Realism and Naturalism

*An Age of New Forces* Process of industrialization, first accelerated by the war, continued to transform America Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 (Corliss steam engine)

World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago 1893

1898 Spanish American War 1903 Wright brothers make first airplane flight 1893 Chicago World’s Fair 1901 First transatlantic radio communication 1895 Motion- picture projector developed 1911 First transcontinental airplane flight 1917 US enters World War I 1918 World War I ends 1914 World War I begins

New economic forces created both unprecedented national prosperity and wider divisions between rich and poor, capital and labor, creditors and debt-ridden farmers, native-born Americans and immigrants who struggled for the same jobs Political corruption flowed from excessive economic power, which led to the formation of labor unions, antitrust laws to prohibit monopolies and regulatory commissions for railroads and utilities

“Plutocracy” – a ruling class based solely upon wealth “Muckrakers” – those whose unpleasant task it was to rake over the corruption in American society and so expose it to the light United States’ new status as a world power was confirmed in 1898 after winning the Spanish-American War

Mark Twain, enraged that in the Philippines we were betraying cherished American freedoms, thundered that the stars and stripes should be replaced by the skull and crossbones flag flown by pirates.

By 1900 violent labor strife had somewhat subsided, and the buccaneers of great fortunes were showing new signs of social responsibility by endowing libraries and universities and medical research. United States foreign policy retreated form its imperialistic excesses and took a popular turn when terms were negotiated for American to build the Panama Canal.

Realism Realism is defined by the accurate, unembellished, and detailed depiction of nature or contemporary life. The movement prefers an observation of physical appearance rather than imagination or idealization. Realists positioned themselves against romanticism. Undistorted by personal bias, Realism believed in the ideology of objective reality and revolted against exaggerated emotionalism. Truth and accuracy became the goals of many Realists.

*Literature in an Age of Science* New Scientific ideas were just as prevalent during this time period as new technological advances Literature was affected by the idea that the discipline of science could be applied to every aspect of life Literature became increasingly intermingled with sociology, psychology, “scientific “ philosophies, and various economic and social reforms

Utopian Novels Depicted a perfect future society achieved through science examples: Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

Deepest impact of science upon literature came from radical changes in the natural sciences - Charles Darwin’s publications of The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man proposed the idea of evolution, which was supported by discoveries in botany and geology, evoked many different responses (i.e. Attack on the Bible/religion; humanity is changing and growing; etc.)

*From Realism to Naturalism* By 1890, Realism seemed inadequate to many writers, especially the young It didn’t indicate how the author should penetrate the surface of life – or of the human character – to see the principles operating within Personal experience wasn’t enough to explore all aspects of life

Naturalism Subscribed more to the scientific view that heredity and environment governed the individual life, not the truth of personal experience *No American writer was consistently and solely naturalistic* An important legacy of Naturalism was the view that society is laboratory for the scientific study of human behavior