Both prose and informal speech are characterized for not following particular rules as poetry does and for having a natural flow of speech; however, they have some defining characteristics and their four major differences are the following:
Prose expresses more complete ideas than informal speech, and consequently, prose are more complex than informal speeches.
Prose, such as reports, newspaper articles, philosophical texts, and novels, aims to give readers a clear understanding of ideas while informal speeches do not tend to have that same purpose.
Prose is more carefully organized and thought while informal speeches are more unpremeditated
Prose may appeal to the emotions of the readers but it usually does not express the emotions of the author whereas informal speeches usually express the emotions of the author or speaker and sometimes appeal to the emotions of an audience.
In the 19th century the major Gothic novel were: Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White (1859) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and novellas such as Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1871) and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).