From Romanticism to Realism Madame Bovary The idea of realism is that it would shine a light on the real world and not hide behind some lovely romantic ideal that did not exist.

Away from Romanticism At about the middle of the nineteenth century, the influence of many social forces caused aesthetic taste to change from romantic idealism to realism. Many writers felt that the romantics-- with their focus on the spiritual, the abstract, and the ideal--were being dishonest about life as it really was. The realists felt they had an ethical responsibility to be honest. They felt that the romantic impulse had led to escapist literature that presented life as we wished it to be, but not life as it was.

Why Realism? Many realists wished to depict life honestly in the hope that seeing social conditions accurately would lead to improving those conditions. Felt romantics were irresponsible, didn’t change anything only idealized things Many realists asserted that writers should accept their human limitation and not assume to know an ideal Felt compelled to remain objective--to depict life as it is, without commenting on it.

Characteristics of Realism Realism focuses on the common, everyday life of average, ordinary people here and now. No longer are stories just about extraordinary individuals. Authors of realistic fiction see themselves as scientists. They tried to write "scientifically" by inventing realistic characters, placing those characters in realistic situations, then imaginatively recording how those characters realistically responded. Most realists attempt to provide an objective reproduction of life. They use descriptive language to describe sights and sounds, creating a texture that suggests meaning, but they avoid explaining the meaning or interpreting the significance of a scene.

More on Realism They often use dialect to depict real, ordinary speech. They take great pain to reflect the way a characters from a certain region would truly speak. Realists are often impelled by the urge for social reform. They attempt to expose situations in order to change them. Realists focus on people in social situations that often require compromise. They develop characters that are unheroic--they are flawed, and often cannot be "true to themselves.“ While realists emphasize external, material reality, they also recognize the reality complex of human psychology. Their characters are complicated personalities, whose individual responses to situations are influenced by many external and internal factors.