Realism
Realism
An attempt to make art and literature
resemble life. Realist painters and writers
take their subjects from the world around
them (instead of from idealized subjects,
such as figures in mythology or folklore) and
try to represent them in a lifelike manner.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy,
Third Edition
Aristotle [384-322 BC], The Poetics
(again)
art is mimesis: imitation, from
which we get the words
“imitation,” “mime,” etc.
The source of the idea that art
functions as a mirror held up to
life.
But it will be the middle of the
19th century before “realism”
becomes a dominant art form
J. M. W. Turner, Snowstorm (1842)
Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers (1849)
Stephen Crane, Maggie:
A Girl of the Streets
(1893)
The Invention of Theatrical Realism:
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
“The illusion I
wished to create
was that of reality.”
A Doll’s House (1879): A
wife walks out on her
husband
Ghosts (1881): The main
character goes mad as the
result of syphilis
An Enemy of the People
(1882): Explores political
corruption
Hedda Gabler (1890): The
title character smokes on
stage