Novel of manners

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The novel of manners is a sub-genre of the realist novel which deals with aspects of behavior, language, customs and values characteristic of a particular class of people in a specific historical context. The novel of manners often shows a conflict between individual aspirations or desires and the accepted social codes of behavior.

Well known examples of the novel of manners include: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma; William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair and Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust.