The Victorian Age 1837 1901 Realism and Naturalism

The Victorian Age 1837 -1901

Realism and Naturalism The Victorian Age encompasses the rise of two major literary movements: Realism and Naturalism. These movements were a reaction to the context of their time, but also to the Romantic movement from years previous. As with Romanticism, an American counterpart would also emerge for Realism and Naturalism.

Major Influences The era is named for Queen Victoria, who ruled from 1837 to 1901. During this time, Britain became the world's dominant empire. New technologies such as vaccines, telephones and telegraphs, electric lights, and more irreversibly altered life for millions of people.

Realism- Key Aspects Signaled a shift away from the heightened emotion and drama of the Romantic period. Sought to convey ordinary working people and situations without idealizing them. “. . . report what happens, without comment or judgment. ” Realist literature sought to reflect the world as it is. Greater attention to detail and complex characters than before. Less emphasis on traditional plot structures.

Realism Realist dialogue sought to reflect the vernacular of how people speak in real life, as opposed to the heightened language of the Romantics. Characters shifted away from the symbolic extremes of Romanticism to a more muted and varied mix of “good” and “bad” characteristics. Romantics often looked to an idealized past for inspiration; realists were more firmly rooted in the present-day. Centered on novels more than poetry.

Realism Key British Authors: Charles Dickens-- A Tale of Two Cities; Oliver Twist; Great Expectations George Eliot-- Middlemarch Key International Authors: Gustave Flaubert (French)-- Madame Bovary Leo Tolstoy (Russian)-- War and Peace; Anna Karenina

Realism Key American writers: Mark Twain-- Huckleberry Finn Henry James-- Daisy Miller; The Turn of the Screw; The Portrait of a Lady William Dean Howells-- The Rise of Silas Lapham

Naturalism Influenced by Social Darwinism, Naturalists sought a clinical, unsympathetic depiction of humans. Naturalist works were characterized by pessimistic determinism-- the idea that “persons are fated to whatever station in life their heredity, environment, and social conditions prepare them for. ” Sometimes viewed as a specific “type” of realism, rather than a separate movement. As with realism, focused on novels over poetry.

Key American Writers: Jack London-- The Call of the Wild; To Build a Fire Stephen Crane-- The Red Badge of Courage John Steinbeck-- The Grapes of Wrath Edith Wharton-- Ethan Frome Frank Norris--Mc. Teague Theodore Dreiser-- An American Tragedy

Key British writers: Thomas Hardy-- Tess of the d'Urbervilles; Far from the Madding Crowd George Gissing-- New Grub Street Key International writers: Emile Zola- France