Comprehensive Study Notes on World Literature in the Second Half of the 19th Century
Historical and Cultural Context of the Second Half of the 19th Century
The second half of the (19th century) was characterized by significant political shifts and the emergence of new artistic movements. Key historical milestones included the general failure of the revolutions of , the birth of new nation-states like Italy and Germany, and the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in . In the world of art, this period saw the rise of symbolism and impressionism, as well as the dominance of Realism and Naturalism. Architecture was marked by historicist styles, notably the Neo-Renaissance, while the French painter G. Courbet became a leading figure in the realist art movement.
Realism focuses on capturing reality without any embellishment, while Naturalism suggests that subjects should be taken literally from reality, often examining the influence of race, environment, and upbringing on human character. Critical Realism specifically targeted social issues, highlighting social inequality and corrupted morals through its narratives. Architecture often looked backward to historical styles like the Neo-Renaissance for inspiration.
Characteristics and Signs of Realism
The primary goal of Realism is to depict the world exactly as it is, avoiding any sentimental distortion. This movement began to explore previously taboo subjects, such as dysfunctional marriages (as seen in Flaubert’s Madame Bovary), adultery (Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina), and the plight of orphans and outcasts (Dickens’ Oliver Twist). Other major themes included prostitution and alcoholism (Zola’s Nana and L’Assommoir), criminal behavior and punishment (Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment), and the tragic theme of suicide (Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina).
Realist literature also explored the negative influence of money on society and individuals' attempts to improve their social status through wealth (Balzac’s The Human Comedy). Characterization in these works often involves "typification," where characters serve as representative types of specific social environments. Works were frequently extensive in scope, especially the social novel, featuring a vast number of characters and detailed descriptions of their surroundings. Linguistically, Realist authors utilized non-standard language, argot, and dialects to add authenticity, while using French specifically for characters of higher social standing.
Transition and Early Realistic Figures in English Literature
The transition phase between Romanticism and Realism featured prominent female authors like Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne). This era also includes Arthur Conan Doyle, who is famous for his detective stories. Jane Austen was highly educated, having attended private schools, and she initially published her work anonymously. She is considered a founder of the novel of family life, depicting the everyday lives of the middle-class gentry in the English countryside at the turn of the and centuries. Her works, such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park, often focus on characters whose futures depend on favorable marriages. While close to the sentimental romance genre, her work is distinguished by its realistic social observation. Pride and Prejudice, for instance, explores the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, as well as Jane and Mr. Bingley, as they overcome pride and social prejudice.
Charlotte Brontë is best known for the novel Jane Eyre, while Emily Brontë is famous for Wuthering Heights. Arthur Conan Doyle created the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson. His works, such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, often utilized what was described as a "Holmesian/holodova" method—a writing style that integrated various documents like letters, telegrams, and newspaper reports to provide a multi-perspective view of the mystery.
Charles Dickens and the Pinnacle of English Realism
Charles Dickens is the most significant prose writer of English Realism. His writing was deeply influenced by his autobiography; having started work in a factory at the age of due to family poverty, he carried these experiences into his fiction. He eventually worked in newspapers where he published his stories and became a globally popular author who gave public readings. His themes frequently centered on the exploitation of child labor and the suffering of the poor in industrial cities.
His notable works include The Pickwick Papers, a humorous novel about five Londoners exploring rural life. A Christmas Carol is a transformative holiday story, while David Copperfield deals specifically with childhood poverty. Oliver Twist follows the life of an illegitimate orphan in early century England, exposing the mechanisms of the London underworld and the social causes of juvenile crime.
French Realism: Balzac, Flaubert, and Maupassant
Honor de Balzac was a prolific writer whose life work is titled The Human Comedy, consisting of works. This cycle of novels featured recurring characters and settings, creating a comprehensive social document of century France. His writing is characterized by an objective narrator and meticulous character descriptions derived from their behaviors. In Father Goriot, set in a Parisian pension in over a period of months, he depicts an old man who gives away his fortune to his ungrateful daughters. The novel also follows the development of his friend Eugene Rastignac. Other works include Lost Illusions, which follows a country poet’s descent into becoming an unprincipled journalist, Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans, and Eug nie Grandet, which focuses on the theme of avarice.
Gustave Flaubert came from a well-to-do family but suffered from epilepsy and neurological issues, which shaped his career. He was an objective observer who portrayed characters as "smilci" (the unfit) who were unable to adapt to normal life, leading to tragedy. His masterpiece, Madame Bovary, tells the story of Emma Bovary, who is bored with her marriage to an older doctor and seeks escape through affairs and debt, ultimately committing suicide. The novel was controversial and subject to a public morality trial. Guy de Maupassant, another critical realist, is famous for Boule de Suif (Kulićka), where a prostitute is depicted as the only morally pure individual and a patriot compared to the hypocritical upper-class characters.
Naturalism: mile Zola and Norwegian Drama
mile Zola was the founder of Naturalism, believing that the novel must be based on a "scientific" foundation. He viewed the writer as an objective observer, similar to a scientist conducting an experiment. He was famously involved in the Dreyfus Affair (defending Alfred Dreyfus against anti-Semitism) and was forced into exile. Naturalism, as defined in his essay The Experimental Novel, posits that human character and behavior are determined by genetics (race), environment, and education. His work Les Rougon-Macquart is a vast cycle of novels documenting how society and heredity affect different descendants. The novel L’Assommoir (Zabij k) features Gervaise, her lover Lantier, and her husband Coupeau. The title refers to alcohol, which acts as the "killer" of the characters, leading to Gervaise's eventual downfall into poverty and death as a prostitute.
In Norway, Henrik Ibsen became a world-renowned dramatist and poet. Coming from a poor background, he worked as a theatrical critic and dramaturg. His social dramas, such as A Doll's House (Nora), were highly controversial for their time, dealing with themes like mental health, incest, and the social constraints on women. He also wrote symbolic plays like Hedda Gabler.
Realism in the USA, Poland, and Russia
In the USA, Mark Twain captured the psychology of boyhood in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as The Prince and the Pauper. Jack London drew from his experiences during the Klondike Gold Rush for The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick serves as a metaphor for man’s struggle with nature. In Poland, Henryk Sienkiewicz, a Nobel Prize winner, focused on historical themes, most notably in Quo Vadis, which depicts the persecution of Christians in Rome during the reign of Nero.
Russian Realism is represented by several giants. Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, an official representative of critical realism, wrote the satirical comedy The Government Inspector (Revizor), exposing the corruption of small-town officials through the character Khlestakov. His novel Dead Souls features Chichikov, who attempts to get rich by buying the names of deceased serfs. Fyodor Dostoevsky, who faced a death sentence and exile to Siberia, transitioned Realism into modern psychological prose focusing on internal experiences. His works include Crime and Punishment (Raskolnikov and Sonya), The Idiot (Prince Myshkin), and The Brothers Karamazov.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a doctor and writer, introduced the "lyrical drama" characterized by a lack of traditional action and a focus on everyday life. His plays, such as The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, and Three Sisters, often depict characters seeking to escape their current reality. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, a reformer and educator from Jasnaya Polyana, wrote the epic tragedy War and Peace, which spans the Napoleonic Wars from to . His other major work, Anna Karenina, focuses on the tragic fate of Anna, her affair with Vronsky, and the contrasting life of the landowner Levin and his wife Kitty, all set against the strict social rules of century Russia.