Novel | Definition, Elements, Examples, Types, & Facts

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data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/novel">novel</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/art/novel">Introduction & Top Questions</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref50973"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel#ref50973">Elements</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50974"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel#ref50974">Plot</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50975"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Character">Character</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50976"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Character#ref50976">Scene, or setting</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50977"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Narrative-method-and-point-of-view">Narrative method and point of view</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50978"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Narrative-method-and-point-of-view#ref50978">Scope, or dimension</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50979"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Narrative-method-and-point-of-view#ref50979">Myth, symbolism, significance</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref50980"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Uses">Uses</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50981"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Uses#ref50981">Interpretation of life</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50982"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Uses#ref50982">Entertainment or escape</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50983"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Propaganda">Propaganda</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50984"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Propaganda#ref50984">Reportage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50985"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Propaganda#ref50985">Agent of change in language and thought</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50986"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Expression-of-the-spirit-of-its-age">Expression of the spirit of its age</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50987"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Expression-of-the-spirit-of-its-age#ref50987">Creator of life-style and arbiter of taste</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref50988"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Style">Style</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50989"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Style#ref50989">Romanticism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50990"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Style#ref50990">Realism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50991"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Naturalism">Naturalism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50992"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Naturalism#ref50992">Impressionism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50993"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Naturalism#ref50993">Expressionism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50994"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Naturalism#ref50994">Avant-gardism</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref50995"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Types-of-novel">Types of novel</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50996"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Types-of-novel#ref50996">Historical</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50997"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Types-of-novel#ref50997">Picaresque</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50998"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Types-of-novel#ref50998">Sentimental</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref50999"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Types-of-novel#ref50999">Gothic</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51000"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Types-of-novel#ref51000">Psychological</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51001"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-novel-of-manners">The novel of manners</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51002"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-novel-of-manners#ref51002">Epistolary</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51003"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-novel-of-manners#ref51003">Pastoral</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51004"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-novel-of-manners#ref51004">Apprenticeship</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51005"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Roman-a-clef">Roman à clef</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51006"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Roman-a-clef#ref51006">Antinovel</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51007"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Roman-a-clef#ref51007">Cult, or coterie, novels</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51008"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Roman-a-clef#ref51008">Detective, mystery, thriller</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51009"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Roman-a-clef#ref51009">Western</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51010"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-best-seller">The best seller</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51011"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-best-seller#ref51011">Fantasy and prophecy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51012"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-best-seller#ref51012">Proletarian</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref51013"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/The-best-seller#ref51013">Other types</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref51036"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Social-and-economic-aspects">Social and economic aspects</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref51037"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Evaluation-and-study">Evaluation and study</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref51038"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/novel/Evaluation-and-study#ref51038">The future of the novel</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/novel/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/novel">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 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Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). </div> <div class="type-menu"> <label for="feedback-type" class="label mb-10">Feedback Type</label> <select id="feedback-type" class="form-select mb-30" name="feedbackTypeId" required> <option value="" selected="selected">Select a type (Required)</option> <option value="1">Factual Correction</option> <option value="2">Spelling/Grammar Correction</option> <option value="3">Link Correction</option> <option value="4">Additional Information</option> <option value="5">Other</option> </select> </div> <label for="feedback" class="label mb-10">Your Feedback</label> <textarea id="feedback" class="form-control mb-30" name="feedback" maxlength="3000" rows="7" required></textarea> <button class="btn btn-blue" type="submit">Submit Feedback</button> </form> <div class="success-messaging d-none mt-30"> <div class="title">Thank you for your feedback</div> <p>Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-websites-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom font-weight-bold"> External Websites </div> <div class="pb-20"> <ul class="list-unstyled mt-20 lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://literarydevices.net/novel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Literary Devices - Novel</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2005430.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts - Novel as an Epic</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Harrisburg_Area_Community_College/Introduction_to_Novel_Writing_(Girardi)/01%3A_Chapters/1.01%3A_What_is_a_novel" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Humanities LibreTexts - What is a novel?</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.academia.edu/19235245/UNDERSTANDING_NOVEL_AS_A_MAJOR_FORM_OF_LITERATURE" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Academia - Understanding novel as a major form of Literature</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-title">Britannica Websites</div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-subtitle">Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.</div> <ul class="list-unstyled bps-topic-web-sites lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/novel/390589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">novel - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/novel/276129" target="_blank" rel="noopener">novel - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Anthony-Burgess/421" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Anthony Burgess</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Anthony Burgess (1917-93) was an English novelist, critic, and man of letters whose fictional explorations of modern dilemmas combine wit, moral earnestness, and a note of the bizarre. His <em>A Clockwork...</em></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Anthony Burgess</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-10-28T00:00:00CDT" >Oct 28, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/novel/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Key People: </dt> <dd><a href="/biography/N-K-Jemisin" topicid="2190264">N.K. Jemisin</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Anthony-Horowitz" topicid="1895093">Anthony Horowitz</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Elena-Ferrante" topicid="2050102">Elena Ferrante</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Harold-Keith" topicid="1395882">Harold Keith</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Ben-Elton" topicid="2255621">Ben Elton</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/art/graphic-novel" topicid="1020959">graphic novel</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/picaresque-novel" topicid="459267">picaresque novel</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/Booker-Prize" topicid="73580">Booker Prize</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/epistolary-novel" topicid="190331">epistolary novel</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/psychological-novel" topicid="481652">psychological novel</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/novel"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What is a novel?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "A novel is an invented prose narrative of significant length and complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience. Its roots can be traced back thousands of years, though its origins in English are traditionally placed in the 18th century." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What are the elements of a novel?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "A novel can accommodate an almost infinite number of elements. Some of the novel's typical elements, though, are the story or plot, the characters, the setting, the narrative method and point of view, and the scope or dimension." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What are the different types of novels?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The novel has an extensive range of types, among them being: historical, picaresque, sentimental, Gothic, psychological, novel of manners, epistolary, pastoral, roman \u00E0 clef, antinovel, cult, detective, mystery, thriller, western, fantasy, and proletarian. There is no limit to the number of genres available to the novel." } } ] } </script> <div class="top-questions qa-accordion d-flex flex-column module-spacing"><div class="font-weight-bold font-14 mb-5"> Top Questions </div><div id="intent-accordion" class="md-intent-accordion"><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="1"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What is a novel?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>A novel is an invented prose narrative of significant length and complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience. Its roots can be traced back thousands of years, though its origins in English are traditionally placed in the 18th century.</p></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="2"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What are the elements of a novel?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>A novel can accommodate an almost infinite number of elements. Some of the novel's typical elements, though, are the story or plot, the characters, the setting, the narrative method and point of view, and the scope or dimension.</p></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="3"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What are the different types of novels?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>The novel has an extensive range of types, among them being: historical, picaresque, sentimental, Gothic, psychological, novel of manners, epistolary, pastoral, roman à clef, antinovel, cult, detective, mystery, thriller, western, fantasy, and proletarian. There is no limit to the number of genres available to the novel.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/11/18/stranger-than-fiction-edwin-frank-book-review" rel="nofollow">Is the Twentieth-Century Novel a Genre?</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 11, 2024, 12:17 AM ET (The New Yorker) </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref503838"></span>novel</strong>, an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/setting" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">setting</a>. Within its broad framework, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/genre-literature" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">genre</a> of the novel has <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="encompassed" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encompassed" data-type="MW">encompassed</a> an extensive range of types and styles: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/picaresque-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">picaresque</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/epistolary-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">epistolary</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Gothic-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Gothic</a>, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="romantic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/romantic" data-type="MW">romantic</a>, realist, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/historical-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">historical</a>—to name only some of the more important ones.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="141920" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="125293"><a data-id="125293" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/actors-aid-Clifton-Fadiman-production-motivation-elements-1962/-141920"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/125293-138-93C9ECC4/actors-aid-Clifton-Fadiman-production-motivation-elements-1962.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="Explore essential elements of the novel with Clifton Fadiman and actors" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/u9DzkKnO.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/93/125293-138-93C9ECC4/actors-aid-Clifton-Fadiman-production-motivation-elements-1962.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/wF5MpHqV", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/Imf7MnY1.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="125293">Explore essential elements of the novel with Clifton Fadiman and actors</span><span>Learn about essential elements of the novel—including mood, motivation, characterization, and style—with editor and anthologist Clifton Fadiman and actors from London's Old Vic theatre company. This is a 1962 production of Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/art/novel/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The novel is a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="genre" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genre" data-type="MW">genre</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/fiction-literature" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">fiction</a>, and fiction may be defined as the art or craft of contriving, through the written word, representations of human life that instruct or divert or both. The various forms that fiction may take are best seen less as a number of separate categories than as a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="continuum" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continuum" data-type="MW">continuum</a> or, more accurately, a cline, with some such brief form as the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="anecdote" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anecdote" data-type="MW">anecdote</a> at one end of the scale and the longest conceivable novel at the other. When any piece of fiction is long enough to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constitute" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitute" data-type="MW">constitute</a> a whole book, as opposed to a mere part of a book, then it may be said to have achieved novelhood. But this state admits of its own quantitative categories, so that a relatively brief novel may be termed a <span id="ref503841"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/novella" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">novella</a> (or, if the insubstantiality of the content matches its <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="brevity" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brevity" data-type="MW">brevity</a>, a novelette), and a very long novel may overflow the banks of a single volume and become a <em><span id="ref503842"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/roman-fleuve" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">roman-fleuve</a></em>, or river novel. Length is very much one of the dimensions of the genre.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The term novel is a truncation of the Italian word <em>novella</em> (from the plural of Latin <em>novellus</em>, a late variant of <em>novus</em>, meaning “new”), so that what is now, in most languages, a diminutive denotes historically the parent form. The <em>novella</em> was a kind of enlarged anecdote like those to be found in the 14th-century Italian classic <span id="ref503843"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giovanni-Boccaccio" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Boccaccio’s</a> <em><span id="ref503844"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Decameron" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Decameron</a></em>, each of which exemplifies the etymology well enough. The stories are little new things, novelties, freshly minted diversions, toys; they are not reworkings of known fables or <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myths" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myths" data-type="MW">myths</a>, and they are lacking in weight and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="moral" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral" data-type="MW">moral</a> earnestness. It is to be noted that, despite the high example of novelists of the most profound seriousness, such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-Tolstoy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Tolstoy</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-James-American-writer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henry James</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virginia-Woolf" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Virginia Woolf</a>, the term novel still, in some quarters, carries overtones of lightness and frivolity. And it is possible to descry a tendency to triviality in the form itself. The ode or symphony seems to possess an inner mechanism that protects it from <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="aesthetic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aesthetic" data-type="MW">aesthetic</a> or moral corruption, but the novel can descend to shameful commercial depths of sentimentality or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/pornography" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">pornography</a>. It is the purpose of this section to consider the novel not solely in terms of great art but also as an all-purpose medium catering for all the strata of literacy.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Such early ancient <span id="ref503845"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Latin-literature" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Roman</a> fiction as <span id="ref503846"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaius-Petronius-Arbiter" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Petronius</a>’ <em><span id="ref503847"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Satyricon" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Satyricon</a></em> of the 1st century <span class="text-smallcaps">ad</span> and <span id="ref503848"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucius-Apuleius" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Lucius Apuleius’</a> <em><span id="ref503849"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Golden-Ass" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Golden Ass</a></em> of the 2nd century contain many of the popular elements that distinguish the novel from its <span id="ref503851"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hero-literary-and-cultural-figure" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nobler</a> born relative the <span id="ref503850"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/epic" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">epic</a> poem. In the fictional works, the medium is prose, the events described are <span id="ref503852"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/antihero" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">unheroic</a>, the settings are streets and taverns, not battlefields and palaces. There is more low fornication than princely combat; the gods do not move the action; the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/dialogue" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">dialogue</a> is homely rather than aristocratic. It was, in fact, out of the need to find—in the period of Roman decline—a literary form that was anti-epic in both substance and language that the first prose fiction of Europe seems to have been conceived. The most memorable character in Petronius is a <em>nouveau riche</em> vulgarian; the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hero-literary-and-cultural-figure" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">hero</a> of Lucius Apuleius is turned into a donkey; nothing less epic can well be imagined.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="medieval" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval" data-type="MW">medieval</a> chivalric <span id="ref503853"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/romance-literature-and-performance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">romance</a> (from a popular Latin word, probably <em>Romanice</em>, meaning written in the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="vernacular" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vernacular" data-type="MW">vernacular</a>, not in traditional Latin) restored a kind of epic view of man—though now as heroic Christian, not heroic pagan. At the same time, it <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="bequeathed" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bequeathed" data-type="MW">bequeathed</a> its name to the later genre of continental <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/literature" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">literature</a>, the novel, which is known in French as <em>roman</em>, in Italian as <em>romanzo</em>, etc. (The English term romance, however, carries a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pejorative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pejorative" data-type="MW">pejorative</a> connotation.) But that later genre achieved its first great flowering in Spain at the beginning of the 17th century in an antichivalric comic masterpiece—the <em><span id="ref503854"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Don-Quixote-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Don Quixote</a></em> of Cervantes, which, on a larger scale than the <em>Satyricon</em> or <em>The Golden Ass</em>, contains many of the elements that have been expected from prose fiction ever since. Novels have heroes, but not in any classical or medieval sense. As for the novelist, he must, in the words of the contemporary British-American <span id="ref503855"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/W-H-Auden" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">W.H. Auden</a>,</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/famous-novels-last-lines-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/238563-131-4099EC55/Young-woman-with-glasses-reading-a-book-student.jpg" alt="Young woman with glasses reading a book, student" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><blockquote> <p>Become the whole of boredom, subject to</p> <p>Vulgar complaints like love, among the Just</p> <p>Be just, among the Filthy filthy too,</p> <p>And in his own weak person, if he can,</p> <p>Must suffer dully all the wrongs of Man.</p> </blockquote><span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The novel attempts to assume those burdens of life that have no place in the epic poem and to see man as unheroic, unredeemed, imperfect, even absurd. This is why there is room among its practitioners for writers of hardboiled detective thrillers such as the contemporary American <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mickey-Spillane" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Mickey Spillane</a> or of sentimental melodramas such as the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="prolific" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prolific" data-type="MW">prolific</a> 19th-century English novelist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mrs-Henry-Wood" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Mrs. Henry Wood</a>, but not for one of the unremitting elevation of outlook of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Milton" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">John Milton</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref50973"> <h2 class="h1">Elements</h2> <section data-level="2" id="ref50974"> <h2 class="h2"><span id="ref503856"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/plot" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Plot</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The novel is propelled through its hundred or thousand pages by a device known as the story or plot. This is frequently conceived by the novelist in very simple terms, a mere nucleus, a jotting on an old envelope: for example, <span id="ref503858"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles Dickens</a>’ <em><span id="ref503857"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-Christmas-Carol-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Christmas Carol</a></em> (1843) might have been conceived as “a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="misanthrope" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misanthrope" data-type="MW">misanthrope</a> is reformed through certain magical visitations on Christmas Eve,” or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Austen" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Jane Austen’s</a> <em>Pride and Prejudice</em> (1813) as “a young couple destined to be married have first to overcome the barriers of pride and prejudice,” or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-Dostoyevsky" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s</a> <em>Crime and Punishment</em> (1866) as “a young man commits a crime and is slowly pursued in the direction of his punishment.” The detailed working out of the nuclear idea requires much ingenuity, since the plot of one novel is expected to be somewhat different from that of another, and there are very few basic human situations for the novelist to draw upon. The dramatist may take his plot ready-made from fiction or biography—a form of theft sanctioned by Shakespeare—but the novelist has to produce what look like novelties.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The example of Shakespeare is a reminder that the ability to create an interesting plot, or even any plot at all, is not a prerequisite of the imaginative writer’s craft. At the lowest level of fiction, plot need be no more than a string of stock devices for arousing stock responses of concern and excitement in the reader. The reader’s interest may be captured at the outset by the promise of conflicts or mysteries or frustrations that will eventually be resolved, and he will gladly—so strong is his desire to be moved or entertained—suspend <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="criticism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism" data-type="MW">criticism</a> of even the most trite modes of resolution. In the least sophisticated fiction, the knots to be untied are stringently physical, and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/denouement" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">denouement</a> often comes in a sort of triumphant violence. Serious fiction prefers its plots to be based on psychological situations, and its climaxes come in new states of awareness—chiefly self-knowledge—on the parts of the major characters.</p><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD14 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Melodramatic plots, plots dependent on coincidence or improbability, are sometimes found in even the most elevated fiction; E.M. Forster’s <em>Howards End</em> (1910) is an example of a classic British novel with such a plot. But the novelist is always faced with the problem of whether it is more important to represent the formlessness of real life (in which there are no beginnings and no ends and very few simple motives for action) or to construct an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="artifact" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artifact" data-type="MW">artifact</a> as well balanced and economical as a table or chair; since he is an artist, the claims of art, or <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="artifice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artifice" data-type="MW">artifice</a>, frequently prevail.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD14 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD15 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">There are, however, ways of constructing novels in which plot may play a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="desultory" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desultory" data-type="MW">desultory</a> part or no part at all. The traditional <span id="ref503859"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/picaresque-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">picaresque novel</a>—a novel with a rogue as its central character—like Alain Lesage’s <em>Gil Blas</em> (1715) or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Fielding" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Henry Fielding’s</a> <em>Tom Jones</em> (1749), depends for movement on a succession of chance incidents. In the works of <span id="ref503860"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virginia-Woolf" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Virginia Woolf</a>, the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="consciousness" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consciousness" data-type="MW">consciousness</a> of the characters, bounded by some poetic or symbolic device, sometimes provides all the fictional material. <span id="ref503861"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcel-Proust" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Marcel Proust</a>’s great <em>roman-fleuve</em>, <em><span id="ref503862"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/In-Search-of-Lost-Time" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">À la recherche du temps perdu</a></em> (1913–27; <em>Remembrance of Things Past</em>), has a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="metaphysical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical" data-type="MW">metaphysical</a> framework derived from the time theories of the philosopher <span id="ref503863"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henri-Bergson" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henri Bergson</a>, and it moves toward a moment of truth that is intended to be literally a revelation of the nature of reality. Strictly, any scheme will do to hold a novel together—raw action, the hidden syllogism of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/mystery-story" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">mystery story</a>, prolonged solipsist contemplation—so long as the actualities or potentialities of human life are credibly expressed, with a consequent sense of illumination, or some lesser mode of artistic satisfaction, on the part of the reader.</p><span class="marker MOD15 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":14,"pageId":421071,"pageLength":1498,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Novel | Definition, Elements, Examples, Types, & Facts | Britannica