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The Period of Realism (the latter half of the 19th century) (Mark Twain …
The Period of Realism (the latter half of the 19th century)
19th c
the impact of American Civil War;
increasing industrialization;
the widening contrast of wealth and poverty;
popular feeling of frustration and disillusionment
Literature: American Realism; Local Colourism
the last Thirty years of 19th c-
the Gilded Age
(1870-1900). It refers to the condition of the US which is caricatured by wealth & extravagance while corruption& desperation continued. It was the time of Industrial Revolution- railroads, trains, corporations & Am imperialism. Writers & thinkers of this period criticized what they saw as a culture of excess & wastefulness. It was the time of suffrage movement.
Realism
a reaction against Romanticism or a move away from the bias towards romance and selfcreating fictions
a great interest in the realities of life,
everyday existence, what was brutal or sordid and class struggle
Henry James
Connected 19th & 20th c as well as Europe & Am
psychological approach to his subject matter
concerned more with the inner life of human beings than with overt human actions
the forerunner of the 20th century “stream-of-consciousness” novels and
the founder of psychological realism
The American
the most imp- a wealthy Am Christopher Newman goes to Paris & meets a beautiful widow from an aristocratic French family. The family overrules/rejects this marriage. The widow & Newman are defeated.
Daisy Miller
Daisy is a character from a family that benefited from the Gilded Age.
The name Daisy Miller is symbolic—daisy= innocence, purity, nature. Miller= common Am surname
She is very pretty & has an independent mind. She is joyful & not very smart. She represents the Am abroad. She can be seen as an anti-social/ disruptive char.- doesn’t fit in European society.
Mrs Miller is Daisy’s mother, a small woman who suffers from dyspepsia. Her health problems are frequently commented in the novella suggesting that Europe is not really good for her.
Mr Winterbourne is another Am abroad who is however assimilated into European society.
The Cultivated European & Uncultured innocent American
It is a realist novel, also called novella.
The setting is based on two cities: Vevey & Rome.
The novella- third person pov- from emasculative perspective
Europeans lack morality vs Am have a strong sense of morality
For James, Europeans are sophisticated & Am are idealists
Randolph is a 9 years old boy, D’s brother who shares similar characteristics. He speaks his mind & forward with strangers & doesn’t like to be told what to do.
Mrs. Costello is W’s aunt who leads a typical life of a lady in her society-goes back & forward. Although she likes W’s attentiveness, she disapproves her nephew’s certain behaviors.
Mark Twain
Gave the char who became recurring images of Am myth
rough humor and social satire; magic power with language, the use of vernacular and colloquial speech
Joked about & at times conform typical Am. values.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Life on the Mississippi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Combined Am folk humour & serious lit used Am folks daily life & extends them in a novel
Used bildungsroman as the core of his writings
Not only the contrast btw east & west but also the dif btw younghood & adulthood are laid out in his novels.
For him, childhood is still naive whereas adulthood is cruel regardless of what child char does as a cruel thing
