The Rise of the Novel

The Rise of the Novel in the 18th century

By Mariella Tecco

Multiple Choice

What is the Italian for novel?

• Novella

• Poesia

• Romanzo

• Racconto

​What is a novel?
DEFINITION:
an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events. 

Open Ended

Write the title of one ot the most famous Italian novels ( the most famous one was written by this man)

​In the 18th century there were some important factors that led (lead, led, led = condurre) to the rise of thfe Novel.

The most important ones were:
1 The GROWTH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
2 The EXPANSION OF THE READING PUBLIC
3 The DECLINE OF DRAMA & THEATRES

​In this period the MIDDLE CLASS saw an important DEVELOPMENT , that is to say merchants, bankers, traders, shopkeapers worked hard, they could earn a lot of money and had more free time. So they could buy and read books.
A large part of this reading public was made up of WOMEN, as they were beginning to change their social role. They went to social events, to public places, and they liked reading novels.
Both men and women were interested in books that REFLECTED their LIVES, their PROBLEMS, their EXPERIENCES.....

​The newspapers became more and more popular, and the CIRCULATING LIBRARIES gave the people who lived in small cities, small villages without a LIBRARY the opportunity to read. Even people who werent rich, and couldn't buy books, could borrow them from these circulating libraries spending little money ( just one penny for one volume).

​

EXPANSION OF THE READING PUBLIC

DECLINE OF DRAMA AND THEATRES

There was an ACT (a law passed) that introduced the CENSORSHIP(=censura) for all the PLAYS which criticised the monarch or the Government.

The readers weren't interested in the plays which had PASSED the censor, i.e. that had been approved by the censorship, so they looked for other activities to do in their FREE TIME, AND THEY READ NOVELS

WHAT THEATRE IS THIS?

DO YOU RECOGNIZE IT?

Multiple Select

A question for you:

DO YOU LIKE READING NOVELS?

• YES

• NO

Multiple Select

HOW MANY NOVELS DO YOU READ IN A YEAR?

• more than 5

• from 3 to 5

• 1-2

• none

Multiple Choice

Let's go back to the 18th century readers.

In your opinion, what were these readers interested in?

They wanted to READ BOOKS ABOUT:

• RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS

• MEDIEVAL HEROES

• STORIES WHICH REFLECTED THEIR OWN PLOBLEMS & INTERESTS

The novels in this period weren't based on the PAST HISTORY or on MITHOLOGY, but they concentrated on the individual experience of the contemporary REAL PEOPLE

FEATURES OF THESE NOVELS

• They were SET IN REALISTIC PLACES, well described, that the readers could recognise

• They depicted a FAITHFUL (= fedele) REPRESENTATION OF LIFE

• The protagonists were CHARACTERS(=personaggi) generally coming from the MIDDLE CLASS , they were REAL PEOPLE, and the readers could IDENTIFY in them

Word Cloud

Write the name of a famous 18th century novelist (use your mobile if you want)

Word Cloud

Choose one word that you can connect to Robinson Crusoe

Shipwreck (=naufragio)

Friday

Desert Island

Open Ended

Do you know the story of Robinson Crusoe?

Multiple Choice

What did Jonathan Swift write?

• Tom Jones

• Thristram Shandy

• Gulliver's Travels

• Robinson Crusoe