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ChapterOne
“[A]singledropofinkforamirror”:
Thehistoricalvalidityofrealistfiction
Thenovel’saffinitytohistoryhasbeenapparentsinceitsestablishmentin
theeighteenthcentury,whenitoftenassumedtheguiseofahistorical
account.Althoughthesimilaritybetweenthetwokindsofwritingremains
unquestioned,thenovelgraduallydepartedfromthedemandforfactual-
itytoassumethestatusofanopenlyfictionalwork,which,ifnotverifi-
able,neverthelesswasexpectedtoconformtotherulesofprobability.
1As
numerousexamplesshowandcontemporaryresearchconfirms,however,
thelineseparatinghistoryfromthenovelisparticularlyindistinct,espe-
ciallygiventhatbothformsofwritingsharecommonnarrativedevices,
andthenovel,inspiteofbeingafictitiousaccount,haspretensionsof
offeringatruthfuldepictionoftheworld.Whatisunderstoodas“truth-
ful”,however,differsfromperiodtoperiodandfromwritertowriter.
WhereasauthorslikeDanielDefoeorSamuelRichardsonattemptedto
maskastory’sfictionalityandclaimedtheiraccountswereliterallytrue,
HenryFielding“disband[ed]thesimulacrumtheoryofthenovel”(Davis,
L.[1983]1996:200),andunashamedlyexposedhisnovels’fictionalnature.
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1Fielding,whosawhimselfasthefounderofthenovel,believedthatauthorsshould
followtherulesofprobabilityandconsequentlyabstainfromintroducingthemarvellous
intotheirfiction.Manywritersattemptedtomakedistinctionsbetweenthenovel,which
wassupposedtobeprobable,andtheromance,whichincludedfantasticandsupernatu-
ralelements.ClaraReeve,forinstance,inTheprogressofromance(1785),contrasted
thetwogenres,indicatingthatwhereas“[t]heRomanceisanheroicfable,whichtreats
offabulouspersonsandthings”andwhich“inaloftyandelevatedlanguage,describes
whatneverhappenednorislikelytohappen”,thenovelcouldbedescribedas“apicture
ofreallifeandmanners,andofthetimesinwhichitiswritten”andit“givesafamiliar
relationofsuchthings,aspasseverydaybeforeoureyes,suchasmayhappentoour
friend,ortoourselves”(Reeve1930:111).Thedistinctionhasneverbeenveryclear,
however,andthecategoryofthenovel,intheeighteenthcenturyandafter,hasproveda
particularlybroad,encompassingtextsofbothkinds.However,eventhenovelsinclud-
ingelementsofthemarvellousfollowtheruleofresemblanceorvraisemblance,which
“issimplyawayofsayingthatforactionstoappearcredibletheycannotbetotallyin-
vented”(Davies,L.1996:30).