ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Sir Walter Scott called Henry Fielding the “father of the English novel, ” and the phrase still indicates Fielding’s place in the history of literature.

Detailed explanation-2: -One of his major contribution to the English novel was a sense of structure to its development. With his Tom Jones, Fielding introduced a new kind of fictional hero – a good hearted, well intentioned young man with ordinary human weakness, one who yields to temptation with women and to make errors in judgement.

Detailed explanation-3: -Author Ian Watt, and many others for that matter, usually credit Daniel Defoe as being the author of the first English novel (Chapt. 3). The first novel is usually credited to be Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe which was first published in 1719 (Lee).

Detailed explanation-4: -On these grounds Sir Walter Scott rightly calls him the father of English novel. Plot: Plot before Fielding did not hold much importance. But Fielding revolutionised the concept of plot construction. He employs very coherent and organic plots.

Detailed explanation-5: -Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel Tom Jones is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders of the traditional English novel.