The idea of the sequel : a theoretically oriented study of literary sequels with special emphasis on three examples from the first half of the eighteenth century.

The literary sequel has received little sustained or comprehensive critical attention. In view of this neglect the aim of this thesis is to present the sequel as a fruitful subject for discussion and analysis. The task undertaken here necessitates three interrelated procedures, the first of which seeks to produce a widely applicable definition of the word "sequel". The second procedure is the describing of the sequel as a literary form. This process demands a theoretical approach which views the sequel as a concept, or, as the thesis title indicates, an idea. In order to give coherence and unity to this activity the range of reference is limited almost exclusively to prose fiction in English from the late sixteenth century to the present day. In the three main central chapters the focus further narrows to consider in turn three examples of the sequel drawn from the first half of the eighteenth century. The close analysis of individual works highlights paradoxical aspects of the sequel. These special characteristics derive from a governing paradox common to all sequels: a sequel both continues a prior work and has an independent existence. The sequel cannot, however, be fully characterised without reference to its immediate historical circumstances. A third procedure examines the ways in which the contemporary response to a first part can prompt the composition of a sequel and influence its content and structure.