When twenty-one his first novel, "Work Days," met with great applause; other romances quickly followed, and, as they dealt with the social and political tendencies that fanned the revolution into flame two years later, their success was instantaneous.

His true representations of Hungarian life and character, his passionate love of liberty, his lofty idealism for his crushed and lethargic country, aroused a great wave of patriotism like a call to arms, and consecrated him to work with his pen for the freedom of the common people.
Henceforth paint-brushes were cast aside.
Petofi and Jokay, teeming with great ideas, quickly attracted other writers and young men of the university about them, and, each helping the other, brought about a bloodless revolution that secured, among other inestimable boons, the freedom of a censored, degraded press.

And yet the only act of violence these young revolutionists committed was in entering a printing establishment and setting up with their own hands the type for Petofi's poem, that afterward became the war-song of the national movement.

At that very establishment was soon to be printed a proclamation granting twelve of their dearest wishes to the people.

From this time Jokay changed the spelling of his name to Jokai, _y_ being a badge of nobility hateful to disciples of the doctrine of liberty, fraternity, equality.
About this time Jokai married the Rachel of the Hungarian stage, Rosa Laborfalvy.