Epistolary novel

 

EPISTOLARY NOVEL

This was one of the earliest types of novel and was very popular in the eighteenth century. In this type of fiction, the story is told entirely through letters sent by the characters involved in the action or by those who are observing it.

Features of an epistolary novel

The plot unfolds as the characters write letters to
others may be beloved or friends and family members (or to the reader) to narrate the events that have taken place.

Multiple points of view can be revealed directly to the reader without any third person authorial intervention.

 

The letters, apart from being the means of narrating the story, also help in reflecting the psychological and moral Conflicts of their writers.

Since the letters provide an intimate look into a character's thoughts and feelings, the epistolary novel is often considered as the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.

 
This form of the novel also depends on other documents like diary entries, telegrams and newspaper clippings to develop the plot. An excellent example of this is Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897).

Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1748) are good examples of the epistolary novel. The other prominent examples include Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982), and Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger (2008).