This document summarizes notable 19th century English novelists and their works. It discusses novelists such as Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Anthony Trollope, Joseph Conrad, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and Thomas Hardy. For each author, it lists several of their novels and provides brief descriptions or context about their styles and stories. The document aims to provide an overview of the major English novelists and their significant literary contributions during the 19th century.

1. twelfth Meeting –19twelfth Meeting –19thth
century novelistscentury novelists
• Elinor and Marianne (1795), published as Sense
and Sensibility (1811).
Jane Austen
(wrote novels of family life, master in characterization)
• First Impression, published as Pride and Prejudice
(1813), her most well known novel.
• Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816)
• Northanger Abbey (1818), a satire on Mrs.
Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho.
• Persuasion (1818), her last novel. The protagonist
love story, Anne Elliot, is believed to reflect her own
love affair.

2. • Frankenstein (1818): her most well known story,
the first attempt of science fiction genre.
Mary Shelley
• The Last Man (1826): the story of disease
destroying every member of human race, except one.
• Tales of Mystery and Imagination including: The
Fall of the House of Usher (1839), The Masque of Death
(1842), A Descent in the Maelstrom (1841), The
Mystery of Marie Roget (1842) and The Murders in the
Rue Morgue (1841).
Edgar Allan Poe
(known for his powerful description of unusual events)

3. • The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion
(1808), The Lady of the Lake (1810), The Lord of the
Isles (1815): historical verses based on fighting and
love.
Sir Walter Scott
(unrivaled historical novelist)
• Waverley (1805), Guy Mannering (1815), The
Antiquary (1816), Old Mortality (1816), Ivanhoe
(1819), Kenilworth (1821), Quentin Duward (1823),
The Talisman (1825), Woodstock (1826), The Fair
Maid of Perth (1828): historical novels with lack
characterization and love-story depth, but great in
historical setting.

4. Frederick Marryat
(sea stories writer)
• Peter Simple (1834): his best book about the
adventures of a foolish but brave youth on the sea.
• Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836): the story of Jack Easy’s
difficulties on a ship because of his belief in equality.
Edward Bulwer Lytton (Lord Lytton)
(His style is similar to Sir Walter Scott)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1834)
• The Last of the Barons (1843)
• Harold (1848)

5. Charles Dickens
(one of the greatest English novelists)
• Pickwick (1836-7): a story with most charming and
amusing characters.
• Barnaby Rudge (1841) : a historical novel.
• A Tale of Two Cities (1849) : a story of the French
Revolution and events in London at the same time. (The
best-seller novel of all time for a single volume)
• Oliver Twist (1837-8) : a story of a poor boy’s cruel
treatment and miserable adventures, involving hunger,
stealing, murder and hanging.

7. Charles Dickens
• A Christmas Carol (1843): a story of a stingy man who
changes his behavior after meeting ghost and spirits.
• Hard Times(1845): a story of Gradgrind’s family
living in the hard industrial surroundings..
• David Copperfield (1849): based on Dicken’s own life,
which had sad beginning.
• Nichlas Nickleby (1838-9): a tale of a poor boy
working in a school with cruel master, Dotheboys Hall.
• More of his well-known works: The Old Curiosity
Shop, Martin Chuzzlewit, Bleak House, and Great
Expectations.

8. William Makepeace Thackeray
• Vanity Fair (1847-8): the adventure of two girls, the
clever, brave but poor Rebecca Sharp, and the gentle
and rich Amelia Sedley.
Charlotte Bronte
• Jane Eyre (1847): a story about the life of a poor and
unbeautiful girl who is in love with her employer.
Emily Bronte
• Wuthering Heights (1847): the story of Heathcliff
cruelty and revenge because of broken heart.

9. Marry Ann Evans (George Elliot)
• Her works: Scenes from Clerical Life(1858), Adam
Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas
Marner (1861), Romola (1863),
Middlemarch (1871-2), and Daniel Deronda (1876)
Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson (Mrs Gaskell)
• Cranford (1853): a delicate picture of village life, her
immense success.
• Her other works: Mary Barton (1848), Ruth (1853),
North and South (1854-5)

10. Charles Kingsley
(a historical novelist)
• Hypatia (1853): the story of Philammon going to
Alexandria. He met the beautiful Hypatia and got
attracted by her teaching.
• His other works: Westward Ho! (1855), The Heroes
(1856),The Water Babies (1863)  favorites among
young people

11. William Wilkie Collins
(the first English novelist to write detective story.)
• The Woman in White (1860): a complicated story
involving Walter Hartright, a drawing master; Laura
Fairlie, a rich girl; Anne Catherick, a shut-up mad
woman in white; and Count Fosco, the fat, calm and evil
man who was murdered.
• The Moonstone (1868): the mystery of disappearing a
precious stone from India. Introducing Sergeant Cuff,
one of the first detectives in English literature.

12. Charles Reade
(bad-tempered writer)
• The Cloister and the Hearth (1861): a story in 15th
century about Gerard’s adventure from the prison in
Holland to Italy and back to Holland.
Anthony Trollope
• Barsetshire novels, stories whereas the setting is the
imaginary Barsetshire county: The Warden (1855),
Barchester Tower (1857), Doctor Thorne (1858),
Framley Parsonage (1861), The Small House at
Allington (1864), and The Last Chronicle of Barset
(1867)

13. George Meredith
• Diana of the Crossways (1885): a popular story
because it was believed that it is based on the true story
of Caroline Norton who was suspected of selling state
secret.
• The Egoist (1879): his best work, featuring Sir
Willoughby Patterne, the man who is very pleased with
himself, and Clara Middleton, Meredith’s most
attractive heroine..

14. Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowsky (Joseph
Conrad)
(A foreigner from Poland who managed to learn and
write good novels in English)
• Almayer’s Folly: his first novel in English.
• Lord Jim: his greatest novel, tells a story of an
Englishman who abandons a troubled ship, loses his
honor, and regained it when he died in the end.
• His other works: An Outcast of the Islands(1896),
Youth, Heart of Darkness, Typhoon. The Secret Agent
(1907), , and Under Western Eyes (1911)

15. Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde: the
story of a man with split personality, the good Dr Jeckyll
and the evil Mr. Hyde.
• Treasure Island (1883): an adventure story of
treasure and pirates.
• The New Arabian Nights (1882)
• The Black Arrow(1888)

17. Anthony Hope Hawkins
• Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and Rupert of Hentzau
(1898): two popular novels of adventure in Ruritania,
an imaginary country.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891): a novel which
gave the public of the time a severe shock.
Oscar Wilde

18. Thomas Hardy
(Nature, fate and chance play important parts in his
works.
Practice: Check your book (page 131) and describe
shortly what these novels are about:
• Far From the Madding Crowd (1874)
• The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
• Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891)
• Jude the Obscure (1896)

19. See You next week!