The eighteenth century novel

Before the Victorian period, the literary seriousness of the novel and the social status of the novelist were by no means secure:

• poetry was regarded as being at the top of the hierarchy of literary genres: in the eighteenth century, epic poetry was accorded the highest status, but with the rise of Romanticism, lyric and visionary poetry rose to prominence
• realistic prose fiction developed with the rise of an urban middle class with comfortable homes, more disposable income and increased leisure was regarded as being at the top of the hierarchy of literary genres: in the eighteenth century epic poetry was accorded the highest status, but with the rise of Romanticism, lyric and visionary poetry rose to prominence
• the readership for this developing form was often defined as women, servants and the young
• it was seen as a non-serious kind of writing, suitable for filling leisure hours, but offering the reader nothing of any substance
• many early novelists were women and in a male dominated society this, too, led to a down-grading of the seriousness of prose fiction
• it was felt that realism could be dangerous because novels recounted believable behaviour by recognizable people in familiar surroundings, and could thus set a poor example to their readers.

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