realism essay examples

What Is Realism? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples

Realism definition.

Realism  (REEL-iz-um), or literary realism, is an era of literary technique in which authors described things as they are without embellishment or fantastical plots. Works of literary realism shun flowery language, exotic settings and characters, and epic stories of love and heroism. Instead, they focus on everyday lives and people in ordinary times and places.

Realism is also a style of visual art that focuses on producing a photographic quality through realistic lighting, color palettes, and subject matter.

The History of Realism

The advent of literary realism was a direct response to the over-the-top stories typical of  romanticism , an extremely popular movement in European literature and art between the late 18th century and the mid-19th century.

France was at the epicenter of realism. The writer Stendhal created pioneering works that realistically portrayed French life. He and others drew on the then-emerging fields of biology and psychology—as well as history, sociology, and the advancing Industrial Age—to craft stories and characters with whom the average reader could identify. Author Honoré de Balzac became a French realism icon with the publication of  La Comédie humaine , a series of more than 100 interconnected novels showing the reality of French life from 1815 to 1848. Novelist Gustave Flaubert was also highly influential with novels like  Madame Bovary , establishing a quintessential narrative  voice  for literary realism.

Realism did not remain a uniquely French phenomenon. It spread throughout Europe, with works like British author George Eliot’s  Middlemarch , and eventually the United States. William Dean Howells’s  The Rise of Silas Lapham , Mark Twain’s  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Stephen Crane’s  The Red Badge of Courage , and Horatio Alger, Jr.’s  Ragged Dick  all depict realistic characters from various pockets of American life as they grapple with war, racism, materialism, and upward mobility. Other American realist authors include John Steinbeck, Edith Wharton, Theodore Dreiser, and Upton Sinclair.

The impact of these early realist authors’ works shifted the larger literary focus away from explicitly romantic literature. They made realistic components essential to most genres of writing, even those that don’t meet the strictest definition of realism. Though literary realism as a movement died down around the mid-20th century, its impact lives on. Most modern writers seek to create characters and stories with which readers can, to some extent, relate.

But realism is not without its detractors. Critics say it is not possible to portray reality in literature because some amount of imagination and creative license is always necessary. Others argue that all literature—to one degree or another—has realist elements and can thus fall under the definition of  realism . Finally, there are those who think reality is subjective, which would make a definitive label of realism virtually impossible.

The Components of Realism

Works of realism aim to represent a specific reality. They accomplish this goal by incorporating various components into the narrative, including:

• Realistic characters:  Realist writers create characters who are rarely as black and white as the more cookie-cutter protagonists and antagonists of romanticism. In realism, characters are neither entirely righteous or totally corrupt—they are complex, with both positive and negative traits.
• Labor:  This concept plays a prominent role in many kinds of literary realism. The protagonist’s job is a significant aspect of their identity, whether for good or ill. Matters of heart and acts of monumental courage take a backseat to the more pressing demands of earning a living.
• Internal motivations:  In realist works, characters’ actions come less from external forces—for instance, honor, chivalry, or a noble effort to right a wrong—and more from internal needs like curiosity, desire, or greed.
• Genuine settings:  Writers of realism zero in on specific environments and the impact they have on the story. Their settings lean toward the sobering or the stark, and they tend to be more focused on smaller locations.
• Society:  This goes beyond a mere aspect of setting. Societies usually play a significant role in characters’ fates. Choices and events are dictated not by a grand idea of personal virtue and valor but by the conditioning imposed by society.
• Straightforward speech:  Dialogue is not lofty or overtly cultured. Instead, it reflects the  vernacular  of the characters of the specific time and place in which the story is set.
• Verisimilitude:  This is a philosophy that lends greater credibility and believability to the narrative. It concentrates on the details that accurately reflect human behavior and psychology.

Subgenres of Realism

A writer of literary realism might present their story through any of several subgenres.

• Magical Realism

In magical realism, the author integrates mystical or fantastical elements into a realistic  setting  and worldview. These elements don’t significantly alter the story’s logic and rationality, but they do add another dimension that gently pushes the boundaries of the possible. As a result, works of magical realism unearth magic in the everyday and celebrate the potential for transcendence amid the ordinary. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s  One Hundred Years of Solitude  is a classic example of a magical realist work.

Naturalism  utilizes scientific thought, especially the theories of Charles Darwin, to illustrate the inescapable influences that shape characters and their experiences. At the heart of all works of literary naturalism is the belief that science explains the conditions of reality and that metaphorical and supernatural elements have no credibility or presence in a story’s trajectory.  The Grapes of Wrath  by John Steinbeck is a popular naturalist work.

Psychological Realism

Works of this genre take an interest in characters’ motivation. Rooted in psychological thought, authors examine characters’ interior lives—their thoughts, emotions, and mental processes—to provide a fuller understanding of human behavior. One of the best-known works is Fyodor Dostoevsky’s  Crime and Punishment .

Social Realism

This era of literary technique involves telling stories about the poor and working classes. Social realism delves into the socioeconomic and political conditions to which these groups are subjected daily. This emphasis allows the author to comment on the political and social power structures that manufacture the challenges unique to characters’ demographics. An example of this subgenre is Arthur Miller’s  The Crucible .

Socialist Realism

These works venerate the struggles of the working classes to support larger socialist ideals. In fact, it was the official literary style in the socialist Soviet Union. An important work in this subgenre is  How the Steel Was Tempered  by Nikolai Ostrovsky.

Theatrical Realism

Theatrical realism applies to dramatic works written for the stage. Plays in this style aim to make theatrical stories truer to life. Theatrical realism might employ any of the aforementioned subgenres to provide a more authentic grounding for the drama, the characters, and their choices. One prominent play in the theatrical realist style is  A Doll’s House  by Henrik Ibsen.

Realism’s Relationship to Other Literary Eras

There are two prominent eras of literary technique that oppose or intersect with realism: romanticism and idealism.

Realism vs. Romanticism

Romanticism  is realism’s polar opposite. Romantic works tell stories of larger-than-life characters who embark on ambitious adventures, pursue passionate love affairs, discover new worlds, conquer fearsome enemies, or otherwise make themselves paragons of virtue and nobility. Conversely, literary realism tells stories as truthfully and authentically as possible, without glamorizing or sentimentalizing key details. Jane Austen and Herman Melville are prominent romantic authors.

Realism vs. Idealism

Idealist literature spotlights characters who place substantial importance on pursuing their values and principles—whether moral, philosophical, or political. They will persist at the expense of all else, including practical behavior. In fact, a hallmark of idealism is imagining things not as they currently are but as they would be in a perfect world.

In this way, idealism is a separate, antithetical idea to realism. At the same time, idealistic tendencies can make their way into works of literary realism. In socialist realism, for instance, there is heavy-handed idealism; by integrating it, the authors extol the benefits of socialism to persuade the masses.

The Function of Realism

Literary realism presents an accurate depiction of reality to the reader. Consequently, the reader may better identify with the characters or situations because they’re seeing aspects of themselves or their own experiences in the work. Representation is important to readers, especially marginalized populations who don’t always see characters who look, act, think, or in any significant way mirror themselves or their lives. In this sense, realism can help readers find community and remind them they are not alone.

Realism also sheds light on important social and political issues that are frequently ignored. By presenting reality as it is, readers see the struggles others deal with, creating awareness, empathy, and understanding.

Notable Realist Authors

• Isabelle Allende,  The House of the Spirits
• Anton Chekhov,  The Seagull ,  The Cherry Orchard
• Theodore Dreiser,  Sister Carrie
• George Eliot,  Adam Bede ,  Middlemarch
• Gabriel García Márquez,  One Hundred Years of Solitude
• Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”
• Leo Tolstoy,  War and Peace
• Ivan Turgenev,  Fathers and Sons
• Edith Wharton,  The Age of Innocence ,  Ethan Frome
• Émile Zola,  Germinal

Examples of Realist Literature

1. Frank Norris,  McTeague: A Story of San Francisco

A prominent work of American literary realism,  McTeague: A Story of San Francisco  chronicles the moral descent of a young dentist, McTeague, and his wife, Trina. On the eve of their wedding, Trina wins $15,000 in the lottery. The couple settles into married life, but each partner spirals down a pit of greed and despair. McTeague grows abusive, and Trina increasingly fixates on money. In the end, McTeague kills Trina, as well as his best friend Marcus, and ends up stranded in Death Valley, handcuffed to Marcus’s corpse.

The novel illustrates in brutal detail that human lives and fates are not always determined by conscious choices but by external forces. This passage shows Trina’s increasing preoccupation with money:

At times […] she would lock her door, open her trunk, and pile all her little hoard on her table. By now it was four hundred and seven dollars and fifty cents. Trina would play with this money by the hour, piling it, and repiling it, or gathering it all into one heap, and drawing back to the farthest corner of the room to note the effect […]. She polished the gold pieces with a mixture of soap and ashes until they shone […]. Or, again, she would draw the heap lovingly toward her and bury her face in it, delighted at the smell of it and the feel of the smooth, cool metal on her cheeks. She even put the smaller gold pieces in her mouth, and jingled them there. […] She would plunge her small fingers into the pile with little murmurs of affection, her long, narrow eyes half closed and shining, her breath coming in long sighs.

2. Henry James,  What Maisie Knew

This work tells the story of Maisie Farange, a little girl caught between her divorced, warring parents. The adults focus only on their own happiness and use Maisie as a pawn. The book is a scathing commentary on relationships, the dark side of human nature, and the untenable position in which children are often placed. This is evident in the following description of Maisie’s parents’ fighting—and of the society that created it:

This was a society in which for the most part people were occupied only with chatter, but the disunited couple had at last grounds for expecting a time of high activity. They girded their loins, they felt as if the quarrel had only begun. They felt indeed more married than ever, inasmuch as what marriage had mainly suggested to them was the unbroken opportunity to quarrel. There had been “sides” before, and there were sides as much as ever; for the sider too the prospect opened out, taking the pleasant form of a superabundance of matter for desultory conversation.

3. Margaret Drabble,  A Summer Bird-Cage

A Summer Bird-Cage  is an account of a marriage in shambles seen through the eyes of a third party. Sarah watches as her sister Louise enters a loveless marriage with the insufferable Stephen. Louise knows that her husband is arrogant but chooses to ignore it; she instead occupies her time by having an affair with his friend. Tensions build between the two sisters until Sarah confronts Louise about the latter’s damaging decisions and attitudes toward life and love.

Drabble concentrates less on plot and more on cultivating the psychological realism of the story and the two principal characters. The sisters share a barely concealed animosity. For example, Sarah says:

In the end she taught me the art of competition, and this is what I really hold against her: I think I had as little desire to outdo others in my nature as a person can have, until she insisted on demonstrating her superiority. She taught me to want to outdo her. And when, occasionally, I did so, her anger hurt me, but as I had won it by labour from indifference, I treasured it. And when, finally, I took over one of her men at Oxford, the game was out in the open, I thought, for the rest of our lives.

Further Resources on Realism

Goodreads has a list of  Popular Realism Books .

English professor Ali Taghizadeh offers an academic perspective on  A Theory of Literary Realism .

The British Library looks at  realism in British literature .

Salon  puts forth the theory that  Literary Realism Is Dead .

Longwood University has compiled a comprehensive list of  American realist authors and their works .

Related Terms

• Romanticism

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Nineteenth-century french realism.

Young Communards in Prison (Les Fédérés à la Conciergerie)

Gustave Courbet

The Past, the Present, and the Future (Le passé – Le présent – L'Avenir), published in La Caricature, no. 166, Jan. 9, 1834

Honoré Daumier

Le ventre législatif: Aspect des bancs ministériels de la chambre improstituée de 1834

Rue Transnonain, le 15 Avril, 1834, Plate 24 of l'Association mensuelle

Retreat from the Storm

Jean-François Millet

The Horse Fair

Rosa Bonheur

Young Ladies of the Village

Sheepshearing Beneath a Tree

Woman with a Rake

The Third-Class Carriage

The Witnesses - The War Council

First Steps, after Millet

Vincent van Gogh

Ross Finocchio Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

The Realist movement in French art flourished from about 1840 until the late nineteenth century, and sought to convey a truthful and objective vision of contemporary life. Realism emerged in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1848 that overturned the monarchy of Louis-Philippe and developed during the period of the Second Empire under Napoleon III. As French society fought for democratic reform, the Realists democratized art by depicting modern subjects drawn from the everyday lives of the working class. Rejecting the idealized classicism of academic art and the exotic themes of Romanticism , Realism was based on direct observation of the modern world. In keeping with Gustave Courbet’s  statement in 1861 that “painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist in the representation of real and existing things,” Realists recorded in often gritty detail the present-day existence of humble people, paralleling related trends in the naturalist literature of Émile Zola, Honoré de Balzac, and Gustave Flaubert. The elevation of the working class into the realms of high art and literature coincided with Pierre Proudhon’s socialist philosophies and Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto , published in 1848, which urged a proletarian uprising.

Courbet (1819–1877) established himself as the leading proponent of Realism by challenging the primacy of history painting, long favored at the official Salons and the École des Beaux-Arts, the state-sponsored art academy. The groundbreaking works that Courbet exhibited at the Paris Salons of 1849 and 1850–51—notably A Burial at Ornans (Musée d’Orsay, Paris) and The Stonebreakers (destroyed)—portrayed ordinary people from the artist’s native region on the monumental scale formerly reserved for the elevating themes of history painting. At the time, Courbet’s choice of contemporary subject matter and his flouting of artistic convention was interpreted by some as an anti-authoritarian political threat. Proudhon, in fact, read The Stonebreakers as an “irony directed against our industrialized civilization … which is incapable of freeing man from the heaviest, most difficult, most unpleasant tasks, the eternal lot of the poor.” To achieve an honest and straightforward depiction of rural life, Courbet eschewed the idealized academic technique and employed a deliberately simple style, rooted in popular imagery, which seemed crude to many critics of the day. His Young Ladies of the Village ( 40.175 ), exhibited at the Salon of 1852, violates conventional rules of scale and perspective and challenges traditional class distinctions by underlining the close connections between the young women (the artist’s sisters), who represent the emerging rural middle class, and the poor cowherd who accepts their charity.

When two of Courbet’s major works ( A Burial at Ornans and The Painter’s Studio ) were rejected by the jury of the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, he withdrew his eleven accepted submissions and displayed his paintings privately in his Pavillon du Réalisme, not far from the official international exhibition. For the introduction to the catalogue of this independent, one-man show, Courbet wrote a Realist manifesto, echoing the tone of the period’s political manifestos, in which he asserts his goal as an artist “to translate the customs, the ideas, the appearance of my epoch according to my own estimation.” In his autobiographical Painter’s Studio (Musée d’Orsay), Courbet is surrounded by groups of his friends, patrons, and even his models, documenting his artistic and political experiences since the Revolution of 1848.

During the same period, Jean-François Millet (1814–1875) executed scenes of rural life that monumentalize peasants at work, such as Sheep Shearing Beneath a Tree ( 40.12.3 ). While a large portion of the French population was migrating from rural areas to the industrialized cities, Millet left Paris in 1849 and settled in Barbizon , where he lived the rest of his life, close to the rustic subjects he painted throughout his career. The Gleaners (Musée d’Orsay, Paris), exhibited at the Salon of 1857, created a scandal because of its honest depiction of rural poverty. The bent postures of Millet’s gleaners, as well as his heavy application of paint, emphasize the physical hardship of their task. Like Courbet’s portrayal of stonebreakers, Millet’s choice of subject was considered politically subversive, even though his style was more conservative than that of Courbet, reflecting his academic training. Millet endows his subjects with a sculptural presence that recalls the art of Michelangelo and Nicolas Poussin , as seen in his Woman with a Rake ( 38.75 ). His tendency to generalize his figures gives many of his works a sentimental quality that distinguishes them from Courbet’s unidealized paintings. Vincent van Gogh greatly admired Millet and made copies of his compositions, including First Steps, after Millet ( 64.165.2 ).

The socially conscious art of Honoré Daumier (1808–1879) offers an urban counterpart to that of Millet. Daumier highlighted socioeconomic distinctions in the newly modernized urban environment in a group of paintings executed around 1864 that illustrate the experience of modern rail travel in first-, second-, and third-class train compartments. In The First-Class Carriage (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore), there is almost no physical or psychological contact among the four well-dressed figures, whereas The Third-Class Carriage ( 29.100.129 ) is tightly packed with an anonymous crowd of working-class men and women. In the foreground, Daumier isolates three generations of an apparently fatherless family, conveying the hardship of their daily existence through the weary poses of the young mother and sleeping boy. Though clearly of humble means, their postures, clothing, and facial features are rendered in as much detail as those of the first-class travelers.

Best known as a lithographer , Daumier produced thousands of graphic works for journals such as La Caricature and Le Charivari , satirizing government officials and the manners of the bourgeoisie. As early as 1832, Daumier was imprisoned for an image of Louis-Philippe as Rabelais’ Gargantua, seated on a commode and expelling public honors to his supporters. Daumier parodied the king again in 1834 with his caricature The Past, the Present, and the Future ( 41.16.1 ), in which the increasingly sour expressions on the three faces of Louis-Philippe suggest the failures of his regime. In the same year, Daumier published Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834 , in the journal Association Mensuelle ( 20.23 ). Though Daumier did not witness the event portrayed—the violent suppression of a workers’ demonstration—the work is unsparing in its grim depiction of death and government brutality; Louis-Philippe ordered the destruction of all circulating prints immediately after its publication.

As a result of Courbet’s political activism during the Paris Commune of 1871, he too was jailed. Incarcerated at Versailles before serving a six-month prison sentence for participation in the destruction of the Vendôme Column, Courbet documented his observations of the conditions under which children were held in his drawing Young Communards in Prison ( 1999.251 ), published in the magazine L’Autograph , one of a small number of works inspired by his experiences following the fall of the Commune.

Like Millet, Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899) favored rural imagery and developed an idealizing style derived from the art of the past. Similar in scale to Courbet’s works of the same period, Bonheur’s imposing Horse Fair ( 87.25 ), shown at the Salon of 1853, is the product of extensive preparatory drawings and the artist’s scientific study of animal anatomy; her style also reflects the influence of such Romantic painters as Delacroix and Gericault and the classical equine sculpture from the Parthenon. Édouard Manet and the Impressionists were the immediate heirs to the Realist legacy, as they too embraced the imagery of modern life. By the 1870s and 1880s, however, their art no longer carried the political charge of Realism.

Finocchio, Ross. “Nineteenth-Century French Realism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm (October 2004)

Further Reading

Nochlin, Linda. Realism . Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.

Nochlin, Linda. Realism and Tradition in Art, 1848–1900: Sources and Documents . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966.

Tinterow, Gary. Introduction to Modern Europe / The Metropolitan Museum of Art . New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. See on MetPublications

Additional Essays by Ross Finocchio

• Finocchio, Ross. “ Fra Angelico (ca. 1395–1455) .” (October 2006)
• Finocchio, Ross. “ Mannerism: Bronzino (1503–1572) and his Contemporaries .” (October 2003)

Related Essays

• The Barbizon School: French Painters of Nature
• Claude Monet (1840–1926)
• Édouard Manet (1832–1883)
• Gustave Courbet (1819–1877)
• Impressionism: Art and Modernity
• The Ashcan School
• Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
• Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Painting and Drawing
• Édouard Baldus (1813–1889)
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901)
• Henri Matisse (1869–1954)
• James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)
• Jean Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)
• Lithography in the Nineteenth Century
• Louis-Rémy Robert (1810–1882)
• Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926)
• Nadar (1820–1910)
• Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)
• The Pre-Raphaelites
• Romanticism
• The Salon and the Royal Academy in the Nineteenth Century
• Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
• Women Artists in Nineteenth-Century France
• France, 1800–1900 A.D.
• 19th Century A.D.
• Barbizon School
• French Literature / Poetry
• Genre Scene
• History Painting
• Impressionism
• Literature / Poetry
• Oil on Canvas
• Pastoral Scene
• Printmaking

Artist or Maker

• Bonheur, Rosa
• Courbet, Gustave
• Daumier, Honoré
• Manet, Édouard
• Millet, Jean-François
• Poussin, Nicolas
• Van Gogh, Vincent

Online Features

• The Artist Project: “Swoon on Honoré Daumier’s The Third-Class Carriage “
• The Artist Project: “Wayne Thiebaud on Rosa Bonheur’s The Horse Fair “
• The Artist Project: “Xu Bing on Jean-François Millet’s Haystacks: Autumn “

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116 Realism Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Realism is a literary movement that emerged in the 19th century and aimed to depict everyday life and society as it truly was, without romanticizing or idealizing it. Realist writers sought to portray the world in a truthful and objective manner, often focusing on the struggles and hardships of ordinary people.

If you're studying realism in literature or simply looking for essay topics to explore this genre further, we've compiled a list of 116 realism essay topic ideas and examples to get you started.

• Analyze the role of social class in realist literature, using examples from works such as "Middlemarch" by George Eliot.
• Discuss how realism portrays the effects of industrialization on society, drawing on texts like "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens.
• Explore the theme of morality in realist literature, comparing and contrasting the ethical dilemmas faced by characters in different works.
• Examine the representation of women in realist fiction, focusing on how female characters navigate societal expectations and constraints.
• Investigate the concept of "truth" in realism, considering how realist writers strive to depict reality as accurately as possible.
• Compare and contrast the style and themes of American realism with European realism, using examples from authors like Mark Twain and Gustave Flaubert.
• Discuss the role of the narrator in realist fiction, analyzing how point of view influences the reader's perception of events.
• Explore the depiction of urban life in realist literature, examining how cities are portrayed as sites of growth and decay.
• Analyze the use of symbolism in realist texts, considering how objects and images are used to convey deeper meaning.
• Discuss the influence of psychology on realist literature, focusing on how characters' inner thoughts and emotions are depicted.
• Examine the portrayal of race and ethnicity in realist fiction, using examples from authors like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Zora Neale Hurston.
• Explore the theme of social reform in realist literature, considering how writers address issues such as poverty, education, and labor rights.
• Discuss the representation of childhood in realist fiction, focusing on how children are portrayed as innocent or corrupted by society.
• Analyze the use of dialect in realist texts, considering how regional speech patterns and slang are used to depict characters' backgrounds.
• Explore the role of religion in realist literature, examining how characters' beliefs shape their actions and interactions with others.
• Discuss the depiction of war in realist fiction, focusing on how conflicts such as the Civil War or World War I are portrayed.
• Examine the theme of alienation in realist literature, considering how characters struggle to find their place in a changing world.
• Analyze the representation of gender roles in realist fiction, focusing on how male and female characters navigate societal expectations.
• Discuss the use of irony in realist texts, considering how authors employ humor and sarcasm to critique social norms.
• Explore the theme of justice in realist literature, examining how characters seek redemption or punishment for their actions.
• Analyze the depiction of nature in realist fiction, considering how landscapes are used to reflect characters' emotions and experiences.
• Discuss the influence of science and technology on realist literature, focusing on how advances in medicine and industry are portrayed.
• Examine the theme of family in realist fiction, considering how relationships between parents and children shape characters' identities.
• Discuss the portrayal of mental illness in realist literature, focusing on how characters cope with trauma and psychological distress.
• Analyze the representation of sexuality in realist texts, considering how desires and taboos are depicted.
• Explore the theme of addiction in realist literature, examining how characters struggle with substance abuse and dependency.
• Discuss the depiction of aging in realist fiction, focusing on how characters confront mortality and decline.
• Analyze the role of education in realist literature, considering how characters' knowledge and intellect shape their choices.
• Discuss the representation of work and labor in realist texts, focusing on how characters' occupations define their social status.
• Explore the theme of poverty in realist fiction, considering how characters struggle to survive in harsh economic conditions.
• Analyze the representation of politics in realist literature, focusing on how characters engage with power and authority.
• Discuss the portrayal of religion in realist fiction, considering how characters' beliefs influence their moral decisions.
• Explore the theme of art and creativity in realist literature, examining how characters express themselves through music, painting, or writing.
• Analyze the role of memory and nostalgia in realist texts, considering how characters reflect on past experiences and relationships.
• Discuss the depiction of illness and disability in realist fiction, focusing on how characters cope with physical and mental challenges.
• Explore the theme of migration in realist literature, considering how characters navigate cultural and geographic boundaries.
• Analyze the representation of war and conflict in realist texts, focusing on how characters confront violence and trauma.
• Discuss the portrayal of technology in realist fiction, considering how innovations such as the telegraph or steam engine shape characters' lives.
• Explore the theme of social change in realist literature, considering how characters adapt to shifting cultural norms and values.
• Analyze the role of nature in realist texts, considering how landscapes and weather patterns reflect characters' emotions and experiences.
• Discuss the depiction of crime and punishment in realist fiction, focusing on how characters confront guilt and responsibility.
• Explore the theme of friendship in realist literature, considering how characters form bonds and alliances in times of crisis.
• Analyze the representation of gender and sexuality in realist texts, focusing on how characters challenge or conform to traditional norms.
• Discuss the portrayal of race and ethnicity in realist fiction, considering how characters navigate issues of identity and belonging.
• Explore the theme of power and privilege in realist literature, considering how characters wield authority and influence.
• Discuss the depiction of crime and punishment in

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Realism - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

An essay on realism as an artistic and literary movement can explore its origins, characteristics, and impact on art and literature. It can discuss realist works, their focus on depicting everyday life, social issues, and the rejection of romantic idealism, offering insights into the portrayal of reality and the changing artistic aesthetics. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Realism you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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Realism and Neorealist

Italy's first postcolonial novel and the end of (neo)realism article by Lucia Re discusses the literary work of Ennio Flaiano's Tempo di uccidere (A Time to Kill). Lucia Re discusses how the novel is about the connection between Italian colonialism in Africa and the aftermath of postcolonialism. However, the text points out how Flaiano’s intentionally leaves out details so that the novel can be generalized beyond colonialism. Bringing attention to the individual’s dilemma of following the rules or what’s ethically […]

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Definition of Realism

Realism is a movement in art and literature that began in the 19th century as a shift against the exotic and poetic conventions of Romanticism . Literary realism allowed for a new form of writing in which authors represented reality by portraying everyday experiences of relatable and complex characters, as they are in real life Literary realism depicts works with relatable and familiar characters, settings , and plots centered around society’s middle and lower classes. As a result, the intent of realism developed as a means to tell a story as truthfully and realistically as possible instead of dramatizing or romanticizing it. This movement has greatly impacted how authors write and what readers expect from literature.

For example, playwright Anton Chekhov reflects in most of his writing a rejection of his romantic contemporaries and predecessors that tended to falsely idealize life. Chekhov’s plays and stories, instead, are made up of characters that are frustrated by the realities of their social situations and their own behaviors and feelings. His characters represent real, ordinary people who want happiness but are limited by and entangled in everyday circumstances.

Common Examples of Themes in Realism

Like most genres and literary movements, realism features fundamental, common, and recurring themes and motifs . Here are some common examples of those themes and conventions in literary realism:

• close, detailed, and comprehensive portrayal of reality
• emphasis on appearance of what is real and true
• importance of character over action and plot
• complex ethical decisions are often the subject matter
• characters appear real in their complexity, behavior, and motives
• characters appear natural in their relation to each other and their circumstances
• importance of economic and social class, especially “middle” class interests
• plausible, logical events (not overly sensational  or dramatic)
• natural speech patterns among characters in terms of diction and vernacular (not overly poetic in language or tone )
• presence of “objective” and impartial narration of story
• subsets include: magical realism, social realism, “kitchen sink” realism, psychological realism, socialist realism

Examples of Novels in Literary Realism

Due to the changes in class structure with the developments of the second half of the 19th century, the novel became extremely popular. Literacy grew and written works were more accessible. Realism also enhanced the prevalence of novels since their subject matter often focused on characters and themes important and relatable to the working class, middle class, and social mobility.

Here are some examples of novels that helped to shape this literary movement:

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ( Mark Twain )
• House of Mirth ( Edith Wharton )
• The Jungle (Upton Sinclair)
• The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane)
• Daisy Miller (Henry James)
• The Call of the Wild (Jack London )
• Middlemarch ( George Eliot )
• Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray)
• Jane Eyre ( Charlotte Bronte )
• The Grapes of Wrath ( John Steinbeck )

Famous Authors’ Perspectives Regarding Literary Realism

It is beneficial, for understanding literary realism, to get a sense of how well-known writers feel about this technique and movement. Here are some famous authors’ perspectives regarding literary realism.

• The monster I kill every day is the monster of realism. (Anais Nin)
• Realism, n. The art of depicting nature as it is seen by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole, or a story written by a measuring-worm. (Ambrose Bierce)
• Would it not be better to have it understood that realism, in so far as the word means reality to life, is always bad art — although it may possibly be very good journalism? (Sherwood Anderson)
• Nothing is more real than nothing. (Samuel Beckett)
• Realism is a very sophisticated form of literature, a very grown-up one. And that may be its weakness. But fantasy seems to be eternal and omnipresent and always attractive to kids. (Ursula K. Le Guin)
• I don’t want realism. I want magic! ( Tennessee Williams )
• Realism can break a writer’s heart. (Salman Rushdie)
• It’s all lies. Some of them are just prettier than others, that’s all. People see what they think is there. (Terry Pratchett)
• It seems to us that the readers who want fiction to be like life are considerably outnumbered by those who would like life to be like fiction. (Sara Caudwell)
• When I work, I’m just translating the world around me in what seems to be straightforward terms. For my readers, this is sometimes a vision that’s not familiar. But I’m not trying to manipulate reality. This is just what I see and hear. (Don DeLillo)

Difference Between Realism and Naturalism

There is often confusion in trying to differentiate literary works that feature realism and those that feature naturalism . Naturalism is considered a form or subcategory of realism that is heavily influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

The writers that pioneered the realist movement created complex, relatable characters while presenting detailed and realistic observations of society. In addition, realism encouraged narration that shifted away from romanticized and poetic language. This allowed writers to adopt a more truthful voice and address conditions of real life, including the realities of war, poverty , etc.

Naturalism, as a post-Darwinian movement of the late 19th century, attempted to apply the “laws” of scientific determinism to fiction. This movement upheld the belief that science provides an explanation for social and environmental phenomena. Naturalist writers extended the objective presentation of the details of everyday life as an insistence that literary works should reflect a deterministic universe in which a character is a biological entity controlled by environment and heredity.

Here are some examples of themes and conventions that reflect literary works of naturalism and differentiate them from realist works:

• grim, animalistic environment
• antisocial behavior and rough language of characters belonging to lower class
• Themes of survival
• a deterministic theory that genetic endowment is inescapable
• lack of ability to impose individual will
• pessimistic, tragic view of life

History of Realism in the US

Realism in the United States crept into literature, music, and art in the middle of the 19 th century and stayed until the early decades of the 20 th century. The artists, writers, and literary scholars depicted the social realities, contemporary landscapes, and ordinary people in their writings as well as paintings. Some of the popular writers depicting realism in their literary pieces are Henry James, Stephen Crane, George Bellows, Edward Hopper, George Lukas, and William Glackens.

History of Realism in the UK

Realism in the United Kingdom dates back to the decade of 1850 but it actually started during the Victorian period (1837-the 1901). Although the English ideals were being portrayed in literary pieces, Victorians turned to the depiction of what is known as the opposite of that. The imminent Victorian writers who were realists were George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens , Thomas Hardy , etc.

Six Types of Realism

There are six types of realism given in the writings of different writers. These are as follows:

• Magical Realism: Magical realism shows fantasy as reality such as in the novels and stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez .
• Social Realism: It shows the true living conditions of the workers such as in Hugo’s Les Miserables.
• Naturalism : It shows the influence of the Darwinian theory of evolution such as in the writings of Emile Zola and William Faulkner .
• Psychological Realism: It shows the inner side of characters that exist in reality such as in the writings of Dostoyevsky.
• Kitchen Sink Realism: It shows the realism focusing on the young British working class as in the writings of John Braine.
• Socialist Realism: It shows the realism glorifying the struggle of the working class as shown by Gladkov in his novels.

 Difference Between Romanticism and Realism

Romanticism is quite simple to understand by its name. It comprises fantasy shown through fiction, realism means to portray what actually exists. In other words, realists were more concerned with the world as it existed at that time than with the world of fantasy. However, the romanticists were mostly involved with the fictionalized world and also the world based purely on fantasy. Therefore, romanticism was based on fantasy rather than reality.

Difference Between Realism and Impressionism

Impressionism means to capture imitations of an object which is also called its essence. Realism is only related to its accurate description that actually exists. In other words, impressionism is more concerned with light in painting. Therefore, it could also be shown in writing. On the other hand, realism is the contrary it is showing the actual reality and not its silhouette.

Difference Between Nominalism and Realism

Nominalism is concerned with abstract concepts, showing that they do not exist as they are in the tangible world, or in material shape. Realism, however, is more concerned with showing the physical world that actually exists. In literature, it means pertaining to names in that reality is made up of only items and this exists because of the things or items and not on their own. It also means that the world does not exist in just people’s/reader’s minds.

Examples of Realism in Literature

Realism is a literary technique and movement that revolutionized literature. Literary realism creates the appearance of life as it is actually experienced, with characters that speak the everyday language and are representative of everyday life as a reader would understand it. Here are some examples of realism in literature and how they enhance the value of a literary work:

Example 1: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

There’s more beauty in truth, even if it is dreadful beauty.

Steinbeck encapsulates the scope of literary realism with this quote from his novel. The objective of most realist writers is to open the eyes and minds of readers to find comfort in the truth, without exaggeration , over-dramatization, or romanticism. Steinbeck’s novel traces generations of a family that faces realistic issues such as jealousy, betrayal, disappointment, and other struggles. However, rather than overdramatizing these circumstances or romanticizing the characters, Steinbeck portrays them as objectively and truthfully as possible for fiction. This allows readers to identify and relate to the novel as a form of literary realism.

Example 2: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

Nora: And then I found other ways of making money. Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do. I locked myself in and sat writing every evening till late in the night . Ah, I was tired so often, dead tired. But still it was wonderful fun, sitting and working like that, earning money. It was almost like being a man.

In his play , Ibsen presents a harsh criticism of Victorian marital expectations and the traditional roles that men and women play in society. In this work, Ibsen portrays the main character, Nora, as a woman who is treated like a child by her husband and other characters. As a result, the play exposes Nora’s restricted role as a woman with respect to choosing an individual path, earning income, and making important household decisions.

Ibsen’s drama is a realistic exposition of societal problems that come about due to the drastic imbalance of power between women and men. The characters are relatable in the way they speak, feel, and behave. In addition, their decisions and actions are realistic and complex. This realism is significant in terms of the way the reader/ audience understands the underlying themes of the play.

Example 3: The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

Initially, it appears that Chopin’s work of short fiction is a form of Romanticism with idealized characters and overdramatic depictions of events. As the main character Louise receives news that her husband has died, she isolates herself in a room with what the reader believes is the intention to overcome the shock and mourn her very recent loss. In a Romantic literary work, Louise’s reaction and behavior would have been described through poetic language and dramatic depictions.

Instead, Chopin creates a realistic and relatable, though surprising, reaction within Louise at the hearing of her husband’s death. She is sad that he is gone and knows she will miss his love. However, Louise looks to the future and understands suddenly that she is free of the entrapments of marriage and her role as a wife. Chopin reveals a complexity in Louise’s character that is realistic. In addition, as a form of realism, the story confirms many of the societal issues present at the time–particularly for women in terms of personal, economic, and social freedom. For readers, this realistic portrayal of Louise’s complex character and conflicting feelings is an assertion that, as a woman, she is an individual and not exclusively enmeshed in her role as a wife.

Example 4: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave , and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars apiece–all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up. Well, Judge Thatcher he took it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round– more than a body could tell what to do with. The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would civilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer lit out.

This example shows the description of Tom and Widow Douglas and how they interact with each other. It shows pure realism as it happens with them and Mark Twain only describes how it happens.

Example 5: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

That was two months ago. Then he wanted to come – to the house. He wanted to stay there. He said al of us – that he would not have to work. He made me come there – in the evening. I told you – you thought I was at factory. Then – one night it snowed, and I couldn’t go back.  And last night – the cars were stopped. It was such a little thing – to ruin us all. I tried to walk, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want you to know. It would have – it would have been all right.

Rudkus is telling what he wants to do and what not. He tells about his work and the actual situation which is a purely realistic portrayal of his life. This also shows that it happens as it is and not as it should be.

Example 6: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

But he obstinately took roundabout ways, and presently he was where he could see long gray walls of vapor where lay battle lines. The voices of cannon shook him. The musketry sounded in long irregular surges that played havoc with his ears. He stood regardant for a moment. His eyes had an awestruck expression. He gawked in the direction of the fight.

This description of Fleming shows realism at work but it is also called naturalism as it shows the nature of things, too. Therefore, naturalism is also realism, but it is its extreme form as shown through the walls that vapor comes into bamboozle Fleming.

Synonyms of Realism

Realism, like all other literary devices , is also irreplaceable, yet a few following words come close to it in meanings. They include fidelity, authenticity, verisimilitude , truthfulness, accuracy, naturalism, and faithfulness.

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Idealism and Realism Essay

Introduction, basic principles of idealism, basic principles of realism, ministers’ proposals, works cited.

Plato, the philosopher, was the first to work on the subject of idealism. Idealism deals with what constitutes a perfect human being, viewing him as one who contains both spiritual and material characteristics. Of the two, spiritual is considered the most important human aspect because it focuses on the mind and character but not the physical human body.

On the other hand, realism is thought to have risen towards the end of 19 th century. It is often applied in different areas such as arts, international relations, law, among others.

This paper views realism as used in the last two areas, international relations and law. It is more of a thinking that focuses on the security of a country. It is naturally imaginary implying that it is made by man, and thus contains errors because man is well known in creating mistakes.

Realism theories range from classical, liberal, legal, to mention a few. The two, idealism and realism operate under certain principles. The following paragraphs deal with the basic principles of each.

A major principle in this philosophy holds that there is a mind powerful than that of human beings. It is often called the principle of universal mind. It is believed that there is a special man, greater than human beings, whose ability of thinking is better than that of all men.

The principle holds that this special person is invisible but has the power to influence the minds of human beings and that is why the principle views this special person as God, who creates people, gives them life and their present minds that help them think. The other principle views people as being holy. It says that the strength of the minds of people is greater by far compared to other animals. Basing on this, it constitutes the most important aspect of life, making people special than all other animals.

This philosophy is also built on the principle of the advantage of information and standards. It claims that people have more advantages compared to animals. They have a superior knowledge of things than animals. This is thought as a gift from God whom they believe exists and gives them the desires of their hearts including their desire of knowledge.

The other idealism principle says that real things originate from the mind and not from the common senses of people. It holds that the ability of people to think is what enables them make real things. Real things do not come by seeing, hearing, feeling, but through thinking.

“ Realism assumes that interest defined as power is an objective category which is universally valid but not with a meaning that is fixed once and for all. Power is the control of man over man “(Hans 7). One of these principles says that people are ruled by laws that are made by other people but not God.

This philosophy includes the principle that people should be respected in terms of their powers or academic knowledge. Therefore, the more educated or the more powerful a person is, in politics, the more respected he/she becomes.

Realism considers the lessons learned from politics enabling it to know what to and not to do in order for a nation to succeed politically. The principle of identity used in realism says that the laws governing a country cannot be separated from those governing the universe. The two are almost the same.

Realism depends purely on the nature of people and hence varies depending on the people. There are no realism principles which can be accepted by all people. They apply to some nations depending on their interests. According to Thompson, the common ways of thinking of people is subject to deviating from what is right to evil (Thompson 165).

This is what forms the basis of realism as determined by the people for the people. From the knowledge of the above principles and the provided hypothetical scenario, the following are the proposals of the two ministers.

The major cause of the calamity that the prime minister wants to be solved by the two other ministers is the oil in the province of Hegemonia that has been occupied by a foreign nation.

Hegemonia oppresses the people of this province in order to move them away so that they can own the oil. Of the two ministers called to solve the problem, the defence minister applies the realism principles. This is because he believes that people have to follow laws made by other people and that is why he calling for a meeting of the U.N security council to create rules that will interfere with the trade of oil between the oppressed nation and other nations.

Because Hegemonia is powerful than the oppressed nation, it is respected more and this is why the laws made will be favouring them and not the other nation. This is a principle of realism that gives respect to powerful people.

On the other hand, the foreign minister applies the principles of idealism, based on godly reasons. She posits that friendship between the two nations can help solve the problem.

This is so because where there is friendship, there is no oppression and enmity. It will make the two, benefit by sharing the oil. It will also help stop the diseases and dangers brought to Xandu by the refugees because they will not be there because there will be no oppression to make them move to the place.

Basing on the knowledge of idealism and realism, idealism seems to be the most efficient when applied to solve a crisis. It produces a permanent solution where all benefit by sharing the resources available in a country. Should it be applied everywhere, then all countries will be at peace.

Thompson, Kenneth. “Politics among Nations.” 6th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985, p. 165.

Hans, Morgenthau. ”Hans Morgenthau’s Principles of Political Realism.” New York: Word Press, 1999.

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French writer Gustave Flaubert’s debut novel, Madame Bovary, was first published in 1857. This novel portrays how a woman’s provincial middle-class life becomes an expansive commentary on gender, class, and social rules during the nineteenth-century France. Emma Bovary, the novel’s anti-heroine, uses deviant behavior and...

"The Necklace": A Realism Focus on Everyday Life and Social Critique

Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace” is a masterful example of literary realism, a movement that emerged in the mid-19th century and sought to portray everyday life and people in a truthful, unembellished manner. This essay will delve deeper into how "The Necklace" epitomizes...

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The Manipulation of Realism and Concept of Real in Cinematography

Films, from the beginning of their invention, have been based around the manipulation of the captured image. Over the years this has only been made easier with the introduction of new technologies, giving visual elements an ever-evolving aspect in cinematography. In this way, digital cinema...

The Constraints of Realism as a Democratic Art

Introduction Realism, as an artistic movement, emerged as a response to the idealism and romanticism of earlier periods. It aimed to depict the world in an objective and unembellished manner, presenting an authentic representation of reality. However, despite its intentions, realism faces certain constraints as...

Realism as the Most Convincing Paradigm of International Relations

Abstract The purpose of writhing this paper is to explain how Realism has a great impact on the global politics. Since 17th century till today we can see how every event in international world depicts views of Realism wether its world war I & II...

• Global Governance
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Realism in Winesburg, Ohio

Sherwood Anderson, an author who strongly influenced American writing between World War I and II, particularly with the technique of psychological realism. In this essay with I will analyze the alluring and cloudy short stories “Hands”, ‘“Mother”, and “Queer”, which are short stories from his...

• Winesburg, Ohio

The Concept Of Realism In Literature

Realism is a literary technique used by many. It is a technique, but also means a specific set of ideas, especially the depiction of middle-class life. Realism was a reaction to romanticism, developing ideas in scientific method (especially Darwinism), and the influence of new philosophies...

• Literature Review

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1. Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham Due to Divine Intervention

2. Edgar Degas and His Way of Critics

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5. Realism In A Doll’s House Play

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7. Romanticism & Realism: Changing Landscapes 

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15. Emotions And Perspectives of Main Protagonists In ‘Madame Bovary’

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Home / Essay Samples / Literature / Ethan Frome / Realism Within Ethan Frome

Realism Within Ethan Frome

• Category: Literature , Art
• Topic: Ethan Frome , Realism

Pages: 1 (421 words)

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