Realism Period of

American Literature

1865 - 1900
 CHARACTERISTICS of REALISM
Life presented with fidelity in presenting the inner
workings of the mind.
There is an analysis of thought and feelings in
realism.
The environment has a function in shaping of
characters.
The setting is generally in the present or recent
past.
There is frequent use of colloquial speech. Diction
is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic; tone
may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact.
Characters are of the middle and low classes.
Realist writers exposed political corruption,
economic inequity, business deception, the
exploitation of labor, women rights problems,
racial inequity
Realist often describe the relationship between the
economic transformation of America and its moral
condition.
We see in realism the introduction of a new kind of
characters:
·    Industrial workers and rural poor
·   Ambitious businessman and vagrants
·   Prostitutes
·   Unheroic soldiers
 REGIONAL WRITING (Local Color)

There is a desire by Realist writers to preserve distinctive

ways of life before industrialization dispersed or
homogenized them.

Realist writers wrote about coming to terms with the

harsh realities of the “new times.”

The rapid growth of magazines creating a new, largely

female audience for short fiction.

Many Local Colorists (realistic female writers) described

a patriarchal society from female perspective.
 Definition of Realism
Realism is the post civil war literary movement
between 1865-1900.
Realism directly opposes the previous movement
Romanticism. It focuses on the harsh realities of life
and gives the reader a true sense of “local color”.
Which is the fictional recreation of the authors own
experiences.
Realism renders reality closely and in comprehensive
detail. Selective presentation of reality with an
emphasis on verisimilitude, Character is more
important than action and plot; and complex ethical
choices are often the subject.
 Realist Writers
Mark Twain  (1835–1910)
Henry James   (1843 – 1916)
William Dean Howells   (1837 – 1920)
 
“Local Color”

Sarah Orne Jewett  (1849 – 1909)

Kate Chopin   (1851 – 1904)
Bret Harte  (1836 – 1902)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860 – 1935)
 
Poetry:
 
Edward Arlington Robinson (1869 – 1935)
Robert Frost   (1874 – 1963)
Carl Sandburg   (1878 – 1967)
 The Realism Period (1865-1900)

Incorporates a difficult time in American

history, with the Civil War, industrialization,
Reconstruction, urbanization, and more. In
American literature, famous writers like
Charles W. Chesnutt, Stephen Crane, Henry
James, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton were
presenting a more realistic view of life in
their works of literature.
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.
Broadly defined as "the faithful
representation of reality" or "verisimilitude,"
realism is a literary technique practiced by
many schools of writing. Realism is a
technique that denotes a particular kind of
subject matter, especially the representation
of middle-class life. There is a revolt against
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.
Realism is nothing more and
nothing less than the truthful
treatment of material.

William Dean Howells