The Origin of the Novel

The Tale of Genji is considered to be the world's first full-length novel. It was written by a noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century. Until then the Japanese had imitated Chinese culture, and Chinese poetry and writing had been popular.

Pamela is considered to be the prototype of all British novels.

Published in 1740, as an anonymous collection of letters in two volumes, it was agreed that nothing quite like it had ever been written before.

People responded to this new literary experience with “a fervor bordering on hysteria.” It became instantly popular, and widely discussed.

For the first time merchants cashed in on a book. There were even spin- off sales, not unlike the marketing for movies today.

One such “entrepreneur” offered a “curious piece of wax work, representing the principal adventures of Pamela’s life, in servitude, love and marriage…”

In the small English town of Slough, a village blacksmith read aloud daily from Pamela in his smithy.

When it appeared that she had preserved her virginity, and was rewarded with marriage, the townspeople joyously rang the church bells.

Reverends recommended it from their pulpits, and plays and operas were made to emulate the story of the virtuous Pamela.

In Paris people said that without Pamela, there was nothing to talk about. It was said to combine the attractions of a “sermon and a strip tease.”

It is the story of a beautiful, 15 year old girl, serving as the maid of the B_________ family.

Her kind mistress soon dies, and she is left to the care of that woman’s son, Mr. B__________.

He tries flattery, bribery, and eventually rape to seduce poor Pamela, but he fails repeatedly.

He finds himself being subdued by her virtue, and she finds herself falling in love with him (!?).

Ultimately, it is the age old plot of– can the wayward man be reformed into a good husband,

and also the notion that virtue will be rewarded– even if you are a poor, lowly maid.

It also shows the conquest of unassisted, middle- class virtue over aristocratic hedonism.

Perhaps the “newest” characteristic of this literature is the realistic character of Pamela.

Though she is a 15 year old maid, given a voice by a 50 year old male printer, readers found her moral conundrums to be psychologically real.

Pamela seems particularly real when compared to the perfect, impossible female protagonists of earlier prose fiction. She makes mistakes, worries, and struggles with day to day life.

Richardson’s psychological realism did not stem from spontaneous generation, but developed amid the gradual evolution of the novel as a distinctive genre of literature.

The word novel comes from the Italian word novella. Novellas were earthy short stories.

The word was also associated with history, and once meant “news” or “tidings.”

Titles and prefaces of the novels in the 1700s often reflect this association with truth. Authors used the epistolary (letter) format to lend realness to their stories.

Richardson, in fact did not say he was the author of Pamela, but rather claimed to be an editor who had found this collection of letters.

They also used variations of proper names and places to make their works seem more realistic

(ex: Mr. B___. Richardson calls himself the editor of Pamela, not the author.

The distinction between the Romance and the Novel: Romances are composed of the constant loves and courage of heroes, heroines, kings and queens.

Romances use lofty language, miracles, and impossible performances to surprise the reader.

Dr. Johnson described the novel as, “of a more familiar nature…. Containing odd events, but not such as are wholly unusual or unprecedented…”

In other words, the events of a novel could happen to anyone.

Novels even made use of “thinginess,” such as lists of clothes, lists of chores. These “things” are everyday things, and lend realness to the story.