Realism
An examination of Literary Realism as a mid-19th century movement that sought to depict life accurately and objectively, rejecting romantic idealization in favor of truthful representation of ordinary experience.
realism:
Realism was a major literary movement that emerged in the mid-19th century as a reaction against the idealism and emotional excess of Romanticism. Realist writers sought to represent life as it actually was, focusing on ordinary people in everyday situations rather than the exotic, supernatural, or heroic subjects favored by their Romantic predecessors. The movement emphasized objective observation, accurate detail, and the faithful representation of contemporary social conditions, particularly those of the middle and working classes.
The theoretical foundations of Literary Realism were established by French critics and writers in the 1850s, with Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1857) often cited as a defining work of the movement. However, realist techniques had been developing throughout the earlier part of the century in the works of writers like Honoré de Balzac, whose Comédie Humaine attempted to provide a comprehensive picture of French society, and Stendhal, who advocated for literature that served as “a mirror carried along a main road.”
Key characteristics of Literary Realism include:
1. Objective Representation: Realist writers strived for impartiality and objectivity, attempting to present their subjects without obvious authorial bias or romantic idealization. They sought to observe and record rather than judge or moralize.
2. Focus on Ordinary Life: Instead of kings, heroes, or supernatural beings, realist fiction concentrated on middle-class and working-class characters dealing with everyday problems such as work, family relationships, social mobility, and economic pressures.
3. Contemporary Subject Matter: Realist writers typically set their works in the present or recent past, dealing with current social issues rather than historical or mythical themes. They were particularly interested in the effects of industrialization and urbanization on human relationships.
4. Detailed Description: Realist fiction was characterized by careful attention to physical details, social customs, and material conditions. Writers provided extensive descriptions of settings, clothing, furnishings, and other concrete aspects of daily life.
5. Social Criticism: While maintaining objectivity, many realist writers used their accurate portrayals of society to expose social problems such as poverty, inequality, corruption, and the harsh conditions of industrial life.
6. Psychological Complexity: Realist characters were presented as complex individuals with mixed motives, internal conflicts, and believable psychological development, rather than as simple embodiments of good or evil.
In England, Charles Dickens pioneered many realist techniques while retaining some romantic elements. His novels like Hard Times (1854) and Little Dorrit (1857) exposed the harsh realities of industrial society while maintaining hope for social reform. George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) developed psychological realism to new depths in novels like Middlemarch (1871-72), which presented an entire provincial community with unprecedented detail and insight into character motivation.
Anthony Trollope mastered the art of depicting ordinary middle-class life in his Barsetshire and Palliser novels, while Elizabeth Gaskell addressed industrial conditions and class conflict in works like North and South (1855). William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847-48) offered a satirical but realistic portrait of English society without “a hero,” focusing instead on flawed, ordinary characters.
In France, Gustave Flaubert refined the techniques of objective narration and precise prose style in Madame Bovary, while Émile Zola extended realism into Naturalism, applying scientific methods to literature and emphasizing the determining influence of heredity and environment on human behavior. Russian realists like Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky combined detailed social observation with profound psychological and philosophical insight in masterworks like War and Peace and Crime and Punishment.
American realism developed somewhat later, with writers like William Dean Howells, who advocated for “the truthful treatment of material,” and Henry James, who brought unprecedented psychological subtlety to the realistic novel. Mark Twain introduced vernacular realism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), using authentic American speech and regional details to create a distinctly American form of literary realism.
Realist literary techniques included the use of omniscient narration to provide objective perspective, detailed exposition to establish social context, and dialogue that accurately reflected the speech patterns of different social classes. Writers employed verisimilitude—the appearance of truth—through careful research and observation of actual social conditions.
The influence of Realism extended beyond literature to affect drama, painting, and social reform movements. While pure realism as a movement gave way to Naturalism and later to Modernist experimentation, its emphasis on accurate observation, social relevance, and psychological complexity continued to influence literary development throughout the 20th century and remains fundamental to contemporary fiction. The realist tradition established many of the conventions that readers still expect from serious literary fiction: believable characters, plausible situations, and meaningful engagement with social reality.