Over the course of the eighteenth century the novel rose from a minor literary genre to the dominant one in France, eclipsing all others in popularity. It was a free form, without rules, as it had never been defined by the theorists of Graeco-Roman antiquity nor by their French neo-classical imitators. It afforded a subjective presentation of a life, of an individual consciousness within a social context, and thus offered an open-ended opportunity to express sentiment and to explore contemporary questions of morality, gender, and class. For many writers, it served as a polemical vehicle for social satire and criticism. Novels were attractive to many readers. Reading for pleasure was increasingly becoming a form of entertainment. The growth in size and in wealth of the reading public – especially middle-class readership – meant that more people could afford to buy and read books. In private libraries, books of history and theology were gradually replaced by novels. While there is a persistent myth that novels in the period were written largely by and for women, it is true that a proportionately larger number of women began writing novels during the period. By mid-century there was a steady current of literary production by women, and by the 1770s the idea of women writing novels had become commonplace. In De l'usage des romans (1734), Nicolas Lenglet-Dufresnoy pointed out that while everyone seemed to agree about denouncing the novel, novels were nonetheless written and read. Numbers of new titles are instructive.