Fiction, short story,Pre-Chaucerian Period, The Age of revival, Elizabethan age, Prose writers of Puritan age ,Leviathan

1. Unit-III
Fiction, short story
Hema goswami
Visiting faculty at Maharani Shree Nandkunvarba
Mahila Arts and Commerce College
GSET qualified (2018)

2. Fiction
Fiction derived from Latin word ‘Fictio’ means to form or
an act of making or moulding
In literature it is defined as ‘literature in the form of
prose, especially novels and short stories that describe
imaginary world
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3. Types of Fiction
Novella
Short
Stories
Novel
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4. Pre-Chaucerian Period
•During this period non-fiction
developed more in form of
chronicles and history
•Romance become a popular
literary form
•Romance can be classified into
three categories:- i) The Matter of
France, ii) The Matter of Britain, iii)
The Matter of Rome
i) The Matter of France: The Sege of
Malayne, Roland and Vernagu, Sir
Ferumbras
ii) The Matter of Britain: Robert
Wace’s Geste Des Bretons (Deeds
of the Britons),, Sir Degare, Sir
Orfeo, The Knight of the Cart
iii) The Matter of Rome: The Trojan
war, The Siege of Thebes,
Adventures of Aeneas
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5. Age of Chaucer
✘ Chaucer’s prologue to Canterburry Tales has been no less fiction
containing descriptions of so many characters
✘ It is called prologue to Modern Fiction
✘ Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written mostly in verse
but some are in prose
✘ Two Tales which are written in prose are ‘The tale of Melibee’ and
‘The Parson’s Tale’
✘ It contains so many miniature novels in itself
✘ Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde has been called a novel in verse
✘ Chaucer’s The Legend of Good Women is written in prose form and
talks about a dream vision, containing a prologue and nine stories5

6. Lot of writers of this era translated the work of
foreign authors in English
These were mainly works of Fiction, religious texts
and chronicles
Sir Thomas Malory, William Caxton, Thomas More
were some well known prose writers
The Age of revival
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7. William Caxton
His first translation was the popular
medieval romance of Troy “The Recuyell of
the Historyes of Troye”
Caxton’s role as a printer marks him as a
contributor to the English renaissance
Writers of revival age
Thomas Moore
One of his first works was an English
translation of a Latin biography of the
Italian humanist Pico Della Mirandola
Thomas Moore’s Utopia is his fully
developed work of fiction
It was originally written in Latin in 1516
The book is a satire indirectly criticizing
Europe’s political corruption and religious
hypocricy
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8. Elizabethan age
✘ The most interesting of the Elizabethan prose was ‘The Adventures of Master FJ by
George Gascoigne
✘ John Lyly was the most famous Elizabethan prose writer
✘ Works by Lily such as Euphues, The Anatomy of wit and its sequel entitled Euphues,
England created a sensation
✘ Sir Philip Sydney’s Arcadia, first pastoral romance in English, was better be called as a
piece of poetry in the form of prose
✘ Robert Greene wrote Mamillia, The Mirror of Modesty novels, and The Card of Fancy.
His popular romance ‘Pandosto’ provided Shakespeare with the plot of The Winter’s
Tale.
✘ Green Modeled his ‘Menaphon’ on Sidney’s Arcadia
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9. Prose writers of Puritan age
1. Robert Burton
- He is best known for his monumental
work, ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’
- It contained a pseudoscientific
investigation and philosophical
discussion of the possibilities of human
happiness
- Burton described four different
temperaments arising from four
humors in the human body
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10. Prose writers of Puritan age
2. Thomas Hobbes
- His most influential book is ‘The
Leviathan’
- It argued that civil peace and social
unity are best achieved by the
establishment of a commonwealth
through social contract.
- He undertook the writing of Leviathan
to defend the monarchist idea.
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11. Leviathan is divided into four parts
Of
commonwealth
Of man
Of a Christian
commonwealth
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Of the
Kingdom of
Darkness

12. Restoration Age
The Pilgrim’s Progress
The Pilgrim’s Progress is a Christian Allegory written by
John Bunyan
It is regarded as one of the most significant works of a
religious, theological fiction in English.
This work traced the life and journey of Christian from the
city of Destruction to Salvation
Second part of the book dealt with Christian’s wife,
Christiana and their sons 12

13. Neo Classical Age
Matthew Arnold called
18th century as ‘The
Age of Prose and
Reason’
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14. Jonathan Swift
Swift’s first political pamphlet was titled ‘a
discourse on the Contests and Dissentions
in Athens and Rome
This was followed by his satirical work , ‘A
Tale of a Tub’ and ‘The Battle of the
Books’
He is known for his novel Gulliver’s Travels
Major novelist of the
Augustan Age
Daniel Defoe
His novels include: Robinson Crusoe,
Captain Singleton, Journal of the Plague
Year, Captain Jack, Moll Flanders, Roxanda
Robinson Crusoe was based on the true
story of a Shipwrecked seaman name
Alexander Selkirk,. It’s full title is “The Life
and Strange Surprising Adventures of
Robinson Crusoe”
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15. The Romantic Age
Jacobin
Novel
Gothic Novel
Novels of
manners
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16. Ann Radcliffe
She was the pioneer of the Gothic Novel
Her first two novels ‘The Castle of Athlin
and Dunbayne’ and ‘A Sicilian Romance’
were published anonymously
She ascribed her name to her most
famous work ‘The Mysterious Udolpho’
Gothic Novelists
Matthew Gregory Lewis
His popular Gothic Novel was ‘The Monk’
The novel narrated the story of a Monk
who descends into a world of degradation
He becomes obsessed with a fellow monk
That fellow monk turns to be a woman in
disguise
The Monk was attacked as being too
sensational for its depiction of rape and
incest.
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17. Thomas Holcroft
His first novel ‘Alwyn’ was an
autobiographical account of a strolling
comedian
His most popular novels are ‘Anna St Ives
A Novel’, The Adventures of Hugh Trevor A
Novel’
In Anna St Ives, Holcroft presents utopian
notions of social justice through his two
main characters Anna and her beloved.
Jacobin Novelists
William Godwin
Godwin wrote three novels, two political
pamphlets, a work on education and a
spoof of the critical reviews
He achieve fame and success with his
work, ‘An Enquiry concerning Political
Justice’
His most successful novel was ‘Things as
They Are or Caleb Williams’
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18. Jane Austen
She wrote a dark satirical comedy ‘Love
and Friendship’
Her other work ‘The History of England’
was a parody of historical writings
Her another work told as series of letters,
which was eventually published as Sense
and Sensibility
Her second novel ‘First Impressions’ later
become ‘Pride and Prejudice’
None of the books was published by her
name, they were described as being
written ‘By a Lady’
Novels of Manners
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19. The Victorian Age Novelists
1. Charles Dickens
•‘Boz’ was Dickens family name, which he adopted as a pseudonym.This was followed
by hi sfirst novel, ‘The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club’
•It was published in serial form in mothly instalments which makes Dickens, the first
person to make serialization of novels
•His next novels, ‘Oliver Twist’ and Nicholas Nickleby’ established his fame as a
novelist
•His other popular novels are, ‘David Copperfield’, ‘Hard Times’, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’,
‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens
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20. Three Bronte Sisters
Charlotte Bronte
Her first novel, the
autobiographical ‘Jane Eyre’
was published in 1847
This novel traced the life and
development of Jane Eyre from
her traumatic childhood to
adulthood
In this novel, the death of the
character name ‘Helen Burns’
recalls the death of Charlotte’s
sisters at Cowan Bridge
Emily Bronte
Emily’s only novel ‘Wuthering
heights’ was published in 1847
Heathcliffe is the main
character in the novel
The story of the novel is
narrated by Lockwood
Anne Bronte
Anne’s first novel ‘Agnes Grey’
is a story about the life of a
governess, appeared in 1847
Her other work ‘The tenant of
Wildfell’ was partially based on
her observations of her brother
, Branwell
Her hopes of becoming
renowned writer was darkened
by the death of her brother
Branwell and Emily
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21. Major Novelists of Modern Age
1. Thomas Hardy
-His first novel ‘Desperate Remedies’ was
published in 1871.
-His first commercial succcess was with the
novel ‘Far from the Maddling Crowd’
-His most famous works are ‘Tess of d’
Urbevilles’ and ‘Jude the Obscure’
-‘Tess of the Urbevilles’ is a story of a simple
country girl, whereas ‘Jude the Obscure’ is a
story of poor country boy
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22. 2. Joseph Conrad
-He is known as one of the finest novelist of
English Literature
- His first novel was ‘Almayer’s Folly’
-His novel ‘An Outcast of the Islands’ was
inspired by his own experiences as a mate
on board the steamer
-Later novel ‘Heart of darkness’ was
influenced by his own journey to Congo.
Kurtz is the main character of this novel.
-‘Lord Jim’ was based on an actual incident
of abandonment of a ship in 1880
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23. Major Contemporary Novelists
John Wyndham
He was an English Scienc
fiction writer
His real name was ‘JB Harris’
His two best novels were ‘The
Ady of the Triffids’ and
‘Chrysalids’
Charles Perey Snow
He was known as Lord Snow
He described the moral
development of his hero ‘Lewis
Eliot’ who was the narrator of a
whole series of novels
His novels are ‘Strangers and
Brothers’, Time of Hope’, ‘The
Masters’ etc
Evelyn Waugh
His main chacraters were
snobs and of their gratest sin
was rudeness
His heroes were virtuous, but
simple young men
his novel ‘A Handfull of Dust’
explores the painful collapse of
a rural feudalism
His other novel ‘The Loved One’
was a wild satire on American
funeral customs and two faced
wealthy society.
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24. Nathaniel Hawthorne
He was the prominent part of the
Transcendentalist movement.
He had a puritanic spirit and we can see
this spirit in a psychological manner in the
‘Scarlet Letter’, ‘The House of Seven
Gabbles’, ‘The Blithedale Romance’,
‘Marble Faun’ and ‘David Swan’
American Novelists
Earnest Hemingway
In 1927 his novel ‘A Farewell to Arms’ was
published. It was based on his
disappointment in love and war
For his work ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, he
was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and
the Noble prize in 1954
He committed suicide by shooting himself
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25. Non-British Writers
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda is the pen name of
Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto
He won the noble proze for literature
in 1971
His works are ‘The Trying of Infinite
Man’, ‘Spain in the Heart’, ‘Canto
General’ etc
Leo Tolstoy
He achieved success with his first novel
‘Childhood’ in 1852
He is one of the famous personality in
Modern Russian Literature
His novel ‘War and Peace’ is one of the
greatest novels of the world
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26. conclusion
Fiction can inspire us, intrigue us or engage us in new ideas. It can
also help us to see ourselves and our world in new and interesting
ways. A work of Fiction implies act of creating an imaginary world
which may or may not exist in reality.
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27. thanks!
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