In her novel Adam Bede George Eliot establishes realism as a genre by using various aspects throughout the narrative.  I believe it is a fair assertion to believe that realism arose in literature because of a need to represent the middle class that people like Eliot belonged in.  There was a need to not just be romantic, but to illustrate all the nuances and details of ordinary life.  In a way, Eliot treats this kind of lifestyle as being noble, because it is a reflection of the wealth and success of the middle class.  However, realism does have its limits in both aesthetic and social terms; it is an attempt to illustrate the world as it exists to these authors, but it does not necessarily mean that the books are still “realistic.”  As stated by G.H. Lewes, a heroine must be “evangelical and consumptive…but she must be individually a dressmaker,” portrayed with enough recognizable traits (evangelical for example) but still “realistic” enough to fit the standards of the genre (Freedgood 325).  Furthermore, realism expects to capture life as it is, which can prove to be too challenging a task, “Realism is responsible for representing social and individual experience as it really occurs in the world outside of the novel” (326).

Here is where I think some of the limits of realism can come into effect; the characters are inherently fictional.  How could something fictional ever be as real as what realism attempts to be?  For another matter, why must characters even contain these generalized traits that Lewes mentions?  Doesn’t this take away from the originality of the character?

George Eliot’s writing is perhaps the foundation for realism as she carries on in critiquing art and literature within her novel; Eliot’s narrator also has an opinion of his/her own regarding events that happen in the story.  This is an example of the ways in which realism has aesthetic limitations.  In reality there is no narrator that expresses his/her opinions as events go on.  Likewise, Eliot’s characters all reflect people of different classes, but it does not reflect people of color, nor can it be truly effective in giving an objective viewpoint of the world.  As a middle class woman, Eliot has limitations by the lens she sees the world through.  Therefore, realism is impacted by the experiences of an author and cannot objectively provide a view for the world that is all inclusive.

Ultimately however, Eliot acknowledges this limitation, “The mirror is doubtless defective; the outline will sometimes be disturbed, the reflection faint or confused” (326).  What is important about realism are not just its limitations, but how truthful this reality is for the one writing it. Eliot attempts to show the reality that she knows and experiences in her writing because it is the only one that she knows.  Therefore the paradox of realism as a genre can be understood and resolved (at least somewhat). So long as the author’s representation of reality adheres by this example that Eliot sets, then it can pass for a realist novel.