Realism and Naturalism

Realism is like “Mirror”. It is basically a way to see the reality, to show exactly what is happening in our environment. Realism is a representation of the middle class. When I say a representation of middle class I refer to those workers like professor lawyers, doctors etc. Those ones who do not really make anything with their hands but are part of the real world. Realism is a technique to see reality from another point of view; it was a way to see things in an objective way. In literature there are huge amount of scientific that use the term Realism to describe things that are happening in the word. A few readings emphasize the idea of realism because shows reality, shows the real effects in the past and now in the present. For example, in “Separate Ways” the author emphasizes the idea of realism with the two main characters, Okyo and Kichizo; both of them are a representation of the lower classes in Japan, an illustration of how lower class has to work day by day in order to bring food to their houses. Furthermore, the author also shows how Japan’s society is. In Japan Lower class people have to choose to do wrong things because they do not have options to go forward and be people with money. For example, Okyo at the end decided to leave her town and work as mistress because her social economic situation was critical. And for Kichizo the only way he can be a wealthy man is by getting married with a wealthy woman. Another reading that is related with the term realism is “Simple heart” by Gustave Flaubert” the author emphasizes the idea of realism with Felicite, the servant. It was an idea of how lower classes in order to survive have to work in anything. It shows the condition of lower class workers. Felicite has to work every day, her paid was low; her living condition is not the best plus she has to work long hours.

On the other hand, Naturalism is the study of natural objects is based on the study that human beings given to the nature. Naturalism is basically how people act according his social economic. For example in “Hedda Gabler” Hedda represents what Naturalism is. She is behaving in a certain way because she coming from a wealthy family. Showing that the way she behaves is largely caused by her wealthy background represent a naturalistic way of looking at the world. Hedda manipulates Tesman, her husband; because she feels she has the power to do that just because she comes from a family with money. All her actions derive from her class position. Ibsen shows how rich people in that time treated lower class people as inferior. She only uses Tesman for stability, not for love.

Both realism and naturalism styles of writing were used to show the everyday life. Naturalism, however, was used to make more of a statement on more taboo subjects, as seen in “Hedda Gabler” by Ibsen.

The purpose of realism was to show readers what an everyday life was like. When thinking about “A Simple Heart” by Flaubert, readers are able to see what it was like living as a maid in the country side. You’re able to see a very candid vision of what life was like. Since a large portion of readers were the rich in the major cities, it was different for them to see what life was like for the other kind of person. As stated before, realism was a type of writing that didn’t have much of a motive behind topic. The best way to describe this is if readers compare “A Simple Heart” to “Candide” by Voltaire. His enlightened writing was obviously used to make a statement on people, how they needed to start thinking for themselves, and to make a comment on world leaders of the time. Realism really moves away from that.

I believe that naturalism is the even more so candid version realism. Naturalist writers like Henrik Ibsen did write about everyday life but, in the case of Ibsen and they play “Hedda Gabler”, naturalist were more open about more taboo subject. I noticed in Hedda Gabler, however, that instead of making certain subject painfully obvious, like Moliere would have in “Tartuffe”, that those certain subject were approached in a more subtle way. They were still addressed but they were more delicately placed and integrated into each story. This is unlike “Candide” where all subject were obvious and every chapter dealt with a new hypocrisy.

In both realism and naturalism, I feel like, while all characters had a back story, they were not “fleshed out” so deeply. By this I mean that literally anyone could n\be Felicite or Hedda Gabler. The characters were not described in specific detail, nor were their pasts so narrowly defined that someone could not “place themselves” in Felicite’s or Hedda’s shoes and become them. I believe that this is a great literary technique because it allows readers to relate and better understand each character better.

The basic themes and aims of Realism is to represent events as they are and recreating life in literature, while Naturalism is to imply a philosophical position. An example of Realism literature is A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert, the story of a young servant. Felicite is relatable to, because she goes through the same issues everybody does. She finds someone who loves her, but then he leaves her for someone else, she loses her loved ones, and she tries to do whatever she can to remember them, as seen through the parrot stuffing. Throughout the story, every single event in her life was relatable to, and every little single detail was relatable to, especially the description of the house and the rooms.

An example of Naturalism literature is Hedda Gabler by Henrick Ibsen. In Hedda Gabler, Hedda is obsessed with her pistols. The pistols belonged to her father, who was in the military. He taught her how to shoot and ride a horse. Ever since a young age, Hedda has been influenced with these masculine traits, which causes her to act more masculine. When Lovborg was upset over losing the script for his book, she gives him a pistol to kill himself.

Up until writers began to use the realism style, the objective of their stories was to teach the reader a lesson, or strike a thought in their heads. The goal of the writer was rarely to simply tell a story. There was always a message lying between the lines that the author was trying to portray to the reader.

When realism came to surface, we began to see many texts that lack this aim or lesson. The aims of most realism works was to recreate life and mirror society. The writings did not necessarily have to have a lesson or objective other than to tell a story to the reader and present them with a real view of society. For instance, when we look at A Simple Heart, by Gustave Flaubert, we do not see any particular lesson at the end of the story, nor do we see the story line as being extravagant and unusual. As the name implies, it is a simple story about the simple life of a woman, and that was the aim- to tell a story. Unlike previous styles of writing, realism brought in very heavy descriptive language. In A Simple Heart, Felicite is described distinctly, as well as the rest of the characters. The narrator allows the reader to form his/her own opinion and inference from his description of Felicite, It is very objective and unbiased. We can infer from Felicite’s simple clothing and the fact that she “looked like a wooden doll driven by clock-work,” we can assume that Felicite has not had many unusual experiences in her life (Flaubert, 712). Her life does not consist of extravagant things, but we are led to believe she is used to working hard day by day. Or, the reader can take something different away from Felicite’s description. The author leaves it open for the reader to form their own decision.

We also see very descriptive language about the mistress’ house. In realism styles of writing, not only are the people describes vividly, but also the objects are given detailed descriptions. The mistress’ house had beautiful furniture covered with dusty sheets. Again, from this detail, we may infer that there used to be some kind of lavish life in the house at one point in time, but it has been a while since the mistress has really allowed guests or happiness into her life because of these dusty sheets covering the furniture.

As writing styles transformed from realism into naturalism, we see the same realistic mirroring of society, but naturalism takes the reality a step further. In naturalism styles of writing, we see the author being objective with descriptions of objects and people, but the author also provides information from the character’s pasts to explain to the reader why the characters act the way they do.

We see this technique used in Separate Ways, by Higuchi Ichiyo. Not only are the characters describes physically, but their life stories are also included. From their background, we learn why the characters are the way they are, and why they act the way they do. For example, we learn why Kichizo has such abandonment issues when the author explains that he was an orphan, and has lost any figure he would look up to throughout his life.

Naturalism and realism allow the reader to form their own opinions about characters, and make the readings more open to interpretation. There is no one clear message that can be taken from the text, but rather the reader can take away whatever they would like. The author simply aims to provide the reader with the information about the characters so that they can infer what they would like about the story.

Realism is a writing technique that shows the readers the world around them as it is. Naturalism was a way of explaining how people act based upon their social class and the environment they grew up in. It takes a step away from romanticism and shows the reality of different people’s lives.
Hedda Gabler can be seen as a character of naturalism. The way that Hedda thinks and how she behaves can be understood through her background. She grew up in a high social status and got her pride from being the General’s daughter. When her father passed away, she was unable to keep her high status because she was a woman. Women in this time period wouldn’t be able to obtain social status just through their talents. They would need to obtain it through their male figures. Hedda wanted to continue living in a rich and high standard life. In order to obtain this, she would need to make her current husband rich. Everything that Hedda does throughout the play, was to obtain the rich life that she once had. Hedda’s mindset and her behavior could be understood through the environment and the class she grew up in.
The short story Separate Ways  shows a time period where the poor was suffering and just able to get by. The story emphasizes on two characters’, Okyo and Kichizo. This is a realism piece because it shows the world of the lower class in Japan as it was. Okyo and Kichizo were workers who were able to just make a living for themselves. Okyo was a girl in her 20s and Kichizo was a 16 year old boy. This story illustrates how people who were in the lower class was able to rise to the upper class. Kichizo wasn’t able to rise to the high class because he was an orphan with no family. He was able to do the work of a hundred men, but his skills didn’t matter. Okyo was a seamstress and her way of rising to the high class was by becoming someone’s mistress. Their lives shows the reader that people of this time period were only able to become the social class that they desired through connection of family. Kichizo didn’t have any family therefore he wasn’t able to improve his social class. Meanwhile, Okyo was able to improve her social class by “marrying” into the high class.

“Seperate Ways” by Higuchi Ichiyo is a tale of abandonment. Kichizo was adopted by the factory owner and worked as an apprentice in an umbrella factory. His only friend is an older woman in her twenties named “Okyo.” Kichizo is heartbroken and distraught when Okyo tells him that she is leaving the factory and moving. Okyo is leaving to become a mistress/concubine. Kichizo attempts to dissuade her but to no avail Okyo leaves the factory.

Kichizo truly represents realism. He was dealt a Jack and then a 4 in a game of blackjack while the dealer was dealt an Ace and a Jack (he lost the hand). He decided ” I will not give up”, and made himself a life out of nothing. The beauty of Realism writing is that is shows how regular and ordinary lives are very important and interesting. Higuchi Ichiyo does a great job at showing the heavy amounts of drama that are in the protagonists life.

Realism attempts to represent things as they are. This movement began with Stendal in the mid 19th century and is still used today. Naturalism was a literary tendency used in the late 19th century until the early 20th century that used detailed realism to show that the environment and other natural forces shaped the lives of humans and how we act. Charles Darwin had the greatest influence on Naturalist writers. Realism writers depicted the characters as who they are solely based on their actions. Naturalism writers depicted the characters as who they are based on their actions and based on their natural surroundings. This is the key difference between to the two ideas. Both naturalism and realism began as pessimistic writing styles, because the time period that both of these ideas were formed was one of turmoil and bloodshed. I also noticed that God or religion is lacking in both of these beliefs. Just something I wanted to put out there. Anyone have any thoughts on why this may be true? Anyways, here is a quote I found pertaining to realism and I found it quite interesting. John C Maxwell the renowned American author once said, ” A lack of realism in the vision today, costs credibility tomorrow.”

Sources:

1) https://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/separate-ways/

2) http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/realism.html

3) http://sansguilt.hubpages.com/hub/Compare-and-Contrast-The-Similarities-and-Differences-between-Realism-and-Naturalism

Realism is described as “the mirror of the reality”. Unlike Romanticism, it reflects everything in a plain way without any artificial description. A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert is an example of realism. The author depicts Felicite’s daily life and her experiences in the writing. He demonstrates Felicite’s miserable life and truly reflect her whole life in an objective way. The story does not have many romantic description or supernatural things. It straightly traced the life of a woman and reflect the reality of the world.

Naturalism was influenced by the theory of Darwinism. It emphasized on how the social environment affect the people’s life. Naturalism not only demonstrate the reality but also explain the reason that cause the things happen. It expands the idea of realism and explain everything in scientific ways. In Separate Ways by Higuchi Ichiyo, Okyo and Kichizo struggled because of their social status. Kichizo was an orphan and worked at a umbrella store. People always tease him because of his height. Okyo was a seamstress that move to the neighborhood and was kind to Kichizo. They may love each other but Okyo finally chose to become someone’s mistress and left Kichizo. It might be the only way that can make her life better. The story shows that the difference between social classes ultimately leads to the separation of two people.

Realism aims at seeing reality as a mirror. This is that what we see is what is really happening. One of the major themes for realism is objective thought. This is the idea where we see the world as it is and accept it like that. There is no subjectivity involved and it is straight to the point. Another major theme is social realities, which is heavily portrayed through social classes. There were different social classes and this too was objective. You were from your social class and there was no question to it. One example of realism from the text “A Simple Heart” is portrayed through the character Felicite, the maid of the family. Felicite had no power trying to force Virigne to stay at home. She could not influence Madame Aubain’s choices. Also, No longer did maids give such open ideas and play such a big role within the family, like in Tartuffe. Instead, Felicite, like another maids, knew their role. When looking at Virgine and Felicite’s relationship, Fecilite knew that when Virgine came back home and grew up, Felicite had to respect her as a “Madame” since they were on different social levels. Felicite was a part of the lower working class and she knew that the boundaries of her role have changed. She could not play such a motherly figure to Virgine anymore. This shows that Felicite was the maid, and nothing more. She was simply a lower class citizen, and no matter how close she was to Virgine before, there can be no chance of that now just because society sees Fecilite as nothing more than a worker. The world view during this time was that everything was real and straight forward, no questions asked. It is what it is.

Naturalism aims at being realer than realism. This is that realism was not real enough, and people must go beyond that. People are trying to explain why things happened, compared to realism, where it was objective and everything that happened, just happened. One of the major themes for naturalism is everything being in its natural form in a sense. This is that how have things come about and even why has this happened. Another theme is forces driving the naturalism further, as to what is causing these things to happen. In the text “Hedda Gabbler,” Hedda’s character plays a big role in what naturalism aims to explain. She, for one, was able to commit suicide. This shows how because death is a part of life, she choose to kill herself. This idea of choice shows that it was not just because Hedda wanted to die, but there were reasons beyond her suicide, such as not wanting to be caught in a scandal. Also, within the story, there is a noticeable social class gap between Hedda, and her husband, George. For George to please his wife, he would need to get her a fancy house, buy her a new piano, where everything was materialistic. However, George comes from a lower class who is fond of the memories a pair of slippers bring him, where this means nothing to Hedda. The gap between their social classes shows that the social realities are very strong. It was shown that because of their difference among social classes, this caused Hedda to be so bored and want to manipulate people all the time. The worldview during this time was that everything had a reason behind it and would influence something else in the future. It was almost in a sense natural for Hedda not to get along with George.

Realism is having the ability to accept the understanding of realization in reality and your surroundings. In A Simple Heart, Felicite was a character of simplicity and her mind was focused both on fantasy and imaginations to having a realization of reality. She would think about the clouds and horses running up in the sky but people would talk her out of her imagination and bring her back to the real world. Tragic losses occur with Felicite like the death of her nephew Victor from yellow fever, Virginie from her weak immune system that causes her death, and her parrot Loulou that was stuffed by a taxidermist and kept with her forever. She accepted these losses and moved on correspondingly. Flaubert, the author, described Felicite as a very dull and monotonous character but she lived her life and accepted everything that was brought to her way. She perfected her job as a servant for Mme Aubain and she never tried to step out of her box and achieve better opportunities due to her social class.

Naturalism is based on something scientific and philosophical. People have their own moral values and mentalities which they react in their own way in their own environment. In the literary text, Hedda Gabler, Hedda was manipulating Tesman and the others. Her actions toward certain situations can be seen as immoral. She is defined to be a negative person and she destroys things she cannot accept. For example her pregnancy, burning Lovborg’s manuscripts, sabotaging Tesman, and bullying Thea. She tries to overpower herself and everyone around her. This is due to the reality that she faces. Her committing suicide was her natural way of dealing with her situation. She did not want to face having a scandal that will ruin her reputation and how society will see her so she ends her life. The freedom of taking your own life is something deep and strong that Hedda sees as something beautiful. She could not handle the strong forces of her environment and her surroundings. She has plenty of thoughts running through her mind and she has trouble accepting it. Her decision of ending her life was something she accepted and wanted for a long time.

Realism and Naturalism can be both seen in a positive and negative way. People develop this notion in their minds of how they consider to react in certain situations. Their actions and behaviors are established in their own environment and surroundings. One is seen to be a mirror of reality and an understanding of a particular issue while the other is more of a natural action described in detail of a situation based on environmental forces that can be affected philosophically.

Realism can be seen as a mirror of reality. It aims to capture an accurate portrayal of a situation as it is and to represent it with realistic and factual descriptions. Realism seeks to recreate real-life situations of the average person. For instance, in A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert, we are reading about the life of an ordinary woman, Felicity, with explicit details of her endeavors. An aspect of Realism is seen most through the details of the description of her house; the author is showing us rather than telling us. Accordingly, the events that happen in the story are plausible and may actually happen in real life.

On the other hand, Naturalism strives to explain what is happening and why it is happening. Unlike Realism, Naturalism focuses on how the environment and how the person’s surrounding contributes to their behavior. It is based largely on Darwin’s survival of the fittest, therefore an example would be Separate Ways, by Higuchi where social class is determined by birth and family, and unfortunately for Kichizo, he is unable to move in social ranks and is forced to live as peasant/lower class position in society. Therefore, knowing that his status in life is predetermined by societal structures, he doesn’t bother to try to rise in wealth or power.