Here's how:
* Romantics explored diverse forms, including poetry, drama, and essays. They valued innovation and emotional expression.
* Victorians built upon this, taking the novel to new heights with complex plots, detailed character development, and social commentary.
* They experimented with different subgenres, like the gothic novel (e.g., Bram Stoker's *Dracula*), the historical novel (e.g., Charles Dickens' *A Tale of Two Cities*), and the social realist novel (e.g., George Eliot's *Middlemarch*).
* This experimentation allowed them to address complex social issues, explore various perspectives, and create intricate narratives that resonated with a wide audience.
Examples:
* Charles Dickens used humor, satire, and melodrama to expose societal ills and advocate for social reform.
* Jane Austen focused on witty dialogue and subtle social commentary to analyze the lives of women in her time.
* Emily Brontë used the gothic novel form to explore themes of love, loss, and social class.
By pushing the boundaries of the novel, Victorian authors continued the Romantic spirit of experimentation and further solidified the novel's status as a powerful and versatile literary form.