Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increases in readers of the novel in eighteenth century Europe.

The changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth century Europe were as follows:
(l) Earlier manuscripts were hand written and circulated among very few people. On the other hand novels were being printed. Therefore, novels were widely read and became popular very quickly.
(ii) Technological improvements in printing brought down the price of books. Novel was one of the first mass-produced items to be sold in Europe.
(iii) New groups of lower-middle-class people, such as shopkeepers and clerks, traditional aristocratic and gentlemanly classes in England and France formed new readership for novels.
(iv) ln the eighteenth century, the middle-classes became more prosperous. Women got more leisure to read as well as write novels.
(v) Circulating libraries were introduced which enabled people to have easier access to books.
(vi) In 1836 Charles Dicken’s Pickwick Papers was serialised in a magazine. As the magazines were attractive, it further increased the readership of novels like viewers of television soaps today.