Publisher's Synopsis
This study is in two parts: the first contains background information relevant to the 18th century English novel and includes discussion of issues such as the relationship between literature and ideology, literary realism, the fiction reading/purchasing public and authorial intention and technique. The second part focuses upon seven diverse, yet representative, novels of the period, paying particular attention to the presentation of class, women and religion in the works examined. Whilst no grand theory is proposed, the writer seeks to utilize an approach derived from sociological and Marxist thought and to apply this as a practical mode of criticism.
