Augustan literature the theme of fallen women in "" (1724). Thematically, Defoe's works are consistently Puritan. They all involve a fall, a degradation of the spirit, a conversion, and an ecstatic elevation. This religious structure necessarily involved a "bildungsroman", for each character had to learn a lesson about him or herself and emerge the wiser. The sentimental novel, or "novel of sentiment", developed after 1740, and among the most famous examples in English are Samuel Richardson's "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded" (1740), Oliver Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield" (1766), Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" (1759–67), "Sentimental Journey" (1768), Henry Brooke's "The Fool of Quality" (1765–70),
British literature of Wakefield" (1766), a pastoral poem "The Deserted Village" (1770) and two plays, "The Good-Natur'd Man" 1768 and "She Stoops to Conquer" 1773. Sheridan was born in Dublin, but his family moved to England in the 1750s. His first play, "The Rivals" 1775, was performed at Covent Garden and was an instant success. He went on to become the most significant London playwright of the late 18th century with plays like "The School for Scandal" and "The Critic". Sterne published his famous novel "Tristram Shandy" in parts between 1759 and 1767. The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is