Novel of manners

Common card · No. 225951

The novel of manners is a work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with detailed observation the complex of customs, values, and mores of a stratified society. The behavioural conventions (manners) of the society dominate the plot of the story, and characters are differentiated by the degree to which they meet or fail to meet the uniform standard of ideal social behaviour as established by society. The scope of a novel of manners can be particular, as in the works of Jane Austen, which deal with the domestic affairs of the landed gentry of England in the beginning of the 19th century, or the scope can be general, as in the works of Honoré de Balzac, which portray the social conventions of 19th-century France with stories about the public sphere and the private sphere of French life in Paris, the provinces, and the military. Notable English-language novelists of manners include Henry James, Evelyn Waugh, Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, and John Marquand.

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