novels, cult novels, and gothic novels, just to name a few.

The novel enjoyed popularity during the Romantic and Victorian periods, with such authors as Herman Melville, Mary Shelley, the Brontës, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy contributing to the development of the form.

This semester, English 1102 students enrolled in Miss Selby's classes will read and write a research paper on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. The links below might provide useful information for the study and discussion of the novel.