essay about realism in american literature

Broadly defined as "the faithful representation of reality" or "verisimilitude," realism is a literary technique practiced by many schools of writing. Although strictly speaking, realism is a technique, it also denotes a particular kind of subject matter, especially the representation of middle-class life. A reaction against romanticism, an interest in scientific method, the systematizing of the study of documentary history, and the influence of rational philosophy all affected the rise of realism. According to William Harmon and Hugh Holman, "Where romanticists transcend the immediate to find the ideal, and naturalists plumb the actual or superficial to find the scientific laws that control its actions, realists center their attention to a remarkable degree on the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence" ( 428).

Many critics have suggested that there is no clear distinction between realism and its related late nineteenth-century movement, . As Donald Pizer notes in his introduction to , the term "realism" is difficult to define, in part because it is used differently in European contexts than in American literature. Pizer suggests that "whatever was being produced in fiction during the 1870s and 1880s that was new, interesting, and roughly similar in a number of ways can be designated as , and that an equally new, interesting, and roughly similar body of writing produced at the turn of the century can be designated as " (5). Put rather too simplistically, one rough distinction made by critics is that realism espousing a deterministic philosophy and focusing on the lower classes is considered

In American literature, the term "realism" encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century during which William Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James, Mark Twain, and others wrote fiction devoted to accurate representation and an exploration of American lives in various contexts. As the United States grew rapidly after the Civil War, the increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the rapid growth in industrialism and urbanization, an expanding population base due to immigration, and a relative rise in middle-class affluence provided a fertile literary environment for readers interested in understanding these rapid shifts in culture. In drawing attention to this connection, Amy Kaplan has called realism a "strategy for imagining and managing the threats of social change" ( ix).

Realism was a movement that encompassed the entire country, or at least the Midwest and South, although many of the writers and critics associated with realism (notably W. D. Howells) were based in New England. Among the Midwestern writers considered realists would be Joseph Kirkland, E. W. Howe, and Hamlin Garland; the Southern writer John W. DeForest's is often considered a realist novel, too.

(from Richard Chase, )

Other Views of Realism

"The basic axiom of the realistic view of morality was that there could be no moralizing in the novel [ . . . ] The morality of the realists, then, was built upon what appears a paradox--morality with an abhorrence of moralizing. Their ethical beliefs called, first of all, for a rejection of scheme of moral behavior imposed, from without, upon the characters of fiction and their actions. Yet Howells always claimed for his works a deep moral purpose. What was it? It was based upon three propositions: that life, social life as lived in the world Howells knew, was valuable, and was permeated with morality; that its continued health depended upon the use of human reason to overcome the anarchic selfishness of human passions; that an objective portrayal of human life, by art, will illustrate the superior value of social, civilized man, of human reason over animal passion and primitive ignorance" (157). Everett Carter, Howells and the Age of Realism (Philadelphia and New York: Lippincott, 1954).

"Realism sets itself at work to consider characters and events which are apparently the most ordinary and uninteresting, in order to extract from these their full value and true meaning. It would apprehend in all particulars the connection between the familiar and the extraordinary, and the seen and unseen of human nature. Beneath the deceptive cloak of outwardly uneventful days, it detects and endeavors to trace the outlines of the spirits that are hidden there; tho measure the changes in their growth, to watch the symptoms of moral decay or regeneration, to fathom their histories of passionate or intellectual problems. In short, realism reveals. Where we thought nothing worth of notice, it shows everything to be rife with significance." -- George Parsons Lathrop, 'The Novel and its Future," Atlantic Monthly 34 (September 1874):313 24.

“Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.” --William Dean Howells, “Editor’s Study,” Harper's New Monthly Magazine (November 1889) , p. 966.

"Realism, n. The art of depicting nature as it is seen by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole, or a story written by a measuring-worm." --Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

Context and Controversy

In its own time, realism was the subject of controversy; debates over the suitability of realism as a mode of representation led to a critical exchange known as the realism war. (Click here for a brief overview.)

The realism of James and Twain was critically acclaimed in the twentieth century. Howellsian realism fell into disfavor, however, as part of early twentieth century rebellion against the "genteel tradition." For an account of these and other issues, see the realism bibliography and essays by Pizer, Michael Anesko, Richard Lehan, and Louis J. Budd, among others, in the Cambridge Guide to Realism and Naturalism .

© 1997-2013. Donna M. Campbell. Some information adapted from Resisting Regionalism: Gender and Naturalism in American Fiction, 1885-1915 (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997) .

Note: the information on this page has been copied verbatim on other web sites, often without attribution, but this is the originating site., to cite this page on a works cited page according to current mla guidelines , supply the correct dates and use the suggested format below.  if you are quoting another author quoted on this page, either look up the original source or indicate that original quotation is cited on  ("qtd. in") this page. the following is drawn from the examples and guidelines in the mla handbook for writers of research papers, 7th ed. (2009), section 5.6.2., campbell, donna m. "realism in american literature, 1860-1890." literary movements . dept. of english, washington state university. date of publication or most recent update (listed above as the "last modified" date; you don't need to indicate the time). web. date you accessed the page., about this site.

• E3-Resources / Resources for Teaching

The Rise of Realism: 1860-1914: Outline of American Literature Chapter 5

by Rebecca · Published July 5, 2012 · Updated July 17, 2020

Chapter 5: Outline of American Literature by Kathryn VanSpanckeren

The Rise of Realism: 1860-1914

This chapter features a brief overview of the realist movement, and brief biographies of writers such as Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, and Booker T. Washington.

• Introduction and Overview
• Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) (1835-1910)
• Frontier Humor and Realism
• Local Colorists
• Midwestern Realism
• Cosmopolitan Novelists : Henry James, Edith Wharton
• Naturalism and Muckraking : Stephen Crane, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser
• The “Chicago School” of Poetry : Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay, Edwin Arlington Robinson
• Two Women Regional Novelists : Ellen Glasgow, Willa Cather
• The Rise of Black American Literature : Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Weldon Johnson, Charles Waddell Chesnutt

As industrialization grew, so did alienation.

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

New York City: Mauro family working on feathers (children ages 8-11 work until 7 or 8 pm). Lewis Hine, Dec. 1911. From the National Child Labor Committee Collection at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. LC-DIG-nclc-05482 (b&w digital file from original glass negative)

The U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) between the industrial North and the agricultural, slave-owning South was a watershed in American history. The innocent optimism of the young democratic nation gave way, after the war, to a period of exhaustion. American idealism remained but was rechanneled. Before the war, idealists championed human rights, especially the abolition of slavery; after the war, Americans increasingly idealized progress and the self-made man. This was the era of the millionaire manufacturer and the speculator, when Darwinian evolution and the “survival of the fittest” seemed to sanction the sometimes unethical methods of the successful business tycoon.

Business boomed after the war. War production had boosted industry in the North and given it prestige and political clout. It also gave industrial leaders valuable experience in the management of men and machines. The enormous natural resources – iron, coal, oil, gold, and silver – of the American land benefited business. The new intercontinental rail system, inaugurated in 1869, and the transcontinental telegraph, which began operating in 1861, gave industry access to materials, markets, and communications. The constant influx of immigrants provided a seemingly endless supply of inexpensive labor as well. Over 23 million foreigners – German, Scandinavian, and Irish in the early years, and increasingly Central and Southern Europeans thereafter – flowed into the United States between 1860 and 1910. Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino contract laborers were imported by Hawaiian plantation owners, railroad companies, and other American business interests on the West Coast.

In 1860, most Americans lived on farms or in small villages, but by 1919 half of the population was concentrated in about 12 cities. Problems of urbanization and industrialization appeared: poor and overcrowded housing, unsanitary conditions, low pay (called “wage slavery”), difficult working conditions, and inadequate restraints on business. Labor unions grew, and strikes brought the plight of working people to national awareness. Farmers, too, saw themselves struggling against the “money interests” of the East, the so-called robber barons like J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller. Their eastern banks tightly controlled mortgages and credit so vital to western development and agriculture, while railroad companies charged high prices to transport farm products to the cities. The farmer gradually became an object of ridicule, lampooned as an unsophisticated “hick” or “rube.” The ideal American of the post-Civil War period became the millionaire. In 1860, there were fewer than 100 millionaires; by 1875, there were more than 1,000.

From 1860 to 1914, the United States was transformed from a small, young, agricultural ex-colony to a huge, modern, industrial nation. A debtor nation in 1860, by 1914 it had become the world’s wealthiest state, with a population that had more than doubled, rising from 31 million in 1860 to 76 million in 1900. By World War I, the United States had become a major world power.

As industrialization grew, so did alienation. Characteristic American novels of the period — Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets , Jack London’s Martin Eden , and later Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy — depict the damage of economic forces and alienation on the weak or vulnerable individual. Survivors, like Twain’s Huck Finn, Humphrey Vanderveyden in London’s The Sea-Wolf , and Dreiser’s opportunistic Sister Carrie, endure through inner strength involving kindness, flexibility, and, above all, individuality.

Back to top of the Outline of American Literature chapter 5

Samuel clemens (mark twain) (1835-1910).

Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, grew up in the Mississippi River frontier town of Hannibal, Missouri. Ernest Hemingway’s famous statement that all of American literature comes from one great book, Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , indicates this author’s towering place in the tradition. Early 19th-century American writers tended to be too flowery, sentimental, or ostentatious – partially because they were still trying to prove that they could write as elegantly as the English. Twain’s style, based on vigorous, realistic, colloquial American speech, gave American writers a new appreciation of their national voice. Twain was the first major author to come from the interior of the country, and he captured its distinctive, humorous slang and iconoclasm.

For Twain and other American writers of the late 19th century, realism was not merely a literary technique: It was a way of speaking truth and exploding worn-out conventions. Thus it was profoundly liberating and potentially at odds with society. The most well-known example is Huck Finn, a poor boy who decides to follow the voice of his conscience and help a Negro slave escape to freedom, even though Huck thinks this means that he will be damned to hell for breaking the law.

Twain’s masterpiece, which appeared in 1884, is set in the Mississippi River village of St. Petersburg. The son of an alcoholic bum, Huck has just been adopted by a respectable family when his father, in a drunken stupor, threatens to kill him. Fearing for his life, Huck escapes, feigning his own death. He is joined in his escape by another outcast, the slave Jim, whose owner, Miss Watson, is thinking of selling him down the river to the harsher slavery of the deep South. Huck and Jim float on a raft down the majestic Mississippi, but are sunk by a steamboat, separated, and later reunited. They go through many comical and dangerous shore adventures that show the variety, generosity, and sometimes cruel irrationality of society. In the end, it is discovered that Miss Watson had already freed Jim, and a respectable family is taking care of the wild boy Huck. But Huck grows impatient with civilized society and plans to escape to “the territories” – Indian lands. The ending gives the reader the counter-version of the classic American success myth: the open road leading to the pristine wilderness, away from the morally corrupting influences of “civilization.” James Fenimore Cooper’s novels, Walt Whitman’s hymns to the open road, William Faulkner’s The Bear , and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road are other literary examples.

Huckleberry Finn has inspired countless literary interpretations. Clearly, the novel is a story of death, rebirth, and initiation. The escaped slave, Jim, becomes a father figure for Huck; in deciding to save Jim, Huck grows morally beyond the bounds of his slave-owning society. It is Jim’s adventures that initiate Huck into the complexities of human nature and give him moral courage.

The novel also dramatizes Twain’s ideal of the harmonious community: “What you want, above all things, on a raft is for everybody to be satisfied and feel right and kind toward the others.” Like Melville’s ship the Pequod , the raft sinks, and with it that special community. The pure, simple world of the raft is ultimately overwhelmed by progress – the steamboat – but the mythic image of the river remains, as vast and changing as life itself.

The unstable relationship between reality and illusion is Twain’s characteristic theme, the basis of much of his humor. The magnificent yet deceptive, constantly changing river is also the main feature of his imaginative landscape. In Life on the Mississippi , Twain recalls his training as a young steamboat pilot when he writes: “I went to work now to learn the shape of the river; and of all the eluding and ungraspable objects that ever I tried to get mind or hands on, that was the chief.”

Twain’s moral sense as a writer echoes his pilot’s responsibility to steer the ship to safety. Samuel Clemens’s pen name, “Mark Twain,” is the phrase Mississippi boatmen used to signify two fathoms (3.6 meters) of water, the depth needed for a boat’s safe passage. Twain’s serious purpose, combined with a rare genius for humor and style, keep his writing fresh and appealing.

FRONTIER HUMOR AND REALISM

Two major literary currents in 19th-century America merged in Mark Twain: popular frontier humor and local color, or “regionalism.” These related literary approaches began in the 1830s – and had even earlier roots in local oral traditions. In ragged frontier villages, on riverboats, in mining camps, and around cowboy campfires far from city amusements, storytelling flourished. Exaggeration, tall tales, incredible boasts, and comic workingmen heroes enlivened frontier literature. These humorous forms were found in many frontier regions – in the “old Southwest” (the present-day inland South and the lower Midwest), the mining frontier, and the Pacific Coast. Each region had its colorful characters around whom stories collected: Mike Fink, the Mississippi riverboat brawler; Casey Jones, the brave railroad engineer; John Henry, the steel-driving African-American; Paul Bunyan, the giant logger whose fame was helped along by advertising; westerners Kit Carson, the Indian fighter, and Davy Crockett, the scout. Their exploits were exaggerated and enhanced in ballads, newspapers, and magazines. Sometimes, as with Kit Carson and Davy Crockett, these stories were strung together into book form.

Twain, Faulkner, and many other writers, particularly southerners, are indebted to frontier pre-Civil War humorists such as Johnson Hooper, George Washington Harris, Augustus Longstreet, Thomas Bangs Thorpe, and Joseph Baldwin. From them and the American frontier folk came the wild proliferation of comical new American words: “absquatulate” (leave), “flabbergasted” (amazed), “rampagious” (unruly, rampaging). Local boasters, or “ring-tailed roarers,” who asserted they were half horse, half alligator, also underscored the boundless energy of the frontier. They drew strength from natural hazards that would terrify lesser men. “I’m a regular tornado,” one swelled, “tough as hickory and long-winded as a nor’wester. I can strike a blow like a falling tree, and every lick makes a gap in the crowd that lets in an acre of sunshine.”

LOCAL COLORISTS

Like frontier humor, local color writing has old roots but produced its best works long after the Civil War. Obviously, many pre-war writers, from Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne to John Greenleaf Whittier and James Russell Lowell, paint striking portraits of specific American regions. What sets the colorists apart is their self-conscious and exclusive interest in rendering a given location, and their scrupulously factual, realistic technique.

Bret Harte (1836-1902) is remembered as the author of adventurous stories such as “The Luck of Roaring Camp” and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” set along the western mining frontier. As the first great success in the local colorist school, Harte for a brief time was perhaps the best-known writer in America – such was the appeal of his romantic version of the gunslinging West. Outwardly realistic, he was one of the first to introduce low-life characters – cunning gamblers, gaudy prostitutes, and uncouth robbers – into serious literary works. He got away with this (as had Charles Dickens in England, who greatly admired Harte’s work) by showing in the end that these seeming derelicts really had hearts of gold.

Several women writers are remembered for their fine depictions of New England: Mary Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930), Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), and especially Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909). Jewett’s originality, exact observation of her Maine characters and setting, and sensitive style are best seen in her fine story “The White Heron” in Country of the Pointed Firs (1896). Harriet Beecher Stowe’s local color works, especially The Pearl of Orr’s Island (1862), depicting humble Maine fishing communities, greatly influenced Jewett. Nineteenth-century women writers formed their own networks of moral support and influence, as their letters show. Women made up the major audience for fiction, and many women wrote popular novels, poems, and humorous pieces.

All regions of the country celebrated themselves in writing influenced by local color. Some of it included social protest, especially toward the end of the century, when social inequality and economic hardship were particularly pressing issues. Racial injustice and inequality between the sexes appear in the works of southern writers such as George Washington Cable (1844-1925) and Kate Chopin (1851-1904), whose powerful novels set in Cajun/French Louisiana transcend the local color label. Cable’s The Grandissimes (1880) treats racial injustice with great artistry; like Kate Chopin’s daring novel The Awakening (1899), about a woman’s doomed attempt to find her own identity through passion, it was ahead of its time. In The Awakening , a young married woman with attractive children and an indulgent and successful husband gives up family, money, respectability, and eventually her life in search of self-realization. Poetic evocations of ocean, birds (caged and freed), and music endow this short novel with unusual intensity and complexity.

Often paired with The Awakening is the fine story “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935). Both works were forgotten for a time, but rediscovered by feminist literary critics late in the 20th century. In Gilman’s story, a condescending doctor drives his wife mad by confining her in a room to “cure” her of nervous exhaustion. The imprisoned wife projects her entrapment onto the wallpaper, in the design of which she sees imprisoned women creeping behind bars.

MIDWESTERN REALISM

For many years, the editor of the important Atlantic Monthly magazine, William Dean Howells (1837-1920), published realistic local color writing by Bret Harte, Mark Twain, George Washington Cable, and others. He was the champion of realism, and his novels, such as A Modern Instance (1882), The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885), and A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), carefully interweave social circumstances with the emotions of ordinary middle-class Americans.

Love, ambition, idealism, and temptation motivate his characters; Howells was acutely aware of the moral corruption of business tycoons during the Gilded Age of the 1870s. Howells’s The Rise of Silas Lapham uses an ironic title to make this point. Silas Lapham became rich by cheating an old business partner; and his immoral act deeply disturbed his family, though for years Lapham could not see that he had acted improperly. In the end, Lapham is morally redeemed, choosing bankruptcy rather than unethical success. Silas Lapham is, like Huckleberry Finn, an unsuccess story: Lapham’s business fall is his moral rise. Toward the end of his life, Howells, like Twain, became increasingly active in political causes, defending the rights of labor union organizers and deploring American colonialism in the Philippines.

Back to Top of the Outline of American Literature chapter 5

Cosmopolitan novelists.

Henry James (1843-1916)

Henry James once wrote that art, especially literary art, “makes life, makes interest, makes importance.” James’s fiction and criticism is the most highly conscious, sophisticated, and difficult of its era. With Twain, James is generally ranked as the greatest American novelist of the second half of the 19th century.

James is noted for his “international theme” – that is, the complex relationships between naïve Americans and cosmopolitan Europeans. What his biographer Leon Edel calls James’s first, or “international,” phase encompassed such works as Transatlantic Sketches (travel pieces, 1875), The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1879), and a masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady (1881). In The American , for example, Christopher Newman, a naïve but intelligent and idealistic self-made millionaire industrialist, goes to Europe seeking a bride. When her family rejects him because he lacks an aristocratic background, he has a chance to revenge himself; in deciding not to, he demonstrates his moral superiority.

James’s second period was experimental. He exploited new subject matters – feminism and social reform in The Bostonians (1886) and political intrigue in The Princess Casamassima (1885). He also attempted to write for the theater, but failed embarrassingly when his play Guy Domville (1895) was booed on the first night.

In his third, or “major,” phase James returned to international subjects, but treated them with increasing sophistication and psychological penetration. The complex and almost mythical The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903) (which James felt was his best novel), and The Golden Bowl (1904) date from this major period. If the main theme of Twain’s work is appearance and reality, James’s constant concern is perception. In James, only self-awareness and clear perception of others yields wisdom and self-sacrificing love. As James develops, his novels become more psychological and less concerned with external events. In James’s later works, the most important events are all psychological – usually moments of intense illumination that show characters their previous blindness. For example, in The Ambassadors , the idealistic, aging Lambert Strether uncovers a secret love affair and, in doing so, discovers a new complexity to his inner life. His rigid, upright, morality is humanized and enlarged as he discovers a capacity to accept those who have sinned.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937)

Like James, Edith Wharton grew up partly in Europe and eventually made her home there. She was descended from a wealthy, established family in New York society and saw firsthand the decline of this cultivated group and, in her view, the rise of boorish, nouveau-riche business families. This social transformation is the background of many of her novels.

Like James, Wharton contrasts Americans and Europeans. The core of her concern is the gulf separating social reality and the inner self. Often a sensitive character feels trapped by unfeeling characters or social forces. Edith Wharton had personally experienced such entrapment as a young writer suffering a long nervous breakdown partly due to the conflict in roles between writer and wife.

Wharton’s best novels include The House of Mirth (1905), The Custom of the Country (1913), Summer (1917), The Age of Innocence (1920), and the beautifully crafted novella Ethan Frome (1911).

NATURALISM AND MUCKRAKING

Wharton’s and James’s dissections of hidden sexual and financial motivations at work in society link them with writers who seem superficially quite different: Stephen Crane, Jack London, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, and Upton Sinclair. Like the cosmopolitan novelists, but much more explicitly, these naturalists used realism to relate the individual to society. Often they exposed social problems and were influenced by Darwinian thought and the related philosophical doctrine of determinism, which views individuals as the helpless pawns of economic and social forces beyond their control.

Naturalism is essentially a literary expression of determinism. Associated with bleak, realistic depictions of lower-class life, determinism denies religion as a motivating force in the world and instead perceives the universe as a machine. Eighteenth-century Enlightenment thinkers had also imagined the world as a machine, but as a perfect one, invented by God and tending toward progress and human betterment. Naturalists imagined society, instead, as a blind machine, godless and out of control.

The 19th-century American historian Henry Adams constructed an elaborate theory of history involving the idea of the dynamo, or machine force, and entropy, or decay of force. Instead of progress, Adams sees inevitable decline in human society.

Stephen Crane, the son of a clergyman, put the loss of God most succinctly:

A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.”

Like Romanticism, naturalism first appeared in Europe. It is usually traced to the works of Honoré de Balzac in the 1840s and seen as a French literary movement associated with Gustave Flaubert, Edmond and Jules Goncourt, Émile Zola, and Guy de Maupassant. It daringly opened up the seamy underside of society and such topics as divorce, sex, adultery, poverty, and crime.

Naturalism flourished as Americans became urbanized and aware of the importance of large economic and social forces. By 1890, the frontier was declared officially closed. Most Americans resided in towns, and business dominated even remote farmsteads.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

Stephen Crane, born in New Jersey, had roots going back to Revolutionary War soldiers, clergymen, sheriffs, judges, and farmers who had lived a century earlier. Primarily a journalist who also wrote fiction, essays, poetry, and plays, Crane saw life at its rawest, in slums and on battlefields. His short stories – in particular, “The Open Boat,” “The Blue Hotel,” and “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” – exemplified that literary form. His haunting Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage , was published to great acclaim in 1895, but he barely had time to bask in the attention before he died, at 29, having neglected his health. He was virtually forgotten during the first two decades of the 20th century, but was resurrected through a laudatory biography by Thomas Beer in 1923. He has enjoyed continued success ever since – as a champion of the common man, a realist, and a symbolist.

Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) is one of the best, if not the earliest, naturalistic American novels. It is the harrowing story of a poor, sensitive young girl whose uneducated, alcoholic parents utterly fail her. In love and eager to escape her violent home life, she allows herself to be seduced into living with a young man, who soon deserts her. When her self-righteous mother rejects her, Maggie becomes a prostitute to survive, but soon commits suicide out of despair. Crane’s earthy subject matter and his objective, scientific style, devoid of moralizing, earmark Maggie as a naturalist work.

Jack London (1876-1916)

A poor, self-taught worker from California, the naturalist Jack London was catapulted from poverty to fame by his first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf (1900), set largely in the Klondike region of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Other of his best-sellers, including The Call of the Wild (1903) and The Sea-Wolf (1904) made him the highest paid writer in the United States of his time.

The autobiographical novel Martin Eden (1909) depicts the inner stresses of the American dream as London experienced them during his meteoric rise from obscure poverty to wealth and fame. Eden, an impoverished but intelligent and hardworking sailor and laborer, is determined to become a writer. Eventually, his writing makes him rich and well-known, but Eden realizes that the woman he loves cares only for his money and fame. His despair over her inability to love causes him to lose faith in human nature. He also suffers from class alienation, for he no longer belongs to the working class, while he rejects the materialistic values of the wealthy whom he worked so hard to join. He sails for the South Pacific and commits suicide by jumping into the sea. Like many of the best novels of its time, Martin Eden is an unsuccess story. It looks ahead to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in its revelation of despair amid great wealth.

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945)

The 1925 work An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, like London’s Martin Eden , explores the dangers of the American dream. The novel relates, in great detail, the life of Clyde Griffiths, a boy of weak will and little self-awareness. He grows up in great poverty in a family of wandering evangelists, but dreams of wealth and the love of beautiful women. A rich uncle employs him in his factory. When his girlfriend Roberta becomes pregnant, she demands that he marry her. Meanwhile, Clyde has fallen in love with a wealthy society girl who represents success, money, and social acceptance. Clyde carefully plans to drown Roberta on a boat trip, but at the last minute he begins to change his mind; however, she accidentally falls out of the boat. Clyde, a good swimmer, does not save her, and she drowns. As Clyde is brought to justice, Dreiser replays his story in reverse, masterfully using the vantage points of prosecuting and defense attorneys to analyze each step and motive that led the mild-mannered Clyde, with a highly religious background and good family connections, to commit murder.

Despite his awkward style, Dreiser, in An American Tragedy, displays crushing authority. Its precise details build up an overwhelming sense of tragic inevitability. The novel is a scathing portrait of the American success myth gone sour, but it is also a universal story about the stresses of urbanization, modernization, and alienation. Within it roam the romantic and dangerous fantasies of the dispossessed.

An American Tragedy is a reflection of the dissatisfaction, envy, and despair that afflicted many poor and working people in America’s competitive, success-driven society. As American industrial power soared, the glittering lives of the wealthy in newspapers and photographs sharply contrasted with the drab lives of ordinary farmers and city workers. The media fanned rising expectations and unreasonable desires. Such problems, common to modernizing nations, gave rise to muckraking journalism – penetrating investigative reporting that documented social problems and provided an important impetus to social reform.

The great tradition of American investigative journalism had its beginning in this period, during which national magazines such as McClures and Collier’s published Ida M. Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil Company (1904), Lincoln Steffens’s The Shame of the Cities (1904), and other hard-hitting exposés. Muckraking novels used eye-catching journalistic techniques to depict harsh working conditions and oppression. Populist Frank Norris’s The Octopus (1901) exposed big railroad companies, while socialist Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) painted the squalor of the Chicago meat-packing houses. Jack London’s dystopia, The Iron Heel (1908), anticipates George Orwell’s 1984 in predicting a class war and the takeover of the government.

Another more artistic response was the realistic portrait, or group of portraits, of ordinary characters and their frustrated inner lives. The collection of stories Main-Travelled Roads (1891), by William Dean Howells’s protégé, Hamlin Garland (1860-1940), is a portrait gallery of ordinary people. It shockingly depicted the poverty of midwestern farmers who were demanding agricultural reforms. The title suggests the many trails westward that the hardy pioneers followed and the dusty main streets of the villages they settled.

Close to Garland’s Main-Travelled Roads is Winesburg , Ohio , by Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941), begun in 1916. This is a loose collection of stories about residents of the fictitious town of Winesburg seen through the eyes of a naïve young newspaper reporter, George Willard, who eventually leaves to seek his fortune in the city. Like Main-Travelled Roads and other naturalistic works of the period, Winesburg , Ohio emphasizes the quiet poverty, loneliness, and despair in small-town America.

THE “CHICAGO SCHOOL” OF POETRY

Three Midwestern poets who grew up in Illinois and shared the midwestern concern with ordinary people are Carl Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay, and Edgar Lee Masters. Their poetry often concerns obscure individuals; they developed techniques – realism, dramatic renderings – that reached out to a larger readership. They are part of the Midwestern, or Chicago, School that arose before World War I to challenge the East Coast literary establishment. The “Chicago Renaissance” was a watershed in American culture: It demonstrated that America’s interior had matured.

Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950)

By the turn of the century, Chicago had become a great city, home of innovative architecture and cosmopolitan art collections. Chicago was also the home of Harriet Monroe’s Poetry , the most important literary magazine of the day.

Among the intriguing contemporary poets the journal printed was Edgar Lee Masters, author of the daring Spoon River Anthology (1915), with its new “unpoetic” colloquial style, frank presentation of sex, critical view of village life, and intensely imagined inner lives of ordinary people.

Spoon River Anthology is a collection of portraits presented as colloquial epitaphs (words found inscribed on gravestones) summing up the lives of individual villagers as if in their own words. It presents a panorama of a country village through its cemetery: 250 people buried there speak, revealing their deepest secrets. Many of the people are related; members of about 20 families speak of their failures and dreams in free-verse monologues that are surprisingly modern.

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

A friend once said, “Trying to write briefly about Carl Sandburg is like trying to picture the Grand Canyon in one black-and-white snapshot.” Poet, historian, biographer, novelist, musician, essayist – Sandburg, son of a railroad blacksmith, was all of these and more. A journalist by profession, he wrote a massive biography of Abraham Lincoln that is one of the classic works of the 20th century.

To many, Sandburg was a latter-day Walt Whitman, writing expansive, evocative urban and patriotic poems and simple, childlike rhymes and ballads. He traveled about reciting and recording his poetry, in a lilting, mellifluously toned voice that was a kind of singing. At heart he was totally unassuming, notwithstanding his national fame. What he wanted from life, he once said, was “to be out of jail…to eat regular…to get what I write printed,…a little love at home and a little nice affection hither and yon over the American landscape,…(and) to sing every day.”

A fine example of his themes and his Whitmanesque style is the poem “Chicago” (1914):

Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders…

Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)

Vachel Lindsay was a celebrant of small-town midwestern populism and creator of strong, rhythmic poetry designed to be declaimed aloud. His work forms a curious link between the popular, or folk, forms of poetry, such as Christian gospel songs and vaudeville (popular theater) on the one hand, and advanced modernist poetics on the other. An extremely popular public reader in his day, Lindsay’s readings prefigure “Beat” poetry readings of the post-World War II era that were accompanied by jazz.

To popularize poetry, Lindsay developed what he called a “higher vaudeville,” using music and strong rhythm. Racist by today’s standards, his famous poem “The Congo” (1914) celebrates the history of Africans by mingling jazz, poetry, music, and chanting. At the same time, he immortalized such figures on the American landscape as Abraham Lincoln (“Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight”) and John Chapman (“Johnny Appleseed”), often blending facts with myth.

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

Edwin Arlington Robinson is the best U.S. poet of the late 19th century. Like Edgar Lee Masters, he is known for short, ironic character studies of ordinary individuals. Unlike Masters, Robinson uses traditional metrics. Robinson’s imaginary Tilbury Town, like Masters’s Spoon River, contains lives of quiet desperation.

Some of the best known of Robinson’s dramatic monologues are “Luke Havergal” (1896), about a forsaken lover; “Miniver Cheevy” (1910), a portrait of a romantic dreamer; and “Richard Cory” (1896), a somber portrait of a wealthy man who commits suicide:

Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim,

And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said, “Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king — And admirably schooled in every grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.

“Richard Cory” takes its place alongside Martin Eden, An American Tragedy , and The Great Gatsby as a powerful warning against the overblown success myth that had come to plague Americans in the era of the millionaire.

TWO WOMEN REGIONAL NOVELISTS

Novelists Ellen Glasgow (1873-1945) and Willa Cather (1873-1947) explored women’s lives, placed in brilliantly evoked regional settings. Neither novelist set out to address specifically female issues; their early works usually treat male protagonists, and only as they gained artistic confidence and maturity did they turn to depictions of women’s lives. Glasgow and Cather can only be regarded as “women writers” in a descriptive sense, for their works resist categorization.

Glasgow was from Richmond, Virginia, the old capital of the Southern Confederacy. Her realistic novels examine the transformation of the South from a rural to an industrial economy. Mature works such as Virginia (1912) focus on the southern experience, while later novels like Barren Ground (1925) – acknowledged as her best – dramatize gifted women attempting to surmount the claustrophobic, traditional southern code of domesticity, piety, and dependence for women.

Cather, another Virginian, grew up on the Nebraska prairie among pioneering immigrants – later immortalized in O Pioneers! (1913), My Antonia (1918), and her well-known story “Neighbour Rosicky” (1928). During her lifetime she became increasingly alienated from the materialism of modern life and wrote of alternative visions in the American Southwest and in the past. Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) evokes the idealism of two 16th-century priests establishing the Catholic Church in the New Mexican desert. Cather’s works commemorate important aspects of the American experience outside the literary mainstream – pioneering, the establishment of religion, and women’s independent lives.

THE RISE OF BLACK AMERICAN LITERATURE

The literary achievement of African-Americans was one of the most striking literary developments of the post-Civil War era. In the writings of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Weldon Johnson, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and others, the roots of black American writing took hold, notably in the forms of autobiography, protest literature, sermons, poetry, and song.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Booker T. Washington, educator and the most prominent black leader of his day, grew up as a slave in Franklin County, Virginia, born to a white slave-holding father and a slave mother. His fine, simple autobiography, Up From Slavery (1901), recounts his successful struggle to better himself. He became renowned for his efforts to improve the lives of African-Americans; his policy of accommodation with whites – an attempt to involve the recently freed black American in the mainstream of American society – was outlined in his famous Atlanta Exposition Address (1895).

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)

Born in New England and educated at Harvard University and the University of Berlin (Germany), W.E.B. Du Bois authored “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” an essay later collected in his landmark book The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Du Bois carefully demonstrates that despite his many accomplishments, Washington had, in effect, accepted segregation – that is, the unequal and separate treatment of black Americans – and that segregation would inevitably lead to inferiority, particularly in education. Du Bois, a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), also wrote sensitive appreciations of African-American traditions and culture; his work helped black intellectuals rediscover their rich folk literature and music.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)

Like Du Bois, the poet James Weldon Johnson found inspiration in African-American spirituals. His poem “O Black and Unknown Bards” (1917) asks:

Heart of what slave poured out such melody As “Steal Away to Jesus?” On its strains His spirit must have nightly floated free, Though still about his hands he felt his chains.

Of mixed white and black ancestry, Johnson explored the complex issue of race in his fictional Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), about a mixed-race man who “passes” (is accepted) for white. The book effectively conveys the black American’s concern with issues of identity in America.

Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932)

Charles Waddell Chesnutt, author of two collections of stories, The Conjure Woman (1899) and The Wife of His Youth (1899), several novels, including The Marrow of Tradition (1901), and a biography of Frederick Douglass, was ahead of his time. His stories dwell on racial themes, but avoid predictable endings and generalized sentiment; his characters are distinct individuals with complex attitudes about many things, including race. Chesnutt often shows the strength of the black community and affirms ethical values and racial solidarity.

Back to top of the Outline of American Literature chapter 5 

EIL Editor’s Note: Remember that literary analysis is subjective, and the opinions expressed in this article below are the analysis of one particular writer, rather than the final word on how you should interpret these artists and their works. Each writer’s analysis is informed by his or her worldview, education, personal taste, and reading background, just as yours will be. As you read this article and write about authors from this period, remember to support your analysis with quotes from the original texts and other evidence, including biographical information about the authors and their other writings. That use of evidence is what makes an analysis interesting, and in the end, plausible.

You may observe that this article reflects something of the modernist method described in Chapter 6 of Outline of American Literature :

…a school of “new criticism” arose in the United States, with a new critical vocabulary. New critics hunted the “epiphany” (moment in which a character suddenly sees the transcendent truth of a situation, a term derived from a holy saint’s appearance to mortals); they “examined” and “clarified” a work, hoping to “shed light” upon it through their “insights.”

Outline of American Literature is a publication of the U.S. State Department. You can read more and explore further at the official website for Outline of American Literature (OAL) . This chapter of OAL has been updated by the EIL staff, who added a table of contents and additional section headings for easier reading.

Kathryn VanSpanckeren, professor of English at the University of Tampa, has lectured in American literature widely abroad, and is former director of the Fulbright-sponsored Summer Institute in American Literature for international scholars. Her publications include poetry and scholarship. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.

More of the  Outline of American Literature hosted by Excellence in Literature.

Additional resources for American Literature , English 3 of Excellence in Literature.

Share this:

• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Tags: 1860 1914 alienation Booker T. Washington Bret Harte carl sandburg chapter 5 Charles Waddell Chesnutt chicago school e3 edgar lee masters edith wharton edwin arlington robinson eil Ellen Glasgow Hart Crane henry james industrialization Jack London James Weldon Johnson kathryn vanspanckeren local color mark twain muckraking naturalism outline of american literature realism regional rise of realism Stephen Crane Theodore Dreiser Vachel Lindsay W.E.B. Du Bois willa cather

• Next story  Paul Laurence Dunbar Poetry
• Previous story  Mark Twain’s Autobiography

Download our printable newsletter!

Here’s the Everyday Educator — our annual newsletter handout. It has book lists and helpful articles about homeschooling topics. We’d rather be sharing it in person, but for now, you can download the Everyday Educator here.  I hope you enjoy it!

New Articles

• Short Story Analysis – NDLA
• How to Write a Book Report – NDLA
• Ernest Hemingway Biography
• The Language of Poetry – NDLA
• Alfred Lord Tennyson Biography, 1911

Join us on Facebook!

Visit our other sites!

• Doing What Matters — Janice Campbell’s blog on education, entrepreneurship, and soul care
• Everyday Education — Janice Campbell’s Homeschool Website

Excellence in Literature Links

• E1 Context Resources
• E2 Context Resources
• E3 Context Resources
• E4 Context Resources
• E5 Context Resources
• Privacy Policy
• Teachers and Evaluators for Excellence in Literature
• Bookstore / Catalog

Excellence in Literature Awards

Resources by Category

• Study Guide Link Index
• E1: Intro to Lit category archive
• E2: Lit and Comp category archive
• E3: American Lit category archive
• English 4: British Literature category archive
• E5: World Lit category archive
• Audio / Video
• Children’s Literature
• Classics-Based Writing Resource
• Short Stories
• Writer’s Handbook
• Link Updates and News

New Resources

• Literary Genres – NDLA
• Charlotte Mason Biography
• Allegorical Elements in Pilgrim’s Progress
• Emily Dickinson Biography
• Rudyard Kipling Biography
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.org

Last updated 09/07/24: Online ordering is currently unavailable due to technical issues. We apologise for any delays responding to customers while we resolve this. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings .

Login Alert

• < Back to search results
• The Cambridge Introduction to American Literary Realism

The Cambridge Introduction to American Literary Realism

• Get access Buy a print copy Check if you have access via personal or institutional login Log in Register
• Cited by 18

This Book has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref .

• Google Scholar
• Phillip J. Barrish , University of Texas, Austin
• Export citation
• Buy a print copy

Book description

Between the Civil War and the First World War, realism was the most prominent form of American fiction. Realist writers of the period include some of America's greatest, such as Henry James, Edith Wharton and Mark Twain, but also many lesser-known writers whose work still speaks to us today, for instance Charles Chesnutt, Zitkala-Ša and Sarah Orne Jewett. Emphasizing realism's historical context, this introduction traces the genre's relationship with powerful, often violent, social conflicts involving race, gender, class and national origin. It also examines how the realist style was created; the necessarily ambiguous relationship between realism produced on the page and reality outside the book; and the different, often contradictory, forms 'realism' took in literary works by different authors. The most accessible yet sophisticated account of American literary realism currently available, this volume will be of great value to students, teachers and readers of the American novel.

'… a rare scholarly treasure: a volume that is at once elementary in its sweeping presentation of the field and challenging for more experienced scholars of realism, who will find abundant food for thought in Barrish’s insightful readings of well-known texts.'

Henry B. Wonham Source: American Literary Realism

• Aa Reduce text
• Aa Enlarge text

Refine List

Actions for selected content:.

• View selected items
• Save to my bookmarks
• Export citations
• Download PDF (zip)
• Save to Kindle
• Save to Dropbox
• Save to Google Drive

Save content to

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to .

To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle .

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service .

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Frontmatter pp i-v

• Get access Check if you have access via personal or institutional login Log in Register

Contents pp vii-x

Illustrations pp xi-xi, acknowledgments pp xii-xii, introduction: american literary realism pp 1-7, chapter 1 - literary precursors, literary contexts pp 8-25, chapter 2 - the “look of agony” and everyday middle-class life pp 26-40.

• three transitional works

Chapter 3 - Creating the “odour” of the real pp 41-57

• techniques of realism

Chapter 4 - Conflicting manners pp 58-73

• high realism and social competition

Chapter 5 - “Democracy in literature”? pp 74-94

• Literary regionalism

Chapter 6 - “The blab of the pave” pp 95-113

• realism and the city

Chapter 7 - Crisis of agency pp 114-133

• literary naturalism, economic change, and “masculinity”

Chapter 8 - “Certain facts of life” pp 134-153

• realism and feminism

Chapter 9 - “The unjust spirit of caste” pp 154-172

• realism and race

Chapter 10 - New Americans write realism pp 173-194

Conclusion: realisms after realism pp 195-199, notes pp 200-203, works cited pp 204-215, index pp 216-225, altmetric attention score, full text views.

Full text views reflects the number of PDF downloads, PDFs sent to Google Drive, Dropbox and Kindle and HTML full text views for chapters in this book.

Book summary page views

Book summary views reflect the number of visits to the book and chapter landing pages.

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Social History
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Emotions
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music and Media
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Oncology
• Medical Toxicology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business Ethics
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic History
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Sustainability
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Realism

Keith Newlin is Professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where he teaches courses in American literary realism and naturalism, modernism, and drama. The editor of Studies in American Naturalism, he is also the author of Hamlin Garland, A Life and editor of The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Naturalism, among other books.

• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Realism offers thirty-five original chapters with fresh interpretations of the artistic and political challenges of representing life accurately. Organized by topic and theme, the chapters draw on recent scholarship in literary and cultural studies to offer an authoritative and in-depth reassessment of major and minor figures and the contexts that shaped their work. One set of chapters explores realism’s genesis and its connection to previous and subsequent movements. Others examine the inclusiveness of representation, the circulation of texts, and the aesthetic representation of science, time, space, and the subjects of medicine, the New Woman, and the middle class. Still others trace the connection to other arts—poetry, drama, illustration, photography, painting, and film—and to pedagogical issues in the teaching of realism.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

American Realism

uh-mehr-ehh-can ree-uhl-ee-zum

American realism was a style of writing, music, and art during the 20th century in the United States, specifically in New York.

E.g. Literary works from the American Realism period portray everyday life and its complexities with a stark and unembellished lens , reflecting the diverse realities of American society.

Related terms: Naturalism , Socialist realism , magical realism

The artists and writers associated with this movement were more interested in depicting everyday life in New York City than they were in displaying the wealth and prestige of the upper classes or natural landscapes. They wanted to define what was real about American life not what viewers would prefer to look at. This meant focusing on everyday scenes and darker ones, like views of the homeless, alleys, and more.

Explore American Realism

• 1 Definition of American Realism
• 2 Authors of American Realism
• 3 Examples of American Realism Novels
• 4 American Realism and Visual Art
• 6 Related Literary Terms
• 7 Other Resources

Definition of American Realism

American realism was a style of painting, writing, and music that was popular during the 20th century. The authors who wrote during this period, like Mark Twain, were interested in depicting the world as it was, not as one might like it to be. They were interested in the urban, mundane, and everyday and were able to find beauty and meaning in those settings. For writers like Twain, this was more than a style, it was a way of understanding the world and pushing aside worn-out images of what America was and instead showing the beauty and difficulty of what it is.

Authors of American Realism

Some of the best-known authors of American Realism are:

• Stephen Crane : one of the better-known American realist writers. He wrote The Red Badge of Courage inspired by the American Civil War.
• William Dean Howells : was a fiction and essay writer. He worked as an editor for the Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s Magazine. His books include A Modern Instance.
• Mark Twain : by far the best-known of the American realists. He was born Samuel Clemens and grew up in Missouri. His writing was inspired by his youth. He had a very specific style, using colloquial language. He’s best known for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Examples of American Realism Novels

The red badge of courage by stephen crane.

The Red Badge of Courage is certainly Stephen Crane’s best-known work. It was published in 1895 and described the American Civil War. The book features Henry Fleming, An American soldier who flees from battle. He’s overcome with shame and tries to make up for it by getting a “red badge of courage” or a wound. The novel includes incredibly realistic battle sequences and an ironic tone that makes it incredibly memorable. Here are a few lines:

A man with a full stomach and the respect of his fellows had no business to scold about anything that he might think to be wrong in the ways of the universe, or even with the ways of society. Let the unfortunates rail; the others may play marbles.

Despite the fact that Crane was born after the Civil War, he did a remarkable job depicting it realistically and movingly.

Explore Stephen Crane’s poetry .

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a well-loved American novel that was inspired by Twain’s youth in Missouri. It was first published in 1884 and is considered to be one of the most important American novels of all time, and certainly of the 19th/20th century. The book includes wonderful examples of imagery , written with a clarity that many readers were not used to. Here are a few lines from the book:

It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky, up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made, or only just happened- Jim he allowed they was made, but I allowed they happened; I judged it would have took too long to make so many.”

It was widely criticized when it was first released due to Twain’s use of colloquial language. But, today, it’s considered a classic, read in schools throughout the United States and around the world.

Explore Mark Twain’s poetry .

The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells

The Rise of Silas Lapham follows the title character as he goes through a rags-to-riches storyline. He earns a fortune, loses it, and struggles with moral decisions. He also worries about fitting into his new social class and tries, however he can, to avoid humiliating himself. Howells is considered to be the father of American realism, and this novel is one of his best-known. The Rise of Silas Lapham was serialized in The Century Magazine  starting in 1884. Here are a few lines from the book:

All civilization comes through literature now, especially in our country. A Greek got his civilization by talking and looking, and in some measure a Parisian may still do it. But we, who live remote from history and monuments, we must read or we must barbarise.

The novel has been subject to several interpretations. Some scholars have suggested that it’s far more romantic than the author would’ve liked while others view the book as a satire on biography .

American Realism and Visual Art

American realism was just as important in the world of visual arts as it was in the literary world. Some of the best-known artists working during this period were

• Edward Hopper : a well-loved American painter who is popular for his oil paintings that reflect everyday American life. He painted nudes, portraits, landscapes, and more.
• John Sloan : a member of the Socialist Party and artist working in New York. He depicted the working class, focusing on women specifically.
• George Benjamin Luks : another Ashcan artist who lived in New York. He is best known for his painting Hester Street, which depicts a man showing children a toy.
• Everett Shinn : famous for his paintings of New York and the theater. His paintings draw connections between everyday life and the crowded setting of a busy theatre.

Their work, as a whole, was characterized by an attempt to capture the real world as it was during the 20th century in New York City. These artists and others were part of the Ashcan School. They were more interested in depicting everyday people, immigrants, and the lower classes than they were in the upper-class aristocracy. Their art often depicted alleys, taverns, and other places frequented by the lower classes. The above artists often cited influence from painters like John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase, and Thomas Eakins.

The characteristics are a focus on everyday life, the use of colloquial language (that is used by people on the street), and a willingness to depict dark and less-than-ideal situations. These writers were interested in moving away from an idealized image of American society.

William Dean Howells is considered by some to be the father of American realism . Others include Twain, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James, and others as the founders of the movement.

Realism is different from romanticism as it explores the world as it really is. Romanticism depends on figurative language , including examples of hyperbole , metaphor , and personification . Realism is more interested in reality, while romanticism is more interested in fiction.

The American Civil War was one of the biggest reasons that American authors shifted away from romanticism towards realism . The reality of war and everything that came after inspired authors to focus on what reality had to offer rather than depend on fiction.

Related Literary Terms

• Bildungsroman : a literary genre that focuses on coming-of-age stories, following a character’s progression towards adulthood.
• Biography : an account or description of a person’s life, literary, fictional, historical, or popular in nature, written by a biographer.
• Drama : a mode of storytelling that uses dialogue and performance. It’s one of several important literary genres that authors engage with.
• Epistolary : a book made up of a series of documents, usually letters, diary entries, or newspaper clippings

Other Resources

• Watch: Get Real: An Introduction to American Literature
• Listen: The Case for Realism

Home » Movements » American Realism

The Definitive Literary Glossary Crafted by Experts

All terms defined are created by a team of talented literary experts, to provide an in-depth look into literary terms and poetry, like no other.

Cite This Page

Baldwin, Emma. "American Realism". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/movement/american-realism/ . Accessed 11 July 2024.

Help Center

Request an Analysis

(not a member? Join now)

Poem PDF Guides

PDF Learning Library

Beyond the Verse Podcast

Poetry Archives

Poetry Explained

Poet Biographies

Useful Links

Poem Explorer

Poem Generator

[email protected]

Poem Solutions Limited, International House, 36-38 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NG, United Kingdom

Discover and learn about the greatest poetry, straight to your inbox

Unlock the Secrets to Poetry

The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Realism and Naturalism in American Literature

In American literature, realism is a literary technique that shows the realities in life while naturalism on the other hand attempts to apply scientific analysis and detachment in its study of human beings. In the Norton anthology of American literature, the editor discusses the role of these two literary techniques in America’s history. In the period 1865-1920 the United States experienced high industrialization rates. The innovation of the telegraph, telephone and electricity accelerated economic growth.

Furthermore the completion of the railway in 1869 enabled businessmen to come and exploit the land for gold and other minerals. There was a high inflow of workers from Europe coming to look for work. The development however brought serious consequences. With the rapid increase in population the people needed more land and territory. The ordinary people could not protect themselves from the mighty and wealthy.

The railway company stole land from the natives. It also shrewdly eliminated other competition and became a monopoly. Other industries like steel and oil were also in the hands of a few wealthy and powerful men. Working conditions and pay for workers was poor as the monopolies had all the power. The corrupt government turned a blind eye to the actions of these monopolies.

With the increase of populations in cities there arose new publishing opportunities through several newspapers. The marginalized and under-represented people had a voice now to speak out. The writers spoke out against social injustices and inequalities due to the rapid industrialization. These were writers who had the courage to speak up. The editor of the anthology stresses the importance of realism in this period since several social issues were spoken of boldly.

These were the issues of the railroad monopoly that took the land of small farmers and the corruption of government officials. Helen Hunt Jackson spoke of the US injustices against Native Americans, Charlotte Perkins Gilman spoke of wealth and human rights and Thorsten Veblen spoke of the greediness of the extremely wealthy businesses. These writers affected the sociology, philosophy, and economy of the people. There were also writers who spoke against racial injustices.

These issues were highly challenging causing the authors to turn to aesthetic realism where they used descriptive and colorful language to represent life as it was. It was known as local color writing where dialects, social relationships and the current natural environments were depicted in their novels. Mark Twain is an example of this generation of authors who showed the vernacular dialects and added humor. This caused the readers to sympathize with the characters. American naturalism came later.

It was a continuation of realism but with a detailed focus on the lower class and marginalized communities who had bleak chances of survival while realism focused on middleclass and upper class. It was more logical than realism. Naturalism was different though in a scientific and deterministic approach. This literal technique was highly influenced by Charles Darwin book, Origin of species that spoke of survival of the fittest (Baym, 2007, p 7).

These writers for example Frank Norris and Stephen Crane attempted to show life scientifically. The characters in the novels lived in an environment with chance occurrences and the strong people usually victimized the weak. The situation was very tough and the characters lacked the intellect and resources to overcome adversity. The characters had to join forces to survive against the tough environment. At the end of the day the novels still worked towards providing social solutions.

Reference List

Baym, N. (2007). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. (7 th Ed, Volume C) . New York, NY: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.

• Differences of Realism, Naturalism, and Modernism Periods in Art
• The Influence of Realism and Naturalism on 20th Century American Fiction.
• Melodrama in Realism and Naturalism
• “The little store”
• Feminist Literature: "The Revolt of Mother" by Mary E. Wilkins
• Response about Landscape and Narrative by Barry Lopez
• Melanctha’s Relationship with Desire
• Literacy Poses in Paulo Freire’s Philosophy
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, February 20). The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-realism-and-naturalism-in-american-literature/

"The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature." IvyPanda , 20 Feb. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-realism-and-naturalism-in-american-literature/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature'. 20 February.

IvyPanda . 2019. "The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-realism-and-naturalism-in-american-literature/.

1. IvyPanda . "The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-realism-and-naturalism-in-american-literature/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-realism-and-naturalism-in-american-literature/.

About the Journal

For over fifty years, American Literary Realism has brought readers critical essays on American literature from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The whole panorama of great authors from this key transition period in American literary history, including Henry James, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, and many others, is discussed in articles, book reviews, critical essays, bibliographies, documents, and notes on all related topics. Each issue is also a valuable bibliographic resource. Recent issues have included essays on Jack London and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Sign up to receive table-of-contents alerts when a new issue is published.

Select a title from more than 40 scholarly journals published by UIP.

• Issue Alerts
• For Authors
• About This Journal

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1940-5103
• Print ISSN 1540-3084
• Scholarly Publishing Collective
• A Duke University Press initiative
• Phone:  (888) 651-0122
• International:  +1 (919) 688-5134
• Email:  [email protected]
• Partners  
• for librarians  
• for agents  
• for publishers
• Michigan State University Press
• Penn State University Press
• University of Illinois Press
• Duke University Press
• Accessibility
• Terms and Conditions
• Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essay Examples >
• Essays Topics >
• Essay on Art

Free Essay About Realism In American Literature

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Art , Realism , Romanticism , Literature , Style , Events , Time , Reality

Published: 03/30/2023

ORDER PAPER LIKE THIS

Realism in the context of literature represents a style of writing as well as a period of time, i.e. between 1865 and 1910. Realism, as the name suggests, simply meant that novelists were supposed to keep their attention to details and try as much as possible to portray the nature of the real world or events in it as they were (Katherine Godin). Realism was simply summarized as verisimilitude, the “on the face” quality of realistic literature as being real or in close resemblance to the reality, truth or fact; or “the faithful representation of reality” (Josh Rahn). Amongst the realists, there was a belief that the function of any piece of work was to depict the real events without adjustments like an author’s judgment or comments. Realism emerged in response to romanticism which also describes a style of writing, as well as marking a period of time, from 1830 to 1865. The term can hence be properly understood by comparing and contrasting it to romanticism. Realism’s description of events and characters were knowledge based or resulted from some experience, this is contrary to romanticism which was majorly inspired by an author’s imaginations. Characterization in realism portrayed human beings or animals in their actual complexity of motive and temperament (Josh Rahn); they are comprehensible relating to nature, to their social settings, to their past lives and to each other. Romanticism on the other side maintained a style of characterization that categorized characters, for example, to be either villains and heroes, or underdogs and oppressors. Realism also centered on an urban setting and was time specific contrary to romanticism which dwelt on rural settings which were of domestic and idealized.

Works Cited

Josh Rahn. "Realism." The Literature Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2016. Katherine Godin. "The Literary Realism Movement: A Response to Romanticism." Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2016.

Cite this page

Share with friends using:

Removal Request

Finished papers: 2068

This paper is created by writer with

ID 257621392

If you want your paper to be:

Well-researched, fact-checked, and accurate

Original, fresh, based on current data

Eloquently written and immaculately formatted

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

Get your papers done by pros!

Other Pages

Sound article reviews, gender article reviews, corporation article reviews, choice article reviews, industrialization article reviews, muslim college essays, social networks essay examples, the recent history of the bolivian economy research paper example, example of article review on can language style matching really bring about new long lasting romances, hamlet essay examples, social and cultural diversity paper research paper example, depression essay sample, a level essay on evolution of the hospitals in america for free use, book review on the analysis of the book the medicalization of society by peter conrad, perfect model essay on finding meaning joy and happiness fmjh project logs, growth of the internet affecting various cultures leading to a western homogenized world culture essay samples, policy analysis ethics role case study example, proper argumentative essay example about the greek deities versus the norse pantheon, free cabrillo marine aquarium cma tour essay example, affirmative action is it still needed essay samples, marionette essays, sensitizer essays, generation gap essays, reactionary essays, physical object essays, chasse essays, mullane essays, directorship essays, furr essays, jedediah essays, radio broadcasting essays, nevelson essays, louise nevelson essays, kehinde wiley essays, adventures of tom sawyer essays, rappaport essays, mara essays, president eisenhower essays, myopia essays, oculomotor essays, trochlear nerve essays, trochlear essays, oculomotor nerve essays.

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

The Profound Impact of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” on American Society & Literature

This essay is about the significant impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” on American society and literature. Published in 1852 the novel played a crucial role in shaping public opinion against slavery by humanizing the experiences of enslaved African Americans. It became an instant bestseller influencing both the abolitionist movement and the political climate leading up to the Civil War. The essay highlights the novel’s immediate success its adaptations and its ability to galvanize anti-slavery sentiment. Additionally it discusses the novel’s influence on American literature and addresses modern criticisms of its portrayal of African American characters while acknowledging its historical context and lasting legacy.

How it works

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and first published in 1852 is regarded as one of the most important books in American history. Its importance goes well beyond its literary accomplishments since it was intricately woven into the American social and political landscape of the 19th century. The novel’s potent portrayal of the harsh reality of slavery was a major factor in influencing public opinion and escalating the national conversation about the institution which in turn influenced the events that precipitated the Civil War.

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is essentially a moving story that humanizes the suffering of African Americans who are held in slavery. Readers are deeply moved by Stowe’s realistic and sympathetic depiction of her characters especially the honorable and patient Uncle Tom. In a way that abstract political arguments were unable to Stowe was able to communicate the moral and ethical evils of slavery by concentrating on the struggles and personal tales of her characters. Because of this visceral connection readers in the North who had previously been unaware of the actual miseries of slavery were persuaded to change their minds.

The novel had a rapid and broad influence. Within the first year of publication it sold over 300000 copies in the US and millions more copies worldwide becoming an instant bestseller. Its popularity extended beyond the written word as many theatrical productions were created based on it greatly increasing its audience and impact. Audiences who might not have ordinarily engaged with the written language were drawn in by the book’s intriguing characters and captivating narrative which extended beyond its pages. This extensive distribution contributed to the rise of abolitionist sentiment among Americans.

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” has important political ramifications as well. Upon first meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have remarked “So you are the little lady who launched this great war.” Although there is disagreement over this quote’s veracity it does highlight how much Stowe’s writing is said to have influenced the country’s conscience. The book gave the abolitionist movement a powerful tool and inspired anti-slavery campaigners. It made it harder for pro-slavery activists to justify the system on moral grounds by illuminating the human cost of slavery. The novel’s graphic descriptions of brutality and suffering acted as a spark for political action and fueled the division that ultimately resulted in the Civil War.

Beyond its immediate social and political impact “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” also holds a significant place in the development of American literature. Stowe’s work paved the way for subsequent generations of writers to tackle social issues through fiction. The novel’s blend of realism and sentimentalism set a precedent for future social protest literature influencing notable authors such as Mark Twain and John Steinbeck. By demonstrating the power of fiction to effect social change Stowe’s novel expanded the possibilities of what literature could achieve.

However the legacy of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is not without its complexities. In modern times the novel has been criticized for its portrayal of African American characters and the use of stereotypes. While Uncle Tom himself is depicted as a Christ-like figure his unwavering passivity and acceptance of suffering have been viewed by some as problematic. The term “Uncle Tom” has even evolved into a pejorative label for someone perceived as overly subservient or betraying their own race. Despite these criticisms it is important to recognize the context in which Stowe was writing and the significant strides she made in challenging the status quo of her time.

In conclusion “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is a landmark in American literature and social history. Its compelling narrative and emotional depth brought the realities of slavery into the homes and hearts of readers igniting a moral awakening that contributed to the abolitionist cause and the eventual end of slavery in the United States. While contemporary perspectives may critique aspects of the novel its role in shaping public discourse and its enduring influence on literature cannot be overstated. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s work remains a testament to the power of storytelling in the fight for justice and human dignity.

Cite this page

The Profound Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on American Society & Literature. (2024, Jul 06). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-profound-impact-of-uncle-toms-cabin-on-american-society-literature/

"The Profound Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on American Society & Literature." PapersOwl.com , 6 Jul 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-profound-impact-of-uncle-toms-cabin-on-american-society-literature/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Profound Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on American Society & Literature . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-profound-impact-of-uncle-toms-cabin-on-american-society-literature/ [Accessed: 11 Jul. 2024]

"The Profound Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on American Society & Literature." PapersOwl.com, Jul 06, 2024. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-profound-impact-of-uncle-toms-cabin-on-american-society-literature/

"The Profound Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on American Society & Literature," PapersOwl.com , 06-Jul-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-profound-impact-of-uncle-toms-cabin-on-american-society-literature/. [Accessed: 11-Jul-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Profound Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on American Society & Literature . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-profound-impact-of-uncle-toms-cabin-on-american-society-literature/ [Accessed: 11-Jul-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

Jump to navigation

The Country, the City, and the Suburb (Panel)

Sterile, tedious, vulgar: suburban stereotypes abound. H. G. Wells thought “the Modern City looks like something that has burst an intolerable envelope and splashed.” John Ruskin found “no existing terms of language … to describe the forms of filth, and modes of ruin,” of suburban development. Yet these supposedly repulsive spaces were extraordinarily attractive. What do the suburbs offer our understanding of the novel’s social horizons? The nineteenth-century novel's realism has been primarily understood as a metropolitan phenomenon. How does literature from the Victorian era to the present, within and beyond realism and the British tradition, confirm or challenge assumptions about suburban spaces?

For Raymond Williams, the opposition between country and city was a rubric for understanding modernity. As cities swelled, the countryside's organic community and cyclical rhythms became nostalgic foils for the increasing spatial and temporal homogenization of everyday life. Urban space offered the novel new content and new forms, from Balzac's panoramic sociological studies to the "autoethnographic" work of Dickens and Eliot (Buzard). Meanwhile, as heightened social stratification collided with the unruly energies of metropolitan sprawl, suburbs—marginalized as semi-criminal purlieus, praised as salubrious retreats from city life, idealized (and mocked) as sites of middle-class aspiration—integrated Victorian ideals of pastoral scenery and domesticity with new forms of speculative capital and privatization.

This panel seeks papers exploring literature and culture in relation to rural, urban, and suburban settings. Is the novel central to the cultural meaning of the suburbs? How do other forms of media (nineteenth-century journalism and illustration, the literary sketch, essay, and prose poem, travel writing and natural history) imagine the relationship between metropolitan infrastructure and social life? Topics might include: urban planning, architecture, and real estate; London's suburbs and slums; social criticism, mobility, class struggle; the stagecoach, the railway; The Cockney School; realism; sensation fiction; the middlebrow.

Please submit your 200-300 word abstract and a brief bio  via the NeMLA portal ( https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/login )  by September 30, 2024. 

Contact co-chairs Hannah LeClair ( [email protected] ) and Alex Millen ( [email protected] ) with any questions.

Advertisement

Supported by

Read Your Way Through Prague

Prague has survived wars and political strife — and through it all, its literary scene has thrived. Jaroslav Kalfar, the author of “Spaceman of Bohemia,” recommends books that connect readers to the city.

• Share full article

By Jaroslav Kalfar

Read Your Way Around the World is a series exploring the globe through books.

Few could doubt the literary bona fides of the Czech Republic, a country that elected a dissident playwright, Vaclav Havel, as its first post-Communist president. Literature is at the center of the Czech heart because it created us and liberated us.

As Austria-Hungary strove to make us German, writers and poets worked to create and preserve the idea of Czech language and national identity. When the Communist Party fought to purge intellectual rebellions, dissidents met in Prague’s legendary smoke-filled pubs to discuss and smuggle their banned work through the samizdat network .

Famously, Prague , known as the City of a Hundred Spires, was the foremost muse for the troubled mind of one Franz Kafka, despite his uneasy relationship with the city. (Communist authorities tried to erase Kafka from Czech history for decades .)

While Prague hasn’t escaped the commercialization befalling many European metropolises — Gothic cathedrals now share space with luxury fashion brands and golden-arch fries — its literary life cannot be snuffed out. Literature and myth live in every cobblestone, leading down narrow alleyways in the city’s Old Town toward medieval alchemic mysteries, techno parties in centuries-old basements and astronomical clocks tracking the paths of stars.

What should I read before I pack my bags?

The secret to Prague’s lasting beauty is as arbitrary as it is straightforward: Neither the Allies nor the Axis felt the need to destroy the city during World War II. Prague held on to its shimmering rooftops and medieval bridges built by Holy Roman emperors. Though war didn’t change the city’s looks, it did reshape the soul of its people.

The protagonist in Jaroslav Hasek’s novel “The Good Soldier Svejk” is greasing his rheumatic knees in a Prague apartment when the news of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination reaches his ears. Svejk had been let go from the army when he was officially certified as an idiot, but the outbreak of World War I hurls him into the conflict. Around one million Czechs fought for Austria-Hungary, often with little understanding of why they should risk lives on the empire’s behalf. The loss of individuality to conflict is at the heart of the Czech experience: a country trying to build, constantly usurped by its larger neighbors.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .