Naturalism

Similar to Realism, Naturalism was a literary movement that was born to take over after the Romantic period ended. Naturalism is described as "...naturalism has been devoted to documenting, with apparent objectivity, the extreme experiences of characters existing on the margins of society. Like the so-called realists, naturalists are committed to documenting the surfaces of American life and to probing its concealed depths, but unlike realists, who most often treated recognizable middle-class lives, naturalists usually focused on the desperate existence of characters trapped in slums or in other oppressed settings (Giles.)" Out of the two Naturalism is the one most in common with Romanticism due to the depressing nature of the stories and the poor situation the character is in. It was also very different from Romanticism in that it was more realistic and focuses less on the extra-ordinary drawing some influence from Darwin and his theories. The more well known writers of Naturalism were Stephen Crane, and Jack London.

The city was the primary setting of Naturalism as evidenced by this quote "The city has been the favored setting of most naturalists, whose novels and stories are filled with characters living on the margins of society and overwhelmed by forces beyond their control and comprehension (Giles.)" The settings of Naturalistic writings were often times depressing and the character was usually surrounded by awful things from growing up in the slums such as alcoholics and prostitution.

The naturalistic style was more depressing than realism but they attempted to paint a more convincing picture of the lower class of cultures and they often times succeeded bringing new light to the abysmal conditions of the lower class in many occasions. These were the primary characteristics of naturalism, a setting in the lower class and a hero who although an everyman was often brought up in a poor neighborhood and during the course of the book resided in the poor neighborhood so the author was able to paint a convincing portrait of the lower class society with focus on the people who resided in these lower class areas and their behaviors.


Giles, James R. "naturalism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1255&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 27, 2011).