Editing English novel (section)

==Early novels in English== 
{{Main|First novel in English}}
Historically, the English novel has generally been seen as beginning with [[Daniel Defoe]]'s ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'' (1719) and ''[[Moll Flanders]]'' (1722),<ref>"Defoe", ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'', ed. Margaret Drabble. (Oxford: Oxforsd University Press,1996), p. 265.</ref> though modern scholarship cites [[Aphra Behn]]'s ''[[Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister]]'' (1684) John Bunyan's ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]'' (1678) and [[Aphra Behn]]'s ''[[Oroonoko]]'' (1688) as more likely contenders, while earlier works such as [[Sir Thomas Malory]]'s ''[[Morte d'Arthur]]'' (1485), and even the "Prologue" to [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[Canterbury Tales]] (c. 1400)'' have been suggested.<ref>J. A. Cuddon, ''A Dictionary of Literary Terms'' (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1984), pp. 433, 434.</ref> Another important early novel is ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' (1726, amended 1735), by [[Irish people|Irish]] writer and clergyman [[Jonathan Swift]], which is both a [[satire]] of human nature, as well as a [[parody]] of travellers' tales like ''Robinson Crusoe''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/gullivers-travels/author/dean-swift/sortby/3/|title = Gullivers Travels by Dean Swift - AbeBooks}}</ref> The rise of the novel as an important literary genre is generally associated with the growth of the middle class in England.

Other major 18th-century English novelists are [[Samuel Richardson]] (1689–1761), author of the [[epistolary novel]]s ''[[Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded]]'' (1740) and ''[[Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady]]'' (1747–48); [[Henry Fielding]] (1707–1754), who wrote ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (1742) and ''[[The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling]]'' (1749); [[Laurence Sterne]] (1713–1768), who published ''[[Tristram Shandy]]'' in parts between 1759 and 1767;<ref>''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'', p. 947.</ref> [[Oliver Goldsmith]] (1728–1774), author of ''[[The Vicar of Wakefield]]'' (1766); [[Tobias Smollett]] (1721–1771), a Scottish novelist best known for his comic [[picaresque novel]]s, such as ''[[The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle]]'' (1751) and ''[[The Expedition of Humphry Clinker]]'' (1771), who influenced [[Charles Dickens]];<ref>{{citation|title= British Literature 1640–1789: An Anthology|author= Robert DeMaria|year= 2001|publisher= Blackwell Publishing|isbn= 0-631-21769-X|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/britishliteratur0000unse}}</ref> and [[Fanny Burney]] (1752–1840), whose novels "were enjoyed and admired by Jane Austen," wrote ''[[Evelina]]'' (1778), ''Cecilia'' (1782) and ''[[Camilla (Burney novel)|Camilla]]'' (1796).<ref>''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'', ed. Margaret Drabble. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1996), p. 151.</ref>

A noteworthy aspect of both the 18th- and 19th- century novel is the way the novelist directly addressed the reader. For example, the author might interrupt his or her narrative to pass judgment on a character, or pity or praise another, and inform or remind the reader of some other relevant issue.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}