What aspects of the novel can be perceived as it evolved into a major literary form?

One important
feature of novels as they evolved was the sheer number of characters and subsequent sub-plots
that could be explored.  Some early novels, such as Pamela by Richardson,
started with the idea of having only a few characters reveal the events and conflicts of their
lives through a series of letters written back and forth between other characters.  These are
the first "first person narrators."  As the novel form evolved, authors used third
person narration, but usually still had the focus of the story be on a singleand his or her
interactions with any number of minor characters.  From the early part of the 1700's to 1800
when Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice for example we can see that
transistion.  Austen still used the convention of letters to reveal plot pieces...