Which early work is commonly cited as inaugurating the tradition of the English novel by focusing on practical problems and solitary experience?

• A. Pamela
• B. Robinson Crusoe
• C. Evelina
• D. Tom Jones

Answer: (D)

The main idea is how the English novel began to establish itself by turning to everyday life, practical concerns, and a single character’s experience within a social world, rather than relying on didactic or purely fantastical templates. Tom Jones does this in a way that marks a shift toward realism and breadth of scope. The book follows its young protagonist through a wide range of real-world situations—money troubles, romance, family conflict, social hypocrisy, and legal entanglements—presented in a continuous, coherent narrative voice. This emphasis on how a real person negotiates ordinary problems in ordinary settings, while moving through a society that he both inhabits and critiques, helps define the modern English novel: it’s not just about virtue or adventure, but about lived experience, character development, and social observation within a sustained plot.

Pamela leans toward a didactic, epistolary form that highlights virtue and instruction; Evelina foregrounds fashionable social manners and debutante life; Robinson Crusoe centers on solitary, problem-solving survival on a desert island. While all are important early novels, Tom Jones blends practical life, social context, and a continuous narrative in a way that popularized the novel as a vehicle for exploring real-world human experience.