picaresque

Genre of novel that takes a rogue or villain for its central character, telling his or her story in episodic form. The genre originated in Spain and was popular in the 18th century in Britain. Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders (1722), Tobias Smollett's Roderick Random (1748), Henry Fielding's Tom Jones (1749), and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (1885) are typical picaresque novels. The device of using an outsider gave the author the opportunity to give fresh moral insights into society.

The episodic plot is unified by the character of the hero or heroine, usually part fool and part innocent victim, though often attractive and dynamic. They get into many scrapes from which the reader always hopes they will extricate themselves.