Characteristics of SENTIMENTAL novels

One of the most cultivated fictional genres in the history of our literature is sentimental, a type of text that became very popular in the Europe of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It is a genre that is usually presented in the first person and that tells us about the fortunes and misadventures of two lovers who embody the Platonic ideal, that is, courtly love. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want you to know the main characteristics of sentimental novels and examples of the best-known works of this genre so that you can learn to easily identify them. A journey through the confines of literature that will help you better understand our cultural history.

Before starting to talk about the characteristics of sentimental novels, it is important that we stop briefly to know the definition of this novel genre. The origin is at the end of the Middle Ages (in the 15th century) and it is a narrative genre written in prose and whose main theme is love, a love represented within the laws of courtly love, a type of idealized love.

Due to the time in which it appeared, this genre has elements of other literary traditions as is the case of the chivalric novel. In fact, the protagonists of sentimental novels usually have traits and ideals which also featured chivalric characters such as, for example, the ideal of a hero and the idealized woman that she played as a lover and in love.

The footprint of Polite love is very present in sentimental novels, a theme that is presented rhetorically and that presents us stories of idealized and very passionate love that takes place between people courtesans. The typical character of the warrior or hero of the 15th century is now replaced by the courtier, a cultured, brave and respected man who defends his honor above all else.

The main theme of these texts is love in all its aspects: the love affair, emotional problems, sexual desire and passion, and so on. We are shown how love can take its toll on even the strongest and bravest characters as a hero or warrior who, when he falls in love, can become helpless, weak and surrendered to his loved. In these novels, issues of love relationships are usually analyzed and the typical tools of courtly love:

• Idealization of the beloved as if she were a divine being
• The lover always feels inferior to the loved one
• The stage is set in a world of nobles and kings
• It has a tragic ending
• Emotions are more important than reason
• The plot is usually set in exotic countries far from ours

We are going to get into the matter now and find out what the characteristics of sentimental novels most prominent of the genre. Although each author can choose their own and unique text, the truth is that the vast majority of novels have a series of paradigms that we can summarize as follows:

1. Importance of emotions: In these novels, emotions become the main and most prominent element of fiction. The author's objective is to present the feelings of his protagonists and, with them, to get the reader excited. For this, romantic, tender, loving and unfair scenes abound that are capable of transmitting the same feeling that the protagonists live.
2. Rural settings: just as it happens with pastoral novelsIn sentimental ones, the rural setting also tends to be idealized and presented as the best setting for a love affair to take place. The landscape is put at the service of literature, presenting it with a subjective touch that helps to better recreate the story that is being told. Nature is presented as the pure space and the city as the corrupt and perverse place.
3. Idealization of the human being: Another characteristic of sentimental novels is that they tend to present people from an idealized and elevated point of view. The protagonists are usually caring, Christian and very ethical people who serve as a model of ideal citizen to imitate.
4. Literary resources: To achieve emotion and transmit emotions to the maximum, sentimental authors tend to fill its pages with a series of resources that were very innovative and that enriched the literature. Some resources they used were the sound of the wind in the distance, the sound of the wolves, etc.
5. Tragic ending: Usually, sentimental novels usually have a tragic ending and a fatal outcome. The protagonists, as happened during the Romanticism, they can end up dead or live apathetically without having fulfilled their love goals.
6. Polite love: the type of love that is explained in these novels is very influenced by the "Ars Amandi" of Ovidio, a courtly love that is based on the noble origin of the protagonists, the idealization of the lady, the pure and true feelings of the lovers, the states of love that are usually experienced during infatuation, etc.
7. Women's incursion into literature: One of the most interesting consequences that were achieved thanks to sentimental novels is that a new audience that did not exist before, women, entered the literary world. In addition, they not only participated as readers but also promoted women to become authors and, therefore, literary creation broke the gender barrier that existed until the moment.
8. Gender for the middle classesWhen the sentimental novel emerged, there was no specific target audience among the readers. But, over time, this genre managed to attract a large number of readers (both men and women) who were They were interested in the adventures carried out by nobles and who told stories and emotions that everyone has been able to to experience. This made the genre extremely popular.

And finally, we want to give you some examples of sentimental novels that will help you better understand this novel genre and learn to detect it when you face a work of this style. The pioneer of this type of text was Juan Rodríguez del Padrón with "Servant free of love" (1440) which was followed by another great work that kicked off the genre: "Satire of happy and unhappy life" by Don Pedro of Portugal (1453).

But the maturity of sentimental novels comes with Diego de San Pedro who published a work considered a great masterpiece "Prison of love" in 1492. Juan de Flores is also another Spanish author who is considered a great example of sentimental novels thanks to the publication of "Brief treatise of Grimalte and Gradisa" and the "History of Grisel and Mirabella". With these two works the summit of the genre was reached and, therefore, they are two essential works to know.

From 1495 is when this genre begins to go into decline although, at this time, we can still rescue "Repetición de amores" by Luis de Lucena, an interesting work that is also widely studied in the history of Spanish literature. The author Nicolás Núñez in 1496 undertook the task of continuing with the success of "Cárcel de amor", a work that was not as successful as the preceding one.

The last work that is framed within the sentimental novel is "Love letter process" in 1548 by Juan de Segura, an epistolary novel that put an end to a very successful and popular genre.