what are epistolery novels
Answers
Explanation:
Epistolary novel, a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters.The epistolary novel's reliance on subjective points of view makes it the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.
Answer:
The term "epistolary novel" refers to the works of fiction that are written in the form of letters or other documents. "Epistolary" is simply the adjectival form of the noun epistle, from the Latinized Greek for letter.
The letter as a written genre, of course, predates the novel itself. And so as novels emerged in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was not uncommon for authors to include letters as part of their overall narrative. These gave readers a chance to hear from characters in their own voices, adding realism and psychological insight, and they usually advance the plot as well.
The first novel in English to be composed entirely of letters is usually considered to be "Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister," published in 1684 and attributed to the versatile playwright and author Aphra Behn. Although Behn's characters are fictional, they were modeled on real-life likenesses.
Putting their narrative into the form of letters increased the realism of Behn's account, making readers feel as though they were privy to a secret and private correspondence.
But the epistolary novel really came into its own with the immensely popular novels of Samuel Richardson in the mid-18th century: Pamela in 1740 and the even more massive Clarissa of 1748.
The full title of Pamela makes clear both Richardson's intentions and the formal apparatus of the novel:
"Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, in a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel to Her Parents."