What is a Novel of Manners?

Hello, dear readers! 🫰

Welcome to a new bookish ramble! 📖

I know it might be obvious or it might be something you have never heard of, so here we are chatting about a book genre from yonder* times.

*Yonder is not really the right word there, that’s for a distance like “at some distance in the direction indicated”. End of lesson. 😄

So, I already know what a novel of manners is, but when I first posted my Pride and Prejudice review, I didn’t know the term. And now, I’m here to share it with you all, in case you were wondering about it, or just want to check some old books.

Anyway, a novel of manners is a story that re-creates how a social world in a specific stratified (layers/class) society is/would be while going into details about the complexity of the customs and values of said time or society. Also, the way the characters act in that society is the plot of the story, their manners, and how the main protagonists (or everyone) is different, if they fail in the standard of that ideal social behaviour, or if they meet the standards set there.

All of these if you’re trying to dissect the books, which we (readers) tend to do sometimes. So, that is what a novel of manners is, I hope it answered your question, now here some popular ones. 📚

Popular Novels of Manner

• Pride and Prejudice
• Sense and Sensibility
• Tess of the d’Urbervilles (depending on how you look at it. It’s categorised as a Social Novel)
• The Portrait of a Lady
• Wuthering Heights (Personal opinion, this is Tragedy and gothic)

There’s also Comedy of Manners, which is essentially a genre of satirical comedy and a bit more realistic of the Restoration period (1660–1710). This genre of books questions the manners and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, but also artificial society.

Some classics are:

• William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing

• Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest

• Molière’s The School for Wives (1662)

What about Little Women? I was curious about it, but actually, this one is a Coming of Age novel and a Bildungsroman (following the lead character from childhood to adulthood).

So, that’s that. I thought it would be interesting to know a bit more about book genres, and if you liked this one and would like to know my POV about other genres, let me know in the comments. It was fun doing this one! Thank you for reading!

Happy Sharing! 📲

Update 2026

Answering some of your doubts about novels of manners such as:

What are the characteristics of a Novel of Manners?

It focuses mostly on social class, like detailing the customs, behaviours, values of upper and middle classes in most cases, and the structured society. It also, goes into social conformity vs a person’s desires, the characters have conflicts in trying to balance what they want and what society expects, but the plot gives life to it by detailing social interactions, like dances, dinner parties, visiting other homes, and gossip.

Another characteristic and perhaps the one that you find the clearest at times is the satire and the critique of society, a witty comment or the irony of situations is what most authors wrote about, exposing hypocrisy and superficiality in the way the unspoken rules of society were viewed or followed.

Is Anna Karenina a novel of Manners?

Yes, and no. Yes, it shows 19th-century Russian high society, social expectations, and reputation. But it goes deeper than that into philosophy, politics, and moral themes. (I haven’t read it, just know the story more or less). But I did see that Anna Karenina falls more into literary realism rather than a novel of manners.

Btw, you can read Anna Karenina here, I think it’s the full novel, I found it while scrolling for the book.

What is an American novel of manners?

Edith Wharton (The Age of Innocence) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) are the main two novels in this adapted genre. An American novel in this genre usually brings to the reader the fact that in a country with no traditional monarchy or titled aristocracy they still had a ruthless social hierocracy, but mostly in the concept of a clash of “old money” vs “new money”, which I have seen is still the case, don’t believe me, watch Gossip Girl and tell me if I’m wrong. But this also goes into social climbing and specific etiquette of American high society.

Another example of American NoM is the story in the TV show The Gilded Age, which is also considered this genre, or ‘Drama of Manners’.