If writers only dared to dare, a Suetonius or a Tacitus of the Novel could exist, for the Novel is essentially the history of manners, turned into a story and a play, as is History itself often enough. And there is no other difference than this: that the one, the Novel, cloaks its manners under the disguise of invented characters, while the other, History, provides names and addresses. Only, the Novel probes much deeper than history. It has an ideal, and History has none; it is limited by reality. The Novel also holds the stage much longer. ("A Woman's Vengeance") . Jules Barbey DAurevilly
About This Quote

In this quote, Charles Dickens speaks of the power of the written word. He believes that a novel could have been written about events in history or even about current events if people had been able to provide a more accurate account of what was going on around them. With a novel, people could see the world from a different perspective and see things in a different light. A Suetonius or a Tacitus of the Novel could exist, for the Novel is essentially the history of manners, turned into a story and a play, as is History itself often enough.

And there is no other difference than this: that the one, the Novel, cloaks its manners under the disguise of invented characters, while the other, History, provides names and addresses. Only, the Novel probes much deeper than history. It has an ideal, and History has none; it is limited by reality.

The Novel also holds the stage much longer. ("A Woman's Vengeance")

Source: Les Diaboliques

Some Similar Quotes
  1. And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my... - Nicholas Sparks
  2. A fit, healthy body–that is the best fashion statement - Jess C. Scott
  3. Isn't it funny how the memories you cherish before a breakup can become your worst enemies afterwards? The thoughts you loved to think about, the memories you wanted to hold up to the light and view from every angle--it suddenly seems a lot safer to... - Ally Condie
  4. V-Day…if you need this one day in a year to show everyone else you truly care for “your loved one” I think it’s quite stupid. I hate this commercialism. It’s all artificial, and has nothing to do with real love. - Jess C. Scott
  5. My head’ll explode if I continue with this escapism. - Jess C. Scott
More Quotes By Jules Barbey DAurevilly
  1. For in Paris, whenever God puts a pretty woman there (the streets), the Devil, in reply, immediately puts a fool to keep her.
  2. They had...finished their lives before their death — which is not always the end of life and often comes long before the end.
  3. In Paris, where raillery is so quick to throw emotion out the window, silence, in a roomful of clever people after a story, is the most flattering of all marks of success
  4. The Devil teaches women what they are — or they would teach it to the Devil if he did not know.
  5. She was one of those women of good family who no longer exist, elegant, distinguished, and haughty, whose pallor and thinness seem to say, 'I am conquered by the era, like all my breed. I am dying, but I despise you, ' and - devil...
Related Topics