Picaresque novel | Definition, Characteristics & Examples

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class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/picaresque-novel">picaresque 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> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/picaresque-novel/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/picaresque-novel">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-student-links"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> For Students </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/summary/picaresque-novel"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.133.48" class="default " height="200" width="200"/> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/summary/picaresque-novel" >picaresque novel summary</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-quizzes"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Quizzes </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/famous-novels-last-lines-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/238563-131-4099EC55/Young-woman-with-glasses-reading-a-book-student.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Young woman with glasses reading a book, student" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/famous-novels-last-lines-quiz" >Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/novels-and-novelists-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/51/218751-131-DA6446CB/American-author-Pearl-S-Buck-1962.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Nobel prize-winning American author, Pearl S. Buck, at her home, Green Hills Farm, near Perkasie, Pennsylvania, 1962. (Pearl Buck)" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/novels-and-novelists-quiz" >Novels and Novelists Quiz</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-questions"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 pb-0 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-15"> Related Questions </div> <ul> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-is-Miguel-de-Cervantes-best-known-for">What is Miguel de Cervantes best known for?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-was-Miguel-de-Cervantess-early-life-like">What was Miguel de Cervantes’s early life like?</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-read-next"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Read Next </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/britannicas-book-bingo"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/52/242652-050-EB37F33D/summer-reading-bingo-card.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Britannica's Book Bingo. 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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://www.academia.edu/56868904/The_picaresque_translation_and_the_history_of_the_novel" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Academia - The picaresque, translation, and the history of the novel</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://repository.uobaghdad.edu.iq/file/publication/pdf/22192d17-2829-4ebf-b7d0-cf173f2e0f40.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">University of Baghdad Digital Repository - Picaresque Elements in Selected English and Iraqi Novels: A Comparative Approach (PDF)</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/students/article/picaresque-novel/333135" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picaresque 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 btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 d-none mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10 px-sm-5 px-md-10 js-header-ai-ask-button"> 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 and fact-checked by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" 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. 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Unlike the idealistic knight-errant <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hero-literary-and-cultural-figure" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">hero</a>, however, the picaro is a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="cynical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cynical" data-type="MW">cynical</a> and amoral rascal who, if given half a chance, would rather live by his wits than by honourable work. The picaro wanders about and has adventures among people from all social classes and professions, often just barely escaping punishment for his own lying, cheating, and stealing. He is a casteless outsider who feels inwardly unrestrained by prevailing social codes and mores, and he conforms outwardly to them only when it serves his own ends. The picaro’s narrative becomes in effect an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ironic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ironic" data-type="MW">ironic</a> or satirical survey of the hypocrisies and corruptions of society, while also offering the reader a rich mine of observations concerning people in low or humble walks of life.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The picaresque novel originated in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Spain" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Spain</a> with <em><span id="ref53426"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lazarillo-de-Tormes-Spanish-novel" class="md-crosslink ">Lazarillo de Tormes</a></em> (1554; doubtfully attributed to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza), in which the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hoagie" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">poor boy</a> Lázaro describes his services under seven successive lay and clerical masters, each of whose dubious character is hidden under a mask of hypocrisy. The irreverent wit of <em>Lazarillo</em> helped make it one of the most widely read books of its time. The next picaresque novel to be published, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mateo-Aleman" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mateo Alemán</a>’s <em>Guzmán de Alfarache</em> (1599), became the true <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="prototype" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prototype" data-type="MW">prototype</a> of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/genre-literature" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">genre</a> and helped establish <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/realism-art" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">realism</a> as the dominant trend in the Spanish novel. The supposed autobiography of the son of a ruined Genoese moneylender, this work is richer in invention, variety of episode, and presentation of character than <em>Lazarillo</em>, and it too enjoyed extraordinary popularity.</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 MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Among <em>Guzmán</em>’s numerous successors were several short novels by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miguel-de-Cervantes" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Miguel de Cervantes</a> in the picaresque manner, notably <em>Rinconete y Cortadillo</em> (1613) and <em>El Coloquio de los perros</em> (1613; “Colloquy of the Dogs”). Cervantes also incorporated elements of the picaresque into his greatest novel, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Don-Quixote-novel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Don Quixote</em></a> (1605, 1615). Francisco López de Úbeda’s <em>La picara Justina</em> (1605; “Naughty Justina”) tells the story of a woman picaro who deceives her lovers just as the picaro does his masters. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-Gomez-de-Quevedo-y-Villegas" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Francisco Gómez de Quevedo</a>’s <em>La vida del buscón</em> (1626; “The Life of a Scoundrel”) is a masterpiece of the <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>, in which the profound psychological depiction of a petty thief and swindler is underlain by a deep concern for <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> values. After <em>Buscón</em> the picaresque novel in Spain declined gradually into the novel of adventure.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the meantime, however, the picaro had made his way into other European literatures after <em>Lazarillo de Tormes</em> was translated into French, Dutch, and English in the later 16th century. The first picaresque novel in England was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Nashe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thomas Nashe</a>’s <em>Unfortunate Traveller; or, The Life of Jacke Wilton</em> (1594). In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Germany</a> the type was represented by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Jacob-Christoph-von-Grimmelshausen" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">H.J. von Grimmelshausen</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Simplicissimus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Simplicissimus</em></a> (1669). In England the female picaro was revived in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Defoe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Daniel Defoe</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moll-Flanders" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Moll Flanders</em></a> (1722), and many picaresque elements can be found in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Fielding" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henry Fielding</a>’s <em>Jonathan Wild</em> (1725), <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Joseph-Andrews" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Joseph Andrews</em></a> (1742), and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tom-Jones-novel-by-Fielding" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Tom Jones</em></a> (1749) and in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tobias-Smollett" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Tobias Smollett</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roderick-Random" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Roderick Random</em></a> (1748), <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Peregrine-Pickle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Peregrine Pickle</em></a> (1751), and <em>Ferdinand, Count Fathom</em> (1753). The outstanding French example is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alain-Rene-Lesage" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Alain-René Lesage</a>’s <span id="ref53427"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gil-Blas-novel-by-Lesage" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Gil Blas</em></a> (1715–35), which preserves a Spanish <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/setting" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">setting</a> and borrows incidents from forgotten Spanish novels but portrays a gentler, more-humanized picaro.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the mid-18th century the growth of the realistic novel with its tighter, more-elaborated <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/plot" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">plot</a> and its greater development of character led to the final decline of the picaresque novel, which came to be considered somewhat inferior in artistry. But the opportunities for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/satire" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">satire</a> provided by the picaresque novel’s mingling of characters from all walks of life, its vivid descriptions of industries and professions, its realistic language and detail, and above all its ironic and detached survey of manners and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="morals" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morals" data-type="MW">morals</a> helped to enrich the realistic novel and contributed to that form’s development in the 18th and 19th centuries. Elements of the picaresque novel proper reappeared in such mature realistic novels as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Dickens-British-novelist" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles Dickens</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Pickwick-Papers" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>The Pickwick Papers</em></a> (1836–37), <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikolay-Gogol" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nikolay Gogol</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dead-Souls" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Dead Souls</em></a> (1842–52), <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mark-Twain" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mark Twain</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adventures-of-Huckleberry-Finn-novel-by-Twain" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Huckleberry Finn</em></a> (1884), and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Mann" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thomas Mann</a>’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Confessions-of-Felix-Krull-Confidence-Man" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Confessions of Felix Krull</em></a> (1954).</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/JE-Luebering/6492">J.E. 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Picaresque novel | Definition, Characteristics & Examples | Britannica