Influence Of Realism On Literature

9 Pages 2235 Words

he United
States was experiencing “swift growth and change” as a result of a
changing economy, society, and culture because of an influx in the
number of immigrants into America. Realists such as Henry James and
William Dean Howells, two of the most prolific writers of the
Nineteenth-century, used typical realistic methods to create an
accurate depiction of changing American life. William Dean Howells,
while opposing idealization, made his “comic criticisms of society”
(Bradley 114) by comparing American culture with those of other
countries. In his “comic” writings, Howells criticized American
morality and ethics but still managed to accurately portray life as it
happened. He attacked and attempted to resolve “the moral
difficulties of society by this rapid change.” (Elliott 505). He
believed that novels should “should present life as it is, not as it
might be” (American Literature Compton’s). In the process of doing
this, Howells demonstrated how life shaped the characters of his
novels and their own motives and inspirations. By concentrating on
these characters’ strengths as opposed to a strong plot, he
thematically wrote of how life was more good than evil and, in return,
wanted his literature to inspire more good. On the other hand, Henry
James judged the world from a perspective “...offered by society and
history...” (704). He also separated himself from America to create an
unbiased view of it as a “spectator and analyst rather than recorder”
(Spiller 169) of the American social structure. He wrote from a
perspective that allowed him to contrast American society with that of
Europe by contrasting the peoples’ ideas. By contrasting social
values and personal though about America in America, he presented to
the people the differing motivational factors that stimulated the
different social classes (Bradley 1143). Overall, these write...