The Rise of Realism 1860s-1900s

The Rise of Realism The Civil War brought an end to the Romantic Era. The harsh realities of war paved the way to a more realistic, sometimes pessimistic view of America and the world. The new social order, which included newly freed slaves, a rising lower, working, and middle class, a continued influx of immigrants, and another migration North and West, brought about many changes in the American way of life and the American Dream. Shares many traits with both the Dark Romantics from the past and the Modernists yet to come.

Realism Defined Broadly defined as "the faithful representation of reality“, realism is a literary technique practiced by many schools of writing. Although strictly speaking, realism is a technique, it also denotes a particular kind of subject matter, especially the representation of middle-class life.

Samuel clemens Took the name Mark Twain from a term used during his days as a steamboat captain. He was a very successful writer, but a terrible businessman, and the fortunes he made for his writing often were lost on various “get rich quick” schemes. He became the voice of his generation. He was a satirist and a sometimes biting critic of his times, often times pointing out the faults and hypocrisy of the National and International culture. His “innocents abroad” played on the biases the world had of “rustic” Americans. He actually joined the Confederacy for a short period of time, much more for its stance on States’ Rights rather than its stance on slavery, to which he was generally opposed.

Twain’s Literature “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” was his first popular published short story. It was also a great example of the Regionalist movement, where dialogue, dialect, and colloquialisms give local flavor to the events of the story. “On the Damned Human Race” satirized the assent of man from the animal kingdom (naturalism). Its central theme was if man has the moral sense, why does he seem to justify doing the wrong thing repeatedly.

Ambrose Bierce “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” on one hand is an experiment (break with tradition) in its storytelling—the time frame changes throughout, but also follows Regionalist and Naturalist elements. Regionalism: recognizes the differences among specific areas of the country Naturalism: Humans are depicted in their natural environment, animals in civilized world. It is not necessarily a very flattering depiction of the human condition. Morality separates us for the Natural world but humans often do not act morally.

Henry James “The Real Thing”: the dominant theme for this story focuses on man’s ability to adapt to his environment. The Monarchs depict the glamorized world of the upper class, but the artist cannot render them heroic in his illustrations. The lower class models (and even the artist) can be molded into many different environments but harbor a prejudice against the upper class. The Monarchs adapt to the world as best they know how and in a poignant moment, the artist/narrator learns a lesson about tolerance and seeing past the outer surface of his models and mankind.