Born yesterday : inexperience and the early realist novel / Stephanie Insley Hershinow.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-168) and index.

Introduction. Entering the world -- Clarissa's conjectural history: the novel and the novice -- When experience matters (and when it doesn't): Tom Jones and the Rake's Regress -- Simple and sublime: the otherworldly of Ann Radcliffe's gothic -- Starting from scratch: Frances Burney and the Appeals of Inexperience -- Epilogue: Emma's Dystopia.

"In this book analyzing English novels of the long eighteenth century, the author argues against the long-standing association between the novel genre and the concept of a progress narrative (i.e., a bildungsroman), in which the protagonist matures over the course of the plot into someone more adult. In a formalist analysis of works by Richardson, Fielding, Radcliffe, and Burney, the author argues that the early novel often depicts an inexperienced character type, which she terms "the novice." The novice, whether naive, ignorant, or simple, represents anti-development. In her epilogue, the author further explores the novice as a character type that, rather than being historically bound, reappears in contemporary young adult fiction"-- Provided by publisher.