ABSTRACT
The English novel developed with dramatic speed in its formative period - roughly the years between 1720 and 1770. Arnold Kettle's treatment of Richardson, in particular, has been praised by Christopher Hill, who believes that 'the novel as a literary form arose with the bourgeoisie: and it was Richardson's bourgeois characteristics that were his main appeal'. The most telling rejoinder is that of Diana Spearman, in a disjointed but lively study of The Novel and Society. Some of Mrs Spearman's arguments are little more than debating points; but she does make some serious inroads into Watt's position, especially with reference to Crusoe. The novel worked on a new social 'register', a kind of communal whispering gallery. For this to take place, the middle class did not need to rise, fall or jump on the spot. Fielding and Smollett present a wide social range, from effete earls to humble servant-girls.
