Realism - Definition

Realism is a form of writing and literature that was created in response to Romanticism. People during the Romanticism time period were getting bored of Romanticism, and they began to crave a type of writing with more of a scientific feel (Campbell). Those who supported Realism often were more geared towards philosophizing rather than idealizing like Romanticists (Campbell). Realism writers focused on what was happening right that moment. Realism writers also considered consequences for actions (Campbell). Realism is often compared to both Naturalism and Romanticism. Realism writers focused less on describing everything, like Naturalism writers, and they focused more on choosing specific details. Realism authors also focused more on the characters than on the actions or scenery. Romanticism writers also focused on broad details and idealism much more than Realism authors (Campbell). They often told stories that did not have an obvious moral to them, because they would write about average situations and try to draw their morals from that (Campbell). The Hero to most Realists was a normal person that could draw morals from everything and knew how to grow from past experiences. The American Dream was to learn from every experience that they had and to constantly be improving their morals. Realism authors wrote from the viewpoint of the middle class, so they could see society from a different perspective than they had in the past (Campbell). The authors wanted to show the upper class as rude and unappreciative, but they also saw how poor the lower classes were, and they may have felt pity. Realists concentrated a lot on ethical choices. Some Realism stories were focused solely on making ethical choices(Campbell). Events and actions in Realism novels and stories could be seen as real, unlike previous authors who had written more poetically (Campbell). Realists were very different than Romanticists because they were not concerned with ideals, and they were different from Naturalists in that they focused more on scientific and realistic actions.

Campbell, Donna M. "Realism in American Literature." Washington State University - Pullman, Washington. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .