The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

The picaresque novel is a literary form featuring a loose and episodic plot, a focus on travel and adventure, the realistic representation of lower/working class characters, and strong elements of satire and humor. The term picaresque is derived from the Spanish word picaro, meaning rogue, scoundrel, or rascal. The protagonist of the picaresque novel tends to contrast with traditional heroic ideals courage, loyalty, and selflessness; instead, the picaresque hero is typically somewhat amoral, lazy, willing to bend rules, and focused on his or her own benefit. Particularly when applied to English novel, the picaresque genre tends to focus on travel and the adventures that occur along the way; it is also more likely to feature multiple main characters, rather than a single protagonist.

In literary history, conventions associated with the picaresque novel can be traced back to long prose works from antiquity, including Petronius’s Satyricon and Apuleius’s The Golden Ass. These works were notable for their focus on realism and comical, sometimes crass, depictions of everyday life in ancient Rome. The picaresque genre also flourished in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries; Lazarillo de Tormes, an anonymous Spanish novel published in 1554, is often viewed as one of the signature examples of the genre. While not a perfect example of the picaresque genre, Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1615) displays several picaresque characteristics. Subsequent authors who worked in the picaresque genre, such as Henry Fielding, often cited Don Quixote as a major literary influence.

In addition to being significant for the picaresque genre, Don Quixote played a major role in the development of the novel as a literary form. There is no consensus about what text should be considered the “first” novel, but many consider the ancient Roman and early Spanish examples of the picaresque to precede the novel in its modern form, and thus the picaresque may have paved the way for the rise of long, realistic prose narratives. By the 1700s, the novel was growing in popularity, particularly in England. Examples of 18th-century English novels that incorporate picaresque elements include Moll Flanders (1722), Tom Jones (1749), and The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759).

Since picaresque characteristics often meant depicting a morally ambiguous, or even openly criminal protagonists, and representing the sometimes sordid and unsavory details of everyday life, the use of picaresque features in many early English novels may have contributed to negative attitudes toward the novel form as a whole. For decades, novels were often viewed with suspicion by critics and members of the literary elite; they were largely viewed as “low-brow,” less intellectual than other forms such as poetry and drama, and potentially morally corrupting, especially if consumed by women and lower-class readers. Nonetheless, novels, including picaresque works, were highly entertaining and often more accessible than texts that relied on specialized knowledge or allusions. By the time 19th-century writers such as Charles Dickens and Thackeray incorporated and evolved features of the picaresque into texts such as Vanity Fair (1848) and The Pickwick Papers, they were able to achieve both commercial and critical success (1836).