although fictional they bear an important resemblance to the real . what exactly this resemblance is has been a matter of much discussion and dispute among literary critics, and it is arguable that it varies in kind from novel to novel. even so, this resemblance to real life is one of the features that distinguishes the novel from other forms such as the epic and the romance (see the glossary and also the discussion on p.9) however much we recognize that the term 'real life' is a problematic concept. later on in chapter 4 we will see that the term 'realism' is one which, although arguably indispensable to discussion of the novel, requires careful definition and use.