Najlaa Muqdad Said,

Modern English Drama,

Asst. Prof. Sanaa Lazim,
2023-2024
Realism

Background Revolutions and wars in Europe

Realism, generally speaking, is a concept that connects to a set of theories of
an international relations that prioritizes the role of power in the political world
whether the power was military or of national interest (Bell, 1). According to Jack
Donnelly, realism “emphasizes the constraints on politics imposed by human
nature and the absence of an international government. Together, they make an
international relations largely a realm of power and interest” (9). Thompson
believes that human nature is something constant, i.e, does not change since time
immemorial. According to realists, that nature in its core is egoistic and thus tends
to move toward immorality. In politics, as Machiavellie puts it “it must need to be
taken for granted that all men are wicked and that always will give vent to
malignity that is in their minds when opportunity offers” (9). Morgenthau and
other realist Niebuhr agreed with Thompson and also see Machiavellie’s claim as
descriptive. They emphasize the egoistic passion and self interest in international
politics, “it is better not to have faith in human nature [as] such faith is very
disastrous one” (9). Since these passion is ineradicable, so in this case conflict is
inescapable. It should be highlighted that the hunger for power and the struggle to
catch it is something universal in time and space.
As a movement, realism concerns itself with the study of international
relations that took place during the mid- 20th century. It was influenced by the
British historian and political scientist E. H. Carr. The liberal internationalist along
with their idealism of the progress that can be obtained through international
institutes like that of League of Nation was a subject for Carr to attack them.
Another notable political scientist who joins Carr in his pessimistic vision is Hans
Morgenthau. Both Carr and Morgenthau, along with their followers, are considered
as classical. The classical realism, as school, did not have united thoughts on the
contrast it was built on diverse thoughts and sources. This variety provides
different visions whether those of the world state or even the self. The influential
background for the classical realists also differ. Whereas Marxism was the
inspiration for Carr, Friedrich Nietzche was the influential figure for Morgenthau.
What united realists lies in which they opposed (Bell, 3-5).
By 1970s neorealism emerged. Among its prominent figures were the
American political scientist Kenneth Waltz and Thompson. Neorealism, can be
said to be, an endeavor for interpreting some of the classical realist’s clue insights.
In the Theory of International Politics (1979), Waltz declared that the most
highlighted characteristics of the international relations can be translated “in terms
of the anarchical structure of the international system” (5). What differentiates
neorealism from the previous one is its investigation and techniques. Concerning
the first difference, Waltz says that the argument of the classical realists regarding
human nature, national morale and domestic institutions to a great extent
irrelevant. The second difference lies in the way of reconstructing realism “as a
rigorous and parsimonious social-scientific theory drawing in particular on
microeconomics”(6).
Revolutions and wars in Europe call for social, economic and political
reform and these were, in fact, factors that led to the emergence of realism.
Playwrights concern themselves with working/ middle class who demanded more
rights. However, Realism appears as a rejection to Romantic idealism in a sense
the audience is expected to interact and see more pragmatic view of life. The view
of life is, of course, influenced by certain perspectives and philosophers' mentality
as in Charles Darwin's Origins of Species, states that science is the only means to
find solutions to our life. Karl Marx, the founder of communism, demands for
equal rights as far as the distribution of wealth is concerned. These perspectives
affect the mindset of the community in which the society starts to question the
religious, political, social beliefs. All of this changes mark changes in dramas
presenting realistic topics. Among the realists, Anton Checkhov who is known for
the psychological realism as in the Three Sisters. A question might be raised what
makes a drama realistic drama? The answer lies the details and characters.
Characters are believable characters and they are not fabricated. Sometimes they
are based on real events that affected the writer. The playwright presents an
accurate depiction of human life with no exaggeration where the characters are met
with challenges and troubles and they try to overcome to reach results. (David, 74)
The realist movement in literature first developed in France in the mid-
nineteenth century, soon spreading to England, Russia, and the United States.
Realist literature is best represented by the novel, including many works widely
regarded to be among the greatest novels ever written. Realist writers sought to
narrate their novels from an objective, unbiased perspective that simply and clearly
represented the factual elements of the story. They became masters at
psychological characterization, detailed descriptions of everyday life, and dialogue
that captures the idioms of natural speech. The realists endeavored to accurately
represent contemporary culture and people from all walks of life. Thus, realist
writers often addressed themes of socioeconomic conflict by contrasting the living
conditions of the poor with those of the upper classes in urban as well as rural
societies. (David, 78)
In France, the major realist writers included Honore de Balzac, Gustave
Flaubert, Emile Zola, and Guy de Maupassant, among others. In Russia, the major
realist writers were Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Leo Tolstoy. It
should be mentioned that French realists like Stendhal and Balzac were considered
the pioneering figures and practitioners of realism. They drew their inspiration, as
mentioned earlier, from scientific discoveries and the contemporary positivism.
According to the French historian and critic H.A. Taine, Stendhal was the first to
compose his novels by a scientific procedure. Taine, in this respect, noticed that
introduced scientific procedures into the history of the heart ]Stendhal[“
Calculation, simplification, deduction; that he was the first to record
the elementary cause...In short that he dealt with the feelings as
one should deal with them, that is to say as a novelist and physicist” (Taine,
.37)
For Balzac, literature was seen in accordance with science and despised
imagination and hated exaggeration. He continued his life as an advocator and
holder of the view that the writer should devote himself to the study and
investigation of human life in the same way the naturalist studies animals. It should
be mentioned that through such scientific adherence to life that the French realism
sought to recreate material facts through accurate documentation. It was from
everyday life French realism picked up subjects. What French realism after was
actually to absolutely avoid poetic diction, sentimentalization and above all
idealization.
In England, the foremost realist authors were Charles Dickens, George Eliot,
and Anthony Trollope. In the United States, William Dean Howells was the
foremost realist writer. Naturalism, an offshoot of Realism, was a literary
movement that placed even greater emphasis on the accurate representation of
details from contemporary life. In the United States, regionalism and local color
fiction. In part, Realism has been a revolt against classicism and Romanticism. The
works of classicists show life more rational and orderly than it really is.
Romanticists' works portray life more exciting and satisfying than what it normally
is. Realist writers try hardly to be as objective, accurate, and honest as possible.
Realism rejects idealization and escapism of romance (Yeganeh, 70).
As far as theatre and drama set are concerned, Realism was a
general movement that began in 19th-century theatre, around the 1870s, and
remained present through much of the 20th century. It developed a set of dramatic
and theatrical conventions with the aim of bringing a greater fidelity of real life to
texts and performances. These conventions occur in the text, costume, sound, and
lighting design, performance style, and narrative structure. They include recreating
on stage a real life. Characters speak in naturalistic, authentic dialogue without
verse or poetic styling, and acting is meant to emulate human behavior in real life.
Narratives typically are psychologically driven, and include day-to-day, ordinary
scenarios. Narrative action moves forward in time, and supernatural presences
(gods, ghosts, fantastic phenomena) do not occur. Realist theater moved away from
exaggerated acting styles and overblown melodrama to create theatrical
productions truer to the lives of the people in the audience. The major realist
playwrights treated subjects of middle-class life in everyday, contemporary
settings, featuring characters that face circumstances akin to those of average
people. The term Realism, when applied to theater, is often used interchangeably
with Naturalism. (Styan, 56)
The realist movement led to major changes in the dialogue written by playwrights
and the manner in which actors delivered their dialogue. Playwrights began to
write dialogue in a more natural style that mirrored the casual speech patterns of
everyday conversation rather than the stilted, formalized speech of traditional
theater. They addressed serious dramatic themes with plays set in contemporary
times and concerning characters from everyday life. Realist playwrights often
raised public controversy by addressing taboo social issues, such as marital
infidelity and venereal disease. The greatest realist playwrights include Anton
Chekhov and Maxim Gorky in Russia, August Strindberg in Sweden, and Henrik
Ibsen in Norway. Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was the foremost Russian realist
playwright of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Chekhov wrote in
naturalistic detail about the uneventful lives of the Russian landed gentry in an era
of economic and social decline. His play The Seagull was first performed in 1896,
when it was so unfavorably received that it was nearly critiuqued. However, when
the Moscow Art Theater performed The Seagull two years later.
Two Scandinavian playwrights, Ibsen (1828–1906) and Strindberg (1848–
1912), are among the most celebrated realist dramatists of their time. Ibsen wrote
realist plays concerning dark moral running beneath the placid, mundane surface of
middle-class family life. He addressed such topics as infidelity, suicide, and
marriage in plays that were criticized in his home country as morally depraved but
celebrated throughout Europe as masterpieces of realist drama. Ibsen’s major plays
include A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881), The Wild Duck (1884), Hedda
Gabler (1890), and The Master Builder (1892). The Swedish playwright
Strindberg is equally celebrated for his works of realist drama. In his plays,
Strindberg attacked conventional society in harsh terms of biting social
commentary. He is also noted for his stark psychological Realism and mastery of
naturalistic dialogue. Strindberg’s major realist plays include The Father (1887),
Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1888) (Yeganeh, 75).

Works Cited
.Bell, Duncan. “Realism and International Relations”, Britannica -

https://www.britannica.com/topic/realism-political-and-social-science
- Galens, David. Literary Movements for Students. New York: Cengage Learning
Gale, 2009.
- Taine, H.A. Realism and Naturalism in Fiction and Drama. Oxford University
Press, 1985.
-Styan, J. L. Modern Drama in Theory and Practice: Realism and Naturalism.
Cambrige: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

-Yeganeh, Farah. Literary School. Tehran: Rahnama Press, 2010.