Realism and Naturalism

Distinguish realism's attention to everyday life from naturalism's emphasis on forces beyond individual control.

In the mid-to-late 1800s, many writers turned away from Romantic idealism toward realism: the detailed, faithful depiction of ordinary people, everyday situations, and plausible motives, often among the middle and working classes. Realist novels tend to feature believable dialogue, social detail, and moral complexity rather than heroic adventure. Naturalism, which grew out of realism and is associated with the French novelist Emile Zola, went further, portraying human beings as shaped, even determined, by heredity, environment, and economic forces they cannot control.

Consider an original example. Realist: a clerk debates whether to report his employer's fraud, weighing loyalty, fear, and conscience. Naturalist: a worker in a mining town is worn down by poverty and illness; his choices barely matter against the forces closing around him. Both are concerned with real life, but naturalism is more deterministic and often bleaker. Ask: does the character's choice drive the outcome, or do larger forces?

• 1Realism depicts ordinary life faithfully.
• 2Naturalism stresses heredity, environment, and economic forces.
• 3Naturalism is more deterministic and often bleaker.