The Picaresque Novel

The Picaresque Novel is a chronicle, usually written in the first person.
It presents the life story of a rogue of low social class.
He makes his living more through his wits than his industry.
                               
The term 'picaresque' has been derived from the Spanish word 'picaro' or 'rouge'
who wanders from one place to another, from one inn to another.
He may be a servant of several masters.
Through his experience, this 'picaro satirises the society in which he lives.

The protagonist or the central character mixes with other rouges
and thieves, knocks at the doors of the great, may even languish in prison.
He suffers every ups and downs.

The novelist thus gets an opportunity to introduce a variety of
characters and incidents. Here his aim is essentially to entertain
and amuse rather than to reform or improve.

The earliest picaresque novels were written in the middle of the 16th
century in Spain. the picaresque novel which influenced that kind
of novel in England is the French Gil Blas.