CM1 General Introduction on the British Eighteenth Century and its Authors

Question 1

What are the first things we visualize when we think about the eighteenth century novel ?

Answer 1

1) Dusty and muddy roads
2) Coaches and Carriages (coches)
3) The hooves of horses (sabots)
4) Adventurous travellers
5) (Un)fortunate encounters
6) Inns with good or bad reputations (auberges)

Question 2

What is the outstanding conception of the eighteenth century novel ?

Answer 2

The sense of movement, of a series of dynamic shifts, of exchanges.

Question 3

What is so different about french and english context at this time ?

Answer 3

French Revolution occured in 1789, wherea in England, it’s already a post revolutionary society (in reference to The Glorious Revolution in 1688).

Question 4

When was Defoe in prison and why ?

Answer 4

In 1692 for debts.

Question 5

What happened in 1692 ?

Answer 5

Defoe was in prison for debts.

Question 6

What happened from 1714 to 1727 ?

Answer 6

George I’s reign

Question 7

When was George I’s reign

Answer 7

From 1714 to 1727

Question 8

What happend in 1719 ?

Answer 8

Robinson Crusoe was published

Question 9

When was Robinson Crusoe published ?

Answer 9

In 1719.

Question 10

What can we say about this period : 1727-1760 ?

Answer 10

It was George II’s reign

1) It was characterized by peace on English soil but long, expensive wars with European neighbours, particularly France and Spain.
2) By steady (stable) expansion of the British Empire.
3) England becomes the European leader in the transatlantic slave trade.

Question 11

What is the Enlightment ?

Answer 11

Les Lumières

Question 12

Comment dit-on les Lumières ?

Answer 12

the Enlightment.

Question 13

What is the Enlightment associated to ?

Answer 13

1) The intellectual movements of the period (particularly those taking place in France) which promoted the systematic application of reason in order to discover knowledge of human life and to improve human existence through the development of new social and political systems.
2) Belief : - in the idea of the universe as a system controlled by laws
- in the idea of human progress.
3) Promoting non-authoritarian systems of social organization.

Question 14

Who was John Locke ?

Answer 14

1) Second part of the 17th century
2) Rational Theologian and Philosopher
3) He wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding : He thinks the source of knowledge is experienced through sensations and reflections.
4) EMPIRICISM: sense, concrete experience as the ground of knowledge

Question 15

Who was David Hume ?

Answer 15

1) Middle of the 18th century
2) He wrote A Treatise of Human Nature
3) From Locke’s empiricism, Hume kept the importance of perception through impressions and ideas.
4) But his theory of knowledge was marked by a deep subjectivity, insisting on the self and not so much on external reality.

Question 16

What did is “The Rise of the Novel” ?

Answer 16

1) A book, written by Ian Watt in 1957.

2) It’s about the development of the novel being closely linked to the development of the Middle Class.

Question 17

Why is the development of the novel closely linked to the development of the Middle Class ?

Answer 17

The growth of the reading public
and the emergence of the novel as
a genre are interrelated phenomenons.

Question 18

What are the characteristics of the eighteenth century novel ?

Answer 18

1) Diversity and formal instability (mixing of modes and techniques).
2) The first stage in the development of the English novel occurred between 1719 (the date of Robinson Crusoe) and 1767 (the final volume of Tristram Shandy).
3) The eighteenth-century novel is a synthesis of the topics and themes familiar to the eighteenth century big English Novelists.

Question 19

Who is Henry Fielding ?

Answer 19

1) An author of the Eighteenth century

2) He inspired the Eighteenth century novel with the picaresque and the comic

Question 20

What is the background to the concept of sensibility in the 18th Century ?

Answer 20

Sensibility, within the context of eighteenth-century English literature refers to the importance of fellow-feeling (camaraderie), charity (in an emotional as well as financial sense) and sympathy are foregrounded in social relationships.

Question 21

How is sensibility defined in the Jonhson dictionary ?

Answer 21

1) Quickness of sensations

2) Quickness of perceptions

Question 22

What is the Bildungsroman ?

Answer 22

Also called the apprenticeship novel, the hero learns new things on his journey and evolves.
Metaphor of the Road

Question 23

What are the the themes and topics familiar to the eighteenth century novelists ?

Answer 23

1) The picaresque and comic
2) The Bildungsroman
3) Sensibility
4) The motif of the pure young girl chased by an evil seducer
5) The sentimental novel
6) Satire

Question 24

What is the picaresque /comic ?

Answer 24

Story that contains :
- Ups and downs
- Elements creating
surprise
- Comic tone
- Humour and satire
- Travels

Question 25

What is the Sentimental novel ?

Answer 25

• A sentimental plot intended to produce sympathetic tears in the reader by showing the suffering of the virtuous.
• One of the first novels of introspection.
• His sentimentalism, derived from Puritanism, is human, humanitarian, ethical, and will
  lead to romanticism.
• Belief in the innate goodness
  of human beings.

Question 26

Why is the eighteenth century novel an almost meaningless label ?

Answer 26

The extraordinary variety of approaches to fictional prose narrative in the period 1700-1800 makes it a meaningless label.

Question 27

Are there rules for writing a novel ? Explain why

Answer 27

No, sometimes there are no chapters, not a clear beggining nor ending, no seconday characters.