The Epistolary Novel

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the epistolary novel is a novel in the form of letters.  In a modern context, novels like Griffin and Sabine draw on a frame work that was extremely popular during the time Charlotte Smith wrote Desmond.  Thanks to modern printing, Griffin and Sabine has an interactive framework.

The reader has the ability to pull out the post cards and letters; actually handle them while reading them.  Effectively putting them in the shoes of either Griffin or Sabine.  Being able to handle the letters adds to the interactive nature of the story.  As the reader you're not just reading about letters, you're actually reading letters.

Desmond, on the other hand is a product of its period just like Griffin and Sabine.  The novel draws on a form that was one of the only ways people during that time period could communicate.  They obviously didn't have the luxury of picking up their iphones and texting their best friend.  It was much different.  Even with Griffin and Sabine, the style of letter writing is much different.  Griffin decorated his postcards with illustrations.  During the 1800s most people did not use envelopes.  They just wrapped their letters in another piece of paper or folded the letter in an intricate way so that the letter itself acted like an envelope.

In modern day communications, most of the time we've entirely forgotten about any sort of form that was followed in the 19th century.  Emails don't have a greeting or a sign off and text messages use language like "rlly," "lol," and "jk."  There was an actual etiquette and form that most letters during the late 18th and early 19th century followed.

The novel begins with a letter from Desmond to Bethel.  Unfortunately, we cannot pull it from the pages of the novel and read it like an actual letter.  That form, like in Griffin and Sabine, adds to the entire feel of a story composed of letters.  The reader is looking over the shoulder of the characters while they read their letters.  The first letter we are thrown right into what seems like a correspondence that has been going on for quite a while.  There really isn't much in the way of a greeting.  It begins "Your arguments, my friend were decisive... (Smith 48)."  Right away we are thrown into a communication between two people that we don't know much about.  There's no backstory or greeting to ease us in.  In a regular novel, I wouldn't expect much backstory in the beginning, but there's something about sharing letters with the characters.  I expected to see that correspondence from the beginning.

In modern day communication, there is very little formality.  Through reading Desmond, we are taken back to a world where everything was done with formality.  The etiquette between Desmond and Bethel is striking because the reader can tell that they are friends, but by modern day standards, we could almost assume that they've never talked before.  Modern day communications clash with our interpretations of communications during the late 18th century, so:

How does the form of the novel effect the dissemination of information?  Do you think Smith could have easily given the reader the information she did by having a regular narrator or would it not have the same effect?  Is the form just as important as the information being discussed?

In a modern context, how are the letters exchanged between Desmond and Bethel similar to our instant communications and how are they different?  Is there something to be said for moving back to this type of communication or are we stuck in an era of instant gratification that instant messaging (in any of its forms) has caused?