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.


Authors of realistic fiction see themselves as scientists.


No longer are stories just about extraordinary individuals.
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.


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 take great pain to reflect the way a characters from a certain
region would truly speak.
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.