Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase 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 manifold.

These are mentioned below:

(i) The invention of the print in the 18th century led to the popularity of the novels because now it became quite easy to print novels in large numbers.

(ii) The creation of libraries and hiring out of books on an hourly basis allowed readership to expand beyond the aristocratic class.

(iii) Most of the novelists used the vernacular, the language that is spoken by common people. Novels involved women also.

(iv) Common people got attracted towards novels because, it dealt with many social issues such as the relationship between love and marriage, proper conduct for men and women and so on.

(v) Novels appealed to all sections of the society-middle class people like the shopkeepers and the clerks as well as aristocratic and gentlemanly classes.

(vi) Novels not only attacked the ills of the society but also suggested remedies so they were much liked by one and all.

(vii) The novels become a popular medium of entertainment among the middle class.

All this led to an obvious increase in the number of people who read books in eighteenth-century Europe.