# Study Notes: Realism, Naturalism, and Key Literary Works ## Realism and Naturalism: Key Concepts ### Realism - **Definition**: A literary movement that depicts everyday life with honest, detailed portrayals of characters and situations. Realist writers focus on real human experiences and the choices people make. - **Key Features**: - Focus on **ordinary people** and their struggles. - Emphasis on **realistic details** and objectivity. - Characters navigate social and personal challenges. **Example**: In *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* by Mark Twain, the story portrays real characters and situations, especially addressing themes of race and morality. --- ### Naturalism - **Definition**: An extension of Realism that emphasizes how characters are shaped by forces beyond their control, such as nature, society, and biology. Naturalist writers often depict humans as powerless against these forces. - **Key Features**: - Focus on **environmental and social forces** shaping characters. - Characters often lack control over their destinies. - Detailed, objective descriptions of life. **Example**: In *The Open Boat* by Stephen Crane, the characters are powerless against the sea, symbolizing nature’s indifference to human struggles. --- ### Comparing Realism and Naturalism - **Similarities**: - Both focus on **ordinary life** and use detailed, objective descriptions. - **Differences**: - **Realism**: Highlights human agency and choices. - **Naturalism**: Emphasizes external forces (nature, society) controlling human fate. In short, Realism focuses on everyday characters and their choices, while Naturalism explores how people are shaped by forces beyond their control. --- ## Poetry ### Walt Whitman: *Song of Myself* (Selected Sections) - **Overview**: Celebrates individuality, the human experience, and the connection between people and nature. Themes include unity, self-expression, and transcendence. - **Key Themes**: 1. **Individualism and Unity**: Emphasizes self-expression while celebrating shared humanity. 2. **Nature and the Self**: Links the self with nature as part of a larger, interconnected whole. 3. **Death and Transcendence**: Views death as part of life’s continuous flow. **Example**: Whitman’s speaker embraces both personal freedom and shared humanity, promoting unity and equality. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Honest depictions of human emotions and the physical body. - **Naturalism**: Humans are part of nature’s larger cycle. Whitman’s *Song of Myself* celebrates individuality and unity, blending Realism and Naturalism to explore human connection and nature’s influence. --- ### Emily Dickinson: Selected Poems (#320, 372, 591, 1263) - **Overview**: Dickinson’s poems reflect on themes like death, nature, and personal emotions, often questioning life’s mysteries. - **Key Themes**: 1. **Poem #320**: A train symbolizes life’s journey and the passage of time. 2. **Poem #372**: Emotional numbness follows great pain, showing the lasting impact of suffering. 3. **Poem #591**: A fly’s presence during death highlights life’s ordinary moments, even at its end. 4. **Poem #1263**: Truth is best revealed indirectly, as direct truth can overwhelm. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Honest depictions of raw emotions, like grief in Poem #372. - **Naturalism**: Death is shown as an inevitable, natural force (e.g., the fly in Poem #591). Dickinson’s work combines Realism and Naturalism, using simple imagery to explore profound themes like death and truth. --- ## Fiction ### Mark Twain: *The War Prayer* - **Plot Overview**: A congregation prays for victory in war, but a stranger interrupts, revealing the brutal consequences of their prayer. The congregation dismisses him as mad. - **Key Themes**: 1. **Patriotic Fervor**: Blind support for war. 2. **The Dark Side of War**: The stranger exposes the suffering and destruction caused by war. 3. **Naivety of the Congregation**: They fail to grasp the full cost of their prayers. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Exposes the harsh realities of war, challenging its romanticized view. - **Naturalism**: War is portrayed as an inevitable, destructive force. Twain critiques the glorification of war, using Realism and Naturalism to reveal its devastating consequences. --- ### Stephen Crane: *The Open Boat* - **Plot Overview**: Four men (an oiler, captain, correspondent, and cook) are stranded at sea after a shipwreck. Despite their efforts, the oiler dies, showing nature’s indifference to human struggles. - **Key Themes**: 1. **Survival**: The men battle waves and exhaustion, hoping to reach land. 2. **Nature’s Indifference**: The sea is indifferent to their struggles, emphasizing life’s randomness. 3. **Tragic Fate**: The oiler’s death highlights the unpredictability of fate. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Detailed depiction of the men’s physical and emotional struggles. - **Naturalism**: Nature’s power and indifference dominate the story. *The Open Boat* emphasizes the randomness of life and humanity’s helplessness against nature’s forces. --- ### Charlotte Perkins Gilman: *The Yellow Wallpaper* - **Plot Overview**: A woman suffering from mental illness is isolated by her husband. She becomes obsessed with the room’s yellow wallpaper, believing a woman is trapped inside. Her mental health deteriorates, and she identifies with the trapped woman. - **Key Themes**: 1. **Isolation**: The narrator’s confinement worsens her mental state. 2. **Obsession**: The wallpaper symbolizes her desire to escape societal constraints. 3. **Mental Breakdown**: The narrator’s descent into madness critiques the treatment of women. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Realistic portrayal of mental illness and societal limitations on women. - **Naturalism**: External forces (husband’s control, societal expectations) shape the narrator’s fate. *The Yellow Wallpaper* critiques the treatment of women and explores how isolation impacts mental health. --- ### Kate Chopin: *The Story of an Hour* and *The Storm* 1. **The Story of an Hour**: - **Plot**: Louise Mallard feels liberated after hearing of her husband’s death but dies of shock when he returns alive. - **Themes**: Emotional complexity of marriage, societal expectations. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Honest depiction of marriage’s emotional nuances. - **Naturalism**: Societal pressures shape Louise’s emotions and health. 2. **The Storm**: - **Plot**: During a storm, Calixta and Alcée have an affair. Afterward, life continues as normal. - **Themes**: Passion, desire, and the absence of consequences. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Depicts real emotions and desires. - **Naturalism**: Characters are driven by uncontrollable forces (desire, the storm). Both stories explore human emotions and desires, blending Realism and Naturalism to highlight internal and external influences on behavior. --- ## Nonfiction ### Mark Twain: *Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses* - **Overview**: Twain humorously critiques James Fenimore Cooper’s writing, pointing out flaws like unnatural dialogue, inconsistent characters, and improbable plots. - **Key Points**: 1. **Unnatural Dialogue**: Unrealistic and stiff. 2. **Inconsistent Characters**: Characters act unconvincingly. 3. **Improbable Plot**: Events lack believability. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Calls for believable, realistic storytelling. - **Naturalism**: Suggests literature should reflect life’s true nature. Twain’s essay humorously critiques poor writing, advocating for more realistic and naturalistic storytelling. --- ### Ambrose Bierce: *The Devil’s Dictionary* - **Overview**: A satirical dictionary redefining common words with dark, cynical humor to critique society and human nature. - **Key Points**: 1. **Cynical Definitions**: Twisted redefinitions of words like: - **Love**: “A temporary insanity curable by marriage.” - **War**: “A series of miseries...” 2. **Critique of Society**: Exposes absurdities in social concepts. 3. **Dark Humor**: Uses irony to highlight human flaws. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Offers an unflattering, realistic view of human nature. - **Naturalism**: Suggests humans are driven by selfish, uncontrollable forces. Bierce’s *The Devil’s Dictionary* uses humor to critique society, blending Realism and Naturalism to expose human flaws. --- ### Henry James: *The Art of Fiction* - **Overview**: James argues for the freedom of writers to explore any subject and create authentic, complex portrayals of life. - **Key Points**: 1. **Freedom of Writers**: Writers should not be confined by rules or moral lessons. 2. **Artistic Expression**: Fiction should reflect life’s complexities. 3. **Realism**: Advocates for truthful, detailed depictions of life. 4. **Experience**: Writers should draw from real-life observations. - **Realism and Naturalism**: - **Realism**: Supports detailed, truthful portrayals of life. - **Naturalism**: Focuses on the true nature of human existence. James’s *The Art of Fiction* champions creative freedom and realistic storytelling, aligning with Realism and Naturalism.