Realism as Being Real

February 16^th, 2013

Realism in The Student

Mr. Garrioch / World Lit

12v1 111150 Ho InHee

     By the late 1900s, the powerful Romanticism was being substituted with Realism. From the Age of Reason when humans regarded themselves as all-knowing with a potential of understanding the world, through Romanticism portraying ideal world with sensibility its prime aspect, the literary movement reached so-called “Realism”. Whereas the previous Romanticism took aesthetic and emotional approach to the ideal world, Realism novels largely devoted to conveying the very true and detailed nature.

     Realism is commonly thought to have appeared as a response to Romanticism. The two occurred in consecutive order, with some opposing features such as ideal and real. Generally, ideal is somewhat optimistic, and at times, quixotic (and that’s where this word is from-Don Quixote who was deluded by heroic chivalric novels). Poet Walt Whiteman and others willingly adopted optimistic perspective. But not all Romantic literature was optimistic or realistic. Some of the most renowned Romanticism writers like Edgar Allan Poe stood far from idealistic but instead was much more grotesque.

     Being ‘real’, unlike being ‘ideal’ in Romanticism’, is one essential element in Realism, as the term Realism self-explains. But ‘real’, when juxtaposed with ideal, appears much less hopeful. As Realism is often regarded as a reaction to unrealistically ideal Romanticism, it is often misinterpreted as being pessimistic. True, many Realism literatures cope with rather unpleasant nature of humans that was left unrevealed. They also reach end without having the best resolution. But by definition, Realism includes nothing pessimistic. Movements more or less contemporaneous to Realism- such as Naturalism- together with Realism itself, build up the prevailing image of pessimism. (And in fact, Naturalist authors like Jack London and Stephen Crane did focus on dark human nature.) But again, Realism doesn’t necessarily have to be pessimistic or cynical.

     Anton Chekhov’s The Student, after spending the better part conveying biblical anecdote (of Crucifixion), ends up with the protagonist Ivan all of a sudden realizing the revelation of hopeful future. Readers are often misled to conclude this story as non-Realism due to the out of blue optimistic end. But strictly speaking, the ending itself can never determine a story as Realism (nor exclude it from Realism). Tragic ending is a mere wrong preconception of Realism.

     Then we reach our second question: can Realism include Biblical elements? To answer this, one must first consider the primary grounds for this Biblical anecdote in The Student. Clearly, the Bible itself didn’t contribute to Ivan’s realization of the hopeful world. Disputes among the meaning of the older widow Vasalisa’s tears, whether they are of an aching empathy or her sense of guilt and responsibility for her widowed daughter (not to mention the parallelism between Peter and Vasilisa, and Jesus and Lukerya), seem meaningless in determining Realism. What is important is how Ivan interpreted them, and how this interpretation affected in his realization.

     For me, setting the protagonist as a clerical student and letting him speak of a Bible are mere devices for making the story more probable and likely. Along with detailed descriptions of cold Russian night, sacristan protagonist functions as accurately portraying the late nineteenth century Russia.

     Realism isn’t restrictive in thematic issues. The one and only criterion for Realism is the fidelity to actuality. As literary critic William Dean Howells defines, Realism is “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”. Realism literatures surely can refer to religious anecdotes or beliefs. They also can present optimistic views. The Student in this sense underscores hasty preconceptions of Realism.

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I was also curious how Mark Twain was one of the major realist writers, and figured out he wrote, other than Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, much more realistic pieces like Adam’s Diary and Eve’s Diary. And for his most sarcastic pieces like Huck Finn, Twain’s point of view in human nature pretty much satisfies the thematic criterion of realism literature (though I wonder then why realism literature is generally regarded as something not sarcastic.)