Origin and Development of Bildungsroman Novels in English Literature

First of all, a brief introduction to development of novel is to be given. Then the meaning of Bildungsroman novel along with the origin and development of this literary sub-genre have to be examined. Various representative authors like Dickens, Goethe, Joyce, Mann, and Christoph Martin Wieland in addition to some female writers like Charlotte Bronte, Sylvia Plath are to be presented critically. Moreover, some representative works of these authors under the sub-genre Bildungsroman presented critically. The representative literary works like Great Expectations, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Sons and Lovers, Invisible Man along with Jane Eyre, Bell Jar are to be examined in terms of their Bildungsroman elements. This paper also presents common motifs and themes like „Identity and the Self‟, „Coming of Age‟, „Education‟, „Love‟, „and Search for the Meaning of Life‟ along with their unique presentation styles. The movement variations are to be examined carefully. Finally theconclusions aredrawnbymeans ofthereviewof literature indicated.