Realism in literature:

Definition: Realism is an art movement, which started in the mid nineteenth century in
France, and then spread like wildfire throughout the rest of Europe, all the way to Russia, and
then overseas to the US. Its real objective was to root out what is called romantic in literature
and art, to insert what is real.

In literature, writers use realism as a literary technique to describe story elements, such as
setting, characters, themes, etc., without using elaborate imagery, or figurative language, such
as similes and metaphors. Through realism, writers explain things without decorative
language or sugar-coating the events. Realism is something opposite to romanticism and
idealism. Read on to learn more about realism in literature. Realism is all about portraying
real life.

 Characteristics:
 Emphasis on psychological, optimistic tone, details, pragmatic, practical,
slow-moving plot
 Rounded, dynamic characters who serve purpose in plot
 Empirically verifiable
 World as it is created in novel impinges upon characters. Characters dictate
plot; ending usually open.
 Time marches inevitably on; small things build up. Climax is not a crisis, but
just one more unimportant fact.
 Causality built into text. Foreshadowing in everyday events.
 Realists--show us rather than tell us
 Events make story plausible
 Emphasis on morality, usually intrinsic, relativistic between people and
society
 Scenic representation important
 Humans are in control of their own destiny and are superior to their
circumstances

Principles Of Realism:

o 1. Insistence upon and defence of "the experienced commonplace."

o 2. Character more important than plot.
o 3. Emphasis upon morality often self-realized and upon an examination of
idealism.
o 4. Concept of realism as a realization of democracy.
Realistic Characterization: There is the belief among the Realists that humans control their
destinies; characters act on their environment rather than simply reacting to it. Character is
superior to circumstance.

The Use Of Symbolism And Imagery: The Realists generally reject the kind of symbolism
suggested by Emerson when he said "Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact."
Their use of symbolism is controlled and limited; they depend more on the use of images.

 Realistic Techniques
o 1. Settings thoroughly familiar to the writer
o 2. Ordinary characters, studied in depth
o 3. Complete authorial objectivity
o 4. Responsible morality; a world truly reported

REALISTIC FICTION:

Realistic fiction is a genre consisting of stories that could have actually occurred to people or
animals in a believable setting. These stories resemble real life, and fictional characters
within these stories react similarly to real people. Stories that are classified as realistic fiction
have plots that highlight social or personal events or issues that mirror contemporary life,
such as falling in love, marriage, finding a job, divorce, etc.

Characteristics of Realistic Fiction:

 Realistic fiction stories tend to take place in the present or recent past.
 Characters live in places that could be or are real.
 The characters seem like real people with real issues solved in a realistic way
 The events portrayed in realistic fiction conjure questions that a reader could face in
everyday life
 The characters are engaging and believable.
 The dialogue is believable.
 The problems faced by the characters are honestly portrayed.
 The resolution makes sense.
The Coming-of-Age Theme:

Many realistic stories depict their protagonist growing up or coming of age. The coming-of-
age stories typically trace the protagonist's growth from a self-absorbed, immature individual
into an expansive, mature human being concerned with the welfare of others, and his/her
place in the world scheme.

Classic example: Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" (1909).

Types of Realistic Fiction:

Family Stories (domestic stories):

Family stories have been around since Victorian days when they were the mainstay of a girl's
reading. Family stories frequently rely on episodic plots, since they are built around the daily
details and activities, the squabbling, the scheming, the reconciliations, in which families are
normally engaged.

Classic examples: Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" (1867), presenting a realistic
portrayal of mid-19th-century American family life with all its ups and downs.

Stories of Social Realism:

This type of stories deal with friendship, self-identity, racial prejudice, child abuse, sexual
abuse, homosexuality, and other social issues that may involve in human growth and
development.

Classis example: Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884), depicting
young people struggling with unlikely friendships and dealing with a troubled society.

Adventure and Survival Stories:

Adventure stories, often romantic; have long been popular with children. Many adventure
stories are, in fact, survival stories, which depict individuals pitted against the forces of
nature or, in many modern works, the forces of a cruel, insensitive society. They are usually
coming-of-age stories depicting individuals rising above adversity, facing forces that are
greater and more formidable than they are, and discovering themselves.

Classic examples:. Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1719), the classic survival story
depicting an individual taming the wild tropical paradise.
Animal Stories:

This type of stories hinge on the premise that animal characters share certain human traits -
the capacity for love, loyalty, jealousy, fear, etc. Realistic animal stories first appeared in the
late 19th century and early 20th century and they were most popular in North America.. One
serious theme recurring in many animal stories is that of animals falling prey to the savage
insensitivity of human beings.

Classic examples: Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" (1877), Jack London's "White Fang"

Historical Stories:

Historical fiction is set in a time period that is earlier from the time the work was written (at
least a generation - 20 years - earlier). In the later 19th century, historical fiction became
popular with young readers who were drawn in by the exotic settings, colourful adventures,
and heroic figures of the early historical novels.

Classic example: Howard Pyle's "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" (1883)

Honoré de Balzac: The Founder of Realism in European Literature

Honoré de Balzac (1799 –1850) is renowned as one of the founders of realism in European
literature. Some critics, including Émile Zola, consider him the father of the naturalist novel.
He was also famous for a tremendous work ethic that bordered on self-destructive. His
method of revision, which continued until the last possible moment, seemed designed to
upset his printers and add chaos to the production process and to remind all involved of the
messiness of creation.

Although his fiction represented all classes of French society, Balzac was one of the first
authors to focus his work on the lives of ordinary French citizens. He tried to depict life and
society as they truly were. He used detail to great effect, and he was also one of the first
authors to make character and psychology one of the central concerns of his writing.

La Comédie humaine:

Balzac’s plan to produce a unified series of books that would comprehend the whole of
contemporary society was not clearly formulated until about 1834, although he had issued
several volumes by that time. He elaborated three general categories of novels: Études
analytiques (“Analytic Studies”), dealing with the principles governing human life and
society; Études philosophiques (“Philosophical Studies”), revealing the causes determining
human action; and Études de moeurs (“Studies of Manners”), showing the effects of those
causes, and themselves to be divided into six kinds of scenes—private, provincial, Parisian,
political, military, and country life. The entire project resulted in a total of 12 volumes
published between 1834 and 1837. By 1837 Balzac had written much more, and by 1840 he
had hit upon the comprehensive title La Comédie humaine. He negotiated with a consortium
of publishers for an edition under this name, 17 volumes of which appeared between 1842
and 1848, including a famous foreword written in 1842. A “definitive edition,” including
many new works, was published, in 24 volumes, between 1869 and 1876.

The whole is an examination of French society from the French Revolution to the eve of the
Revolution of 1848, in which Balzac analyzed the underlying principles of this constantly
developing world. Balzac ranged back and forth, often within the same novel, from the
philosophical to the social, the economic, and the legal; from Paris to the provinces; and from
the summit of society to the petite bourgeoisie.

No theme is more typically Balzacian than that of the ambitious young provincial fighting for
advancement in the competitive world of Paris. Balzac was both fascinated and appalled by
the French social system of his time, in which the bourgeois values of material
acquisitiveness and gain were steadily replacing what he viewed as the more stable moral
values of the old-time aristocracy.

These topics provided material largely unknown, or unexplored, by earlier writers of French
fiction. Individuals in Balzac’s stories are continually affected by the pressures of material
difficulties and social ambitions. They are capable of expending their tremendous vitality in
ways Balzac viewed as socially destructive and self-destructive. Linked with this idea of the
potentially destructive power of passionate will, emotion, and thought is Balzac’s peculiar
notion of a vital fluid concentrated inside the person, a store of energy that can be husbanded
or squandered at will. Indeed, most of Balzac’s characters are spendthrifts of this vital force,
as can be seen in his many monomaniacs who are both victim and embodiment of some
ruling passion: avarice, as in the main character of Gobseck (1835), a usurer gloating over his
sense of power, or the miserly father obsessed with riches in Eugénie Grandet (1833);
excessive paternal affection, as in the idolatrous Lear-like father in Le Père Goriot (1835);
feminine vindictiveness, as evidenced in La Cousine Bette (1846; Cousin Bette) and a half-
dozen other novels; the mania of the art collector, as in Le Cousin Pons (1847; Cousin Pons);
the artist’s desire for perfection, as in Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu (1831; The Unknown
Masterpiece); the curiosity of the scientist, as in the fanatical chemist of Le Recherche de
l’absolu (1834; The Quest of the Absolute); or the vaulting and frustrated ambition of the
astonishingly resourceful criminal mastermind Vautrin in Illusions perdues (1837–43; Lost
Illusions) and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (1839–47; A Harlot High and Low).
Once such an obsession has gained a hold, Balzac shows it growing irresistibly in power and
blinding the person concerned to all other considerations.

Père Goriot As Realistic Fictional Nobel:

Le Père Goriot is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. It was published in serial form
from 1834 to 1835 and tells the story of three intertwined characters, Goriot, Vautrin, and
Rastignac.

The novel begins at the boarding house Maison Vauquer, owned by Madame Vauquer. Three
of the tenants are central characters in the story. The first is Goirot, an elderly man, who dotes
on the other tenants and his daughters. He is subject to ridicule because he lost his fortune
long ago and now barely scrapes by.

Rastignac is a law student, a naive man who has moved to Paris from the south of France. He
is immediately attracted to the upper class, though as an outsider to Paris he does not quite fit
in. Madame de Beauséant, his cousin, tutors him so that he can function in high society. He
soon endears himself to one of Goriot’s daughters, Delphine, after he exhausts his poor
parents’ money living in the city. He begins to plot ways to get into higher society
permanently. He decides to put aside his law studies and take a shortcut. He persuades his
mother and sisters to sell what they can and send him their money to outfit his entrance into
the upper class of Paris.

Another tenant, Vautrin, offers to help him pursue an unmarried but wealthy woman,
Victorine. Her brother is blocking access to her family fortune, but Vautrin says that he can
arrange to have the brother killed in a duel. Rastignac balks at the idea of having someone
killed just to gain access to money, but Vautrin claims that the ends always justify the means.
He decides not to go along with it but makes a note of the plan. Before long, the tenants
discover that Vautrin is wanted by the police because he is the mastermind criminal, The
Cheater of Death. He arranges to have Victorine’s brother killed anyway, but is finally
captured by the police.

Meanwhile, Goriot is supportive of Rastignac’s interest in his daughter, but he is not able to
do anything about her husband’s tyrannical control over her, nor is he able to support her. He
finds out that his other daughter has had to sell her family jewelry to pay off her lover’s
debts. He is overcome with grief that he is unable to support her financially; he suffers a
stroke under all the stress.

Neither of his daughters is able to see him before he dies. He rages about their disrespect for
him and how ungrateful they have become. In the end, Delphine does not come, and
Anastasie arrives after he has fallen into a coma. At his funeral, there are only a few people:
Rastignac, a servant, and two paid mourners. Both daughters only send their coaches with the
family crests on them.

After the ceremony, the lights of Paris begin to appear. Rastignac prepares to dine with
Delphine; he turns to her to say that it is only between the two of them now.

The novel is considered a coming of age story though not in the traditional sense. Rastignac
is an everyman at the beginning. He is initially repulsed by what he sees in Paris high society.
His experiences up to that point have been only with his poor family in a much smaller area,
and the excesses of high society make him uncomfortable because he does not understand
them.

As he progresses through the novel, however, he is tutored in the ways of this community,
and he begins to embrace what he finds. He sets aside his goal of being a lawyer and instead
begins the social climb using money from his family and eventually his connections with
women to spur his ascent.
His story is driven by the theme of social class and social separation. Although Rastignac
aspires to be a part of the wealthy elite, it is clear that he does not belong in that world and
they will never accept him there. He is advised by several characters to act with a sense of
ruthless ambition. There is no room for compassion in a world where people are sharply
divided between power and powerlessness. Rastignac develops a keen sense of this ambition,
using his relationship with Goroit’s married daughter to improve his status.

This ambition corrupts what was initially a sense of honor in wanting to make a good living
for his family. At the time, law was not quite the high paying profession it is now, but it
would have made a steady income for a poor family living in the south of France. He decides
that this path is mere drudgery, and uses what little money his family has to jumpstart a life in
the world of high society. It is a risk that a man with more honor might not have taken.

The book is one of Balzac’s greatest achievements. It spurred the use of “Rastignac” in
French to mean someone with cutthroat social ambitions and was the groundwork for later
characters in his realistic style. Although Balzac is sometimes criticized for presenting such a
negative view of people in the upper class, critics have praised his complex characters and
attention to detail. The novel is an unrelenting look at what it means to be corrupted by
ambition, and the ways that people will stop at nothing for a chance at power.

Realist approach in Père Goriot:

Balzac uses meticulous, abundant detail to describe the Maison Vauquer, its inhabitants, and
the world around them; this technique gave rise to his title as the father of the realist novel.
The details focus mostly on the penury of the residents of the Maison Vauquer. Much less
intricate are the descriptions of wealthier homes; Madame de Beauséant's rooms are given
scant attention, and the Nucingen family lives in a house sketched in the briefest detail.

At the start of the novel, Balzac declares (in English): "All is true". Although the characters
and situations are fictions, the details employed – and their reflection of the realities of life in
Paris at the time – faithfully render the world of the Maison Vauquer. The rue Neuve-Sainte-
Geneviève (where the house is located) presents "a grim look about the houses, a suggestion
of a jail about those high garden walls". The interiors of the house are painstakingly
described, from the shabby sitting room ("Nothing can be more depressing") to the coverings
on the walls depicting a feast ("papers that a little suburban tavern would have disdained") –
an ironic decoration in a house known for its wretched food. Balzac owed the former detail to
the expertise of his friend Hyacinthe de Latouche, who was trained in the practice of hanging
wallpaper. The house is even defined by its repulsive smell, unique to the poor
boardinghouse.

Social stratification:
One of the main themes in Le Père Goriot is the quest to understand and ascend society's
strata. The Charter of 1814 granted by King Louis XVIII had established a "legal country"
which allowed only a small group of the nation's most wealthy men to vote. Thus, Rastignac's
drive to achieve social status is evidence not only of his personal ambition but also of his
desire to participate in the body politic. As with Scott's characters, Rastignac epitomizes, in
his words and actions, the Zeitgeist in which he lives. Through his characters and narration,
Balzac lays bare the social Darwinism of this society.