The novel, in its present estate, is virtually as much a part of the daily food of the educated public as the daily paper.
Context: Richard Burton states this early in his introduction, emphasizing the pervasive and indispensable role the novel had come to play in the cultural and intellectual life of his contemporary society.
Daniel Defoe may justly be called the father of the English realistic novel, for in his work, however crude, we see the clear beginnings of a new departure.
Context: Burton credits Defoe with pioneering the realistic tradition in English fiction, recognizing his groundbreaking ability to create believable narratives despite the nascent stage of the novel form.
Fielding, with his strong, masculine grasp of life, created men and women who seem to breathe and move in the actual world, rather than mere puppets of the author's will.
Context: Richard Burton praises Henry Fielding for his robust and authentic characterizations, noting his skill in imbuing his fictional creations with a lifelike vitality and independence.
Her world is a small one, to be sure, but within its carefully circumscribed bounds, she achieves a perfection of artistry that few larger canvases can boast.
Context: Burton acknowledges the limited social scope of Jane Austen's novels but asserts that her meticulous focus on character and manners within that sphere resulted in unparalleled artistic excellence.
Scott's mighty genius lay in his power to evoke the past, to make history live and breathe before our eyes, peopled with figures of heroic mould.
Context: Richard Burton celebrates Sir Walter Scott's unique ability to animate historical periods, transforming them into vibrant settings filled with memorable and often grand characters, thus shaping the historical novel.
Dickens is essentially a painter of types, and his triumph is that he has made these types so vitally human that they are recognized universally.
Context: Burton discusses Charles Dickens's genius for creating unforgettable, albeit sometimes exaggerated, character types, arguing that their vividness and humanity have etched them into collective consciousness.
Thackeray, with his deep moral sense and ironic vision, often showed us the vanity of human wishes and the hollowness beneath social glitter.
Context: Richard Burton characterizes William Makepeace Thackeray as a profound moralist and satirist, whose novels consistently expose the superficiality and moral complexities hidden beneath societal pretenses.
George Eliot's novels are often weighted with a seriousness of purpose, an intellectual profundity, which lifts them above mere story-telling into the realm of philosophical inquiry.
Context: Burton identifies George Eliot's distinctive contribution to the novel as her profound intellectual and philosophical engagement, elevating her narratives to explore complex ethical and psychological dimensions.
Fiction, at its best, is not merely diversion, but an interpreter of life, a moral force working subtly through the portrayal of human deeds and their consequences.
Context: Richard Burton articulates his belief in the novel's higher purpose, suggesting that beyond entertainment, it serves as a powerful medium for moral education and profound insights into the human condition.
The novel is realistic; romance is idealistic. The one deals with things as they are, the other with things as they might or should be.
Context: Burton draws a fundamental distinction between the novel and the romance, outlining their differing approaches to representing reality and aspiration, which underpins much of his critical framework.