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.