Realism Questions
Bring on the tough stuff. There's not just one right answer.
- Realism is still a big part of today's literary scene. Realist novels, or novels in a realistic style, are published every day. Why do you think Realist or realistic literature has continued to remain popular today?
- Many of the famous protagonists of 19th-century Realist literature are women: Emma Bovary in Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina in Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Dorothea Casaubon in George Eliot's Middlemarch. What does this suggest about the relationship between Realist literature and gender issues?
- Why do you think Realist writers' focus on the ordinary, mundane details of daily life was so revolutionary?
- How did Realism change our conception of the hero or heroine?
- Realism is closely associated with the rise of the middle class. How did this come about?
- "Realism" is a broad term. What's the difference between a text that is Realist and a text that is realistic? What is it that sets Realism apart from other literary movements?
- Considering that all literature is artifice, and that Realist literature is as constructed and "artificial" as any other literary form, is the term Realism misleading?
- Why do you think Realism is so closely associated with the novel?