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In the following section, the historical development of the short story will be discussed.
Before addressing how the short story developed, it is important to establish what constitutes a short story. Short stories generally exhibit the following characteristics:
Although the establishment of the short story as a literary genre did not occur until the nineteenth century, short narratives in both verse and prose date back many years and contributed to the development of the short story.
The short story emerged as its own genre during the nineteenth century, aided in part by the rise of a literate middle class and the expansion of printing. The popularity of satirical essays published in literary magazines during the eighteenth century helped point the way, but the form finally took hold and flowered during the nineteenth century.
Given the numerous contributions made to the development of the short story, it is difficult to pinpoint one specific creator of the form. In this case, it took a group effort.
Of the group, Irving was the earliest to use the form, but Hawthorne and Poe stand out as exceptional writers in the short story genre.
Washington Irving’s best-known book, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., contained his most famous short stories, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.” The publication of the book in 1820 marked the beginning of the American short story.
Irving popularized short fiction by making it purely entertaining. Americans and Europeans enjoyed his work, and Irving became an international success. Irving’s combination of folklore, humor, sympathetic characters, and detailed setting descriptions made his work popular.
Famed writer Nathaniel Hawthorne took the short story genre to a new level by exploring sin, morality, guilt, and their effects on the human heart and conscience. Hawthorne set many of his stories in Puritan New England, which provided him with ample opportunities for weaving moral principles into his work.
Edgar Allan Poe highly regarded the literature of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and, in turn, such notable writers as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, and H. G. Wells credited Poe for influencing their own work.
Poe’s short stories, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” illustrate his fascination with death, insanity, revenge, and the human conscience. Poe’s immense talent reached in a number of directions. In addition to his numerous horror and suspense tales, Poe wrote poetry and is credited for inventing the detective story.
Demand for short fiction grew toward the end of the nineteenth century due in part to inexpensive printing and the creation of more literary magazines and journals. The trend continued for the first half of the twentieth century as magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly and the Saturday Evening Post published short stories in every issue. This move increased the demand for short stories and the money that was paid for them.
In 1906, American short story writer O. Henry published The Four Million, a collection of short stories that includes his best-known story, “The Gift of the Magi.” A popular and prolific writer, O. Henry wrote sentimental stories about the lives of ordinary people trying to make it in the world. Many of his stories take place in New York, whose population was four million at the time of his collection’s publication.
O. Henry’s stories are known for their surprise endings. In “The Gift of the Magi,” a struggling couple wants to buy each other Christmas gifts. The wife sells her long hair to buy her husband a watch fob, while the husband sells his watch to buy his wife a pretty comb for her hair.
American authors Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner lived during the same time period. Both made a great impact on the literary world, and both earned Nobel Prizes. Although short stories are not published in commercial magazines as widely as they once were, the short story genre remains a popular form of prose writing.
What aspect of Washington Irving’s writing made it innovative and popular?