History of the Novel :: Free Essay Writer

The arrival of the novel was not a sudden process. Stories have existed among mankind since the cave man began drawing on the walls. From the Bible to Homer's epic poems to Shakespeare's plays the evolution of the novel has been a gradual but steady process. Now it must be made clear that books existed before the eighteenth century, fiction was written–however, the idea of a ‘novel’ did not come into existence until the 1700s. Although there is no way to credit the ‘first’ novel, however there are at least three â€Å"groups of works† which can be designated as the novels â€Å"predecessors† (Stoddard 30). These three consist of: 1. The Greek Romances "All that we have of it is evidence, more or less complete, of the existence of eight tales" (Stoddard 30) including the story of Nimrod, the story of Dinias and the story of Sinonis. These are stories of adventure and romance. According to Stoddard, these stories focus mainly on external events. These stories do not discuss the internal emotions of the hero. It is a story "wholly external depicting only adventures of the body, of the physical senses" (Stoddard 35). 2. The Italian and Spanish Romances These texts have "vastly influenced the literature of Europe" (Stoddard 39). Although they are similar to the Greek romances with their adventurous tales, there is a more sentimental feel to these stories. These texts take the "pastoral" idea of romance and images of the sentimental lover and longing for the past come into mind. "They are not the novel" (Stoddard 41) but when studying these works, one can see the influence the played on the eighteenth century novel. 3. Prose Romances of Chivalry They tell stories of knights rescuing the damsel in distress and riding off into the sunset. "Tracing a direct line of decent is difficult, but the spirit of these romances of the chivalric deeds"