1. THE REACTION AGAINST THE ROMANTICS: 1865-1910
REALISM
THE REACTION AGAINST THE ROMANTICS:

2. CONTRASTING PARADIGMS
Romanticism:
Present life as we would want it to be.
Realism:
Present life as it actually is.

3. ELEMENTS OF REALISM Ordinary, not extraordinary people
Middle or lower class
People you could meet on an average day: soldiers, farmers, teachers, grandfathers
Commonplace events and settings
Places you could actually see and visit
The near and familiar as opposed to the far away and exotic

4. ELEMENTS OF REALISM All aspects of life are examined
Nothing is taboo: must represent life AS IT IS, even the ugly, the degrading, the uncomfortable
The Jungle: meatpacking industry
Descriptive detail
Describe people, places, things minutely
Focus on concrete, objective detail
Accuracy of description is critical

5. ELEMENTS OF REALISM Accuracy of setting, plot, and character
Language: often written in dialect so that the actual sound of language could be rendered
Plain, straightforward prose
Smaller words and shorter sentences: keep it simple and real.

6. ELEMENTS OF REALISM
Author as objective reporter giving readers an unbiased “slice of life.”
Nothing ever is free of bias . . .
Psychological Realism
Render not just our physical appearances and actions realistically; also render internal mental and emotional aspects of people accurately.
Poe was way ahead of time here

9. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM
Reaction against Romantic excesses:
Emotion
Sentimentality
Idealism
Distorted reality

10. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM
Industrialism
Progress at cost of human dignity
Cogs in a machine: dehumanizing; thoughtless automatons
Low pay; no unions
Horrendous working conditions
Ghettos/big city slums
Loss of the American Dream
Rich get richer; poor get poorer

11. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM
Darwin and the theory of Evolution and Natural Selection
We are glorified apes—not created in God’s image
No soul or spirit: driven be same motives as animals
Nature is not divine or good
Natural Selection seems to justify destruction of the weak to feed the strong

12. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM
Science and Rational Thought reborn
Emphasis on objective, observable fact
Downplays imagination and intuition
Cold analysis over emotion: back to the Age of Reason in a way
Questioning of spiritual realms, God, that are beyond observable, empirical fact

13. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM
The Civil War
Death and destruction on an unprecedented scale
Causes questioning of God’s nature:
Why did He allow this if he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving?
Causes questioning of human nature:
If we are good, why do we do this to each other?
Causes questioning of progress:
We seem to have just created better, more efficient ways to kill each other

14. TOTAL, OVERALL EFFECT
Disillusionment: beginnings of the loss of faith we see more profoundly later on. Loss of the foundations of our faith.
Pessimism: hard to feel good about God, people, nature, or the human condition
Cold analysis
Attempt to find something to use as a foundation: the everyday, the common, the physical: things we can be absolutely sure of

15. THE CHALLENGE OF REALISM
Seems simple on surface: observe, report.
It is very difficult to observe accurately
It is very difficult to be unbiased
Most people live in a cloud of fantasy, illusion, and daydreaming: must cut through that.
Takes more skill than it first appears to be accurate, truthful, and objective