What are the elements of a novel? Explain all elements.Background to English Literature.

bilal09,

Most textbooks tell us that a novel is a work of fiction, almost always written in prose, at least 150 to 200 pages long. The textbook definition also distinguishes novels (as works written in prose) from classical epics. The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid, for example, are all very long poems. Because the novel is a long form, it can cover a period of years, following the characters through a number of major changes.

Similarly, because the reading time of a novel may be far longer than the running time of most plays and movies, novels give us the opportunity to develop close, even intimate relationships with both the characters and the narrator.

Equally important to our understanding of the novel form are its differences from the traditional form of the romance. The romance may date back to antiquity, though the most familiar examples are probably the medieval stories of King Arthur and his knights. 

Romances vary widely, but they do have some common features. The setting of a romance is usually remote and, perhaps, exotic, like that of a fairy tale. The characters in a romance are also sketched broadly—handsome prince, beautiful princess—and may include larger-than-life figures, such as giants and wizards. Finally, there’s often some sort of magic in a romance. The romance is a form that has no trouble with the supernatural or the metaphysical.

In addition to our definitions of novel, amatory tale, and romance, we might also consider a basic chronology—a small-scale history of the relationships among those three forms. It’s clear that the romance was stripped down and treamlined into the amatory tale, and it’s also clear that the tales were then developed into the first novels. Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that—because the forms of the romance and amatory tale are very much alive and well. The Harry Potter books draw on the long tradition of the romance, as do the works in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As for the amatory tale, consider British author Barbara Cartland, who is said to have produced 700 different love stories in the latter half of the 20th century.

I hope this clears a few things up about the novel.