Literary Engagement

This collection of literary analyses examines the interplay of social, cultural, and philosophical forces in a selection of major British novels from the late 17th to early 19th centuries, tracing the development of the novel alongside shifting conceptions of truth, morality, class, and gender. Beginning with Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year, the work explores tensions between Christian providence and Enlightenment rationalism, situating Defoe’s documentary realism within emerging traditions of psychological observation and social commentary. The focus then turns to Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, highlighting the epistolary form’s unprecedented access to interior consciousness and its engagement with the power dynamics of class and gender in 18th-century England. Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews is examined both as a picaresque and satirical response to Richardson, using intertextual parody, episodic structure, and social critique to question the legitimacy of status and virtue. Finally, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is considered for its nuanced treatment of marriage, epistemological uncertainty, and societal expectations, revealing how comedy and irony operate alongside serious reflections on truth, autonomy, and the constraints placed on women. Across these analyses, the work argues that the British novel’s evolution is inseparable from its negotiation of moral philosophy, social hierarchy, and narrative form, with each text offering a distinct lens on how fiction shapes and challenges contemporary values.