Unit V: From Realism to Naturalism

Overview of Realism and Naturalism

Between 1865 and 1910, American literature underwent a profound transformation. Writers began to move away from the romanticized portrayals of earlier decades and toward a more objective representation of life. This period saw the rise of realism, which sought to depict ordinary experiences with accuracy, and later, naturalism, which emphasized the influence of heredity, environment, and social forces on individual fate.

Defining Realism

Realism emerged as a reaction to Romanticism and the sentimental literature of the antebellum era. Its core principles include:

A focus on everyday life and ordinary people.
Detailed, objective description of settings and characters.
An emphasis on plausible events rather than exotic or heroic plots.
Social commentary that often critiques class, gender, and racial norms.

As William Dean Howells noted in his critique of Editha, realism aims to “represent life as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

Defining Naturalism

Naturalism extends realism by adopting a scientific, deterministic worldview. Influenced by Darwinian theory and sociological thought, naturalist writers portray humans as subject to forces beyond their control. Key characteristics are:

Emphasis on heredity and environment as shaping destiny.
A detached, often pessimistic tone.
Focus on marginalized or disadvantaged characters.
Use of detailed, sometimes clinical observation.

A useful formula for naturalist determinism can be expressed as:

Determinism = Heredity + Environment + Chance

This equation underscores the belief that individual agency is limited by biological inheritance, social surroundings, and random events.

Transition Period (1865‑1910)

The post‑Civil War era created conditions ripe for literary change: rapid industrialization, urbanization, waves of immigration, and ongoing struggles over race and Reconstruction. Writers responded by turning their gaze to the concrete realities of American life, first documenting them faithfully (realism) and then probing the deeper, often inexorable forces that shape them (naturalism).

Key Authors and Texts

The following sections examine representative works from the anthology, showing how each author contributes to the realism‑to‑naturalism continuum.

Mark Twain – “A True Story”

Twain’s short story, narrated by a former enslaved woman, blends humor with a stark portrayal of slavery’s trauma. While Twain is often associated with regional humor, this piece demonstrates realist concerns: authentic dialect, focus on personal memory, and a critique of racial injustice.

“I was born a slave, but I was never a slave in my heart.”

The narrative’s reliance on lived experience aligns with realist principles, yet its emphasis on the lingering psychological effects of bondage hints at naturalist ideas of environment shaping identity.

Charles Chesnutt – “The Goophered Grapevine”

Chesnutt uses the frame story of a Northern businessman visiting a Southern plantation to explore superstition, economic exploitation, and the lingering effects of slavery. The tale’s realistic depiction of post‑bellum Southern economy is intertwined with supernatural elements that serve as metaphors for the inescapable past.

Regional detail: vivid descriptions of vineyard labor.
Social critique: exposure of exploitative labor practices.
Naturalist undertone: characters appear trapped by historical and economic forces beyond their control.

William Dean Howells – “Editha”

Howells’ story pits romantic idealism against the grim realities of war. Editha’s fervent nationalism contrasts with the sober, realistic portrayal of her fiancé’s death. The narrative serves as a manifesto for realism, rejecting sentimentalism in favor of truthful representation.

“She had imagined the war as a holiday, a picnic, a glorious lark.”

The story’s ironic tone and focus on the consequences of naïve idealism exemplify Howells’ realist credo.

Henry James – Daisy Miller: A Study and “The Art of Fiction”

James occupies a transitional space. Daisy Miller employs psychological realism to examine cultural clashes between American spontaneity and European propriety. His essay “The Art of Fiction” defends the novelist’s right to depict life as it is, advocating for artistic freedom within realist boundaries.

Key realist techniques in Daisy Miller:

Free indirect discourse revealing Daisy’s inner thoughts.
Detailed social observation of Geneva’s expatriate community.
Ambiguous moral judgment, leaving readers to interpret Daisy’s fate.

While James stops short of full naturalism, his attention to the deterministic influence of social conventions foreshadows later naturalist concerns.

Kate Chopin – “Désirée’s Baby”

Chopin’s tale combines realist detail with a naturalist exposé of racial determinism. The story’s setting—Louisiana plantation life—is rendered with precise sensory detail. The plot’s tragic turn hinges on the immutable social construct of race, illustrating how heritage and societal prejudice dictate destiny.

“Armand Aubigny frowned… ‘It means,’ he answered lightly, ‘that the child is not white; it means that you are not white.’”

The narrative’s bleak conclusion—where identity is erased by racial prejudice—exemplifies a naturalist view of individuals as products of hereditary and environmental forces beyond their control.

Stephen Crane – “The Open Boat”

Crane’s masterpiece is often cited as a seminal naturalist work. Based on his own shipwreck experience, the story depicts four men struggling against the indifferent sea. The narrative emphasizes the randomness of nature and the limits of human agency.

Naturalist elements:

Indifferent universe: the sea does not care for the men’s struggles.
Detailed, almost scientific observation of waves, wind, and bodily sensations.
Philosophical reflection on fate and camaraderie in the face of determinism.

“When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him… he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples.”

The story’s deterministic tone and focus on environmental forces align closely with the formula Determinism = Heredity + Environment + Chance, where chance (the random wave) plays a decisive role.

Jack London – “South of the Slot”

London’s story explores class division in San Francisco through the dual life of Freddie Drummond, a sociology professor who ventures into the working‑class world south of Market Street. The narrative juxtaposes the deterministic pressures of economic class with the possibility of personal choice.

Themes:

Class determinism: characters are shaped by their socioeconomic milieu.
Naturalist observation: detailed depictions of labor conditions, saloons, and street life.
Potential for agency: Freddie’s temporary immersion suggests a tension between determinism and free will.

“He had discovered a new world, a world that was real, and he was afraid to lose it.”

The story’s realistic detail combined with its exploration of social forces places it at the cusp of realism and naturalism.

Standing Bear (Ponca) – “What I Am Going to Tell You Here Will Take Me Until Dark”

This oral testimony offers a Native American perspective on displacement and cultural survival. While not a work of literary fiction, its inclusion in the anthology provides a crucial counterpoint to dominant realist and naturalist narratives, highlighting how indigenous peoples experience and resist deterministic forces of colonization.

Key aspects:

Realist detail: vivid description of landscape, ceremony, and personal grief.
Naturalist undertone: the inexorable pressure of U.S. policy and settlement shapes the speaker’s fate.
Resistance and agency: the act of speaking itself asserts continuity despite external forces.

Abraham Cahan – from Yekl

Cahan’s novel portrays the immigrant experience of a Jewish man navigating New York’s Lower East Side. The work blends realist depiction of tenement life with naturalist themes of assimilation pressures and the struggle to retain cultural identity amidst economic survival.

Elements:

Accurate portrayal of Yiddish dialect and customs.
Determinist view: economic necessity often forces characters to abandon tradition.
Social critique: exposure of exploitative labor and cramped housing.

Edith Maud Eaton – “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian”

Eaton’s autobiographical essays explore the mixed‑race experience in late‑19th‑century America and Britain. Her writing offers a realist account of prejudice while hinting at naturalist ideas of identity being shaped by societal perceptions of race.

“I am neither wholly Eastern nor wholly Western; I am a product of both, yet accepted by neither.”

Onoto Watanna (Wilfred Eaton) – “A Half Caste”

Watanna’s story continues the exploration of biracial identity, focusing on a female protagonist caught between Asian and Western expectations. The narrative’s detailed portrayal of social alienation aligns with realist techniques, while the protagonist’s sense of inevitability reflects naturalist determinism.

Zitkala‑Sa – from The School Days of an Indian Girl

Zitkala‑Sa’s autobiographical chapters detail her experience in a missionary boarding school designed to assimilate Native children. The text provides a realistic depiction of daily life in the institution while exposing the deterministic forces of cultural erasure.

Passage:

“They gave us a new name, a new religion, a new way of life… and took away the old.”

The work stands as a powerful testament to how environment and policy can shape—or attempt to shape—individual destiny.

Jose Martí – “Our America”

Martí’s essay, though written from a Cuban perspective, resonates with American realist and naturalist concerns. His call for a distinct Latin American identity, free from imperial imitation, underscores the role of environment (colonial history) in shaping cultural destiny.

“Knowledge is the true mother of liberty.”

While more political than literary, the essay’s emphasis on historical and social forces aligns with naturalist thought.

Comparative Overview: Realism vs. Naturalism

The following table summarizes the primary distinctions between the two movements as illustrated by the texts discussed.

Aspect	Realism	Naturalism
Primary Goal	Depict life accurately and objectively.	Reveal the deterministic forces shaping human life.
View of Human Agency	Characters make meaningful choices within social constraints.	Agency is limited by heredity, environment, and chance.
Tone	Often objective, sometimes ironic.	Frequently detached, pessimistic, or clinical.
Subject Matter	Everyday life, middle‑class experiences.	Marginalized, disadvantaged, or extreme situations.
Literary Techniques	Detailed description, authentic dialogue, free indirect discourse.	Scientific observation, symbolic environments, deterministic plots.
Representative Works	Howells’ “Editha,” Twain’s “A True Story,” James’ Daisy Miller.	Crane’s “The Open Boat,” London’s “South of the Slot,” Chopin’s “Désirée’s Baby.”

Conclusion: From Realism to Naturalism

The period 1865‑1910 marks a critical evolution in American literary sensibility. Beginning with realist commitments to truthful representation, writers gradually incorporated naturalist insights about the powerful, often unseen forces that shape individual lives. The anthology’s diverse voices—spanning regional humorists, African American storytellers, immigrant chroniclers, Indigenous narrators, and transnational essayists—illustrate how realism and naturalism served not merely as aesthetic categories but as tools for examining the complexities of race, class, gender, and national identity in a rapidly changing United States.

By studying these texts, students gain a nuanced understanding of how literature mirrors societal transformations and how narrative strategies shift from documenting reality to interrogating the determinants that underlie it.