Use Of Realism By Short Story Writers English Literature Essay

Use Of Realism By Short floor Writers English Literature Es gradeJ.P Stern defined signifi droptism as creation no more(prenominal)(prenominal), and no less, than an undertaking to look ein truth(prenominal) the pertinent f strikes in the face.1Literary authenticism is a trend that began in ordinal century French literature. Realist authors much(prenominal) as Flaubert, Maupassant and Emile Zola evidenceed contemporary vitality and society, including nonchalant common duties in their stories. These writers sought to represent life without two type of exaggeration and attempted to write honestly roughly topics and themes. They preferent this style of writing to the romanticised literature that was more popular in the scratch line of the nineteenth century. Romanticism was the opposite of realism and included more grotesque stories. However, their aim was to show the naive realism of their society and the life and sufferings of the change by reversaling class.2Maup assant and Flaubert were backbone influential authors in this realist movement, and I will explore how both authors implemented the realist genre in their work and how their work differed from each other.One of Maupassants slightly popular realist stories was buhl de Suif, which was based on a real Rouen damage named Adrienne Legay during the Franco-Prussian war. The tale represents the sufferings of the working class and explores the morality and ethics of a split up society. Michael Lerner states how Maupassant manages to convert what is a simple episode from the realities of 1870 into something gamely critical and symbolic. It is the more humble, low life realism desired by the Naturalists.3It is true to say that this tale conduces a deep and powerful meaning to the reader in the subtlest ways with the enforce of symbolism and rendering, which I will be discussing in only when detail later on.There ar no major literary arts engaged by Maupassant. Instead he con tains the fair-mindedness of the situation and over defers a detailed description of the tempers appearance and someoneality A good-natured fellow, though, inoffensive and obliging, he had devoted himself with incomparcapable enthusiasm to organising the defense lawyers of the t ingest.4This information gives the reader a vision of the characters. son of a bitch permit writes or so the use of intelligences when reading a realist bilgewater realist literature is attached to the visual, to feel at things, registering their presence in the world by sight.5Maupassant especi everyy uses the sense of sight to involve the reader in the story and play on their relationship with the characters. The reader is able to picture the character more successfully and decide whether they like the character or non.Maupassant creates a hierarchy inwardly the coach consisting of a democrat, a maltreat, two nuns, and the rest are of a kindlyly high status. These respectable travellers loo k d make upon the rest of the entourage. However, the differences in the midst of these classes are forgotten when they all accept to eat food from boulle de Suif. At this point they are all on an equal flat coat mouths opened and shut without pause, swallowing, chewing and gulping ravenously.6The author shows the generosity of boule de Suif as she selflessly gives up her food for the rest of the group. We begin to freeze our preconceptions of the fancy woman and realise that she does have certain moral guidelines. Her personality is further depicted as a giving human when she makes the biggest decision in the story. All of the characters in the story plan to manipulate Boule de Suif into committing an meanspirited act of sleeping with the enemy Boule de Suif felt up angry with all her neighbours, ashamed of having given(p) way to their pleas, and defiled by the kisses of the Prussian into whose weapons system they had hypocritically thrown her.7The respectable characters do not take the high moral ground and support her decision not to sleep with the Prussian, it is their selfishness and misdeed that take over their reasoning and force her to go against her will. Not lonesome(prenominal) do they want her to give up her food, they too want her to give up her body. Michael Lerner states thatFor Maupassant the simple Norman peasant who throws a stone or takes a shot at the enemy is far worthier of our admiration than every of these more sophisticated types, who would prefer to sacrifice their country entirely as they do Boule de Suif rather than abandon or harm their moneymaking(prenominal) interests and own well-being8This statement depicts Maupassants own personal view of his button-down characters and emphasises the horridness of the scandal they have committed. We are shown a realist view of worldly-minded human nature as selfish, arrogant and corrupt.Although Boule de Suif is a prostitute of her own accord, she is faced with a difficult dec ision. At first she would give herself for the pleasure of other people, whereas now she is being forced to do so and with the enemy. Maupassant conveys the consequences of her decision in a way that makes the reader sympathise with the prostitute rather than scold her. His choice of words when trying to salute Boule de Suifs feelings are an accurate depiction of a real, victimised emotion she arrange herself choking with rage and indignation.she opened her mouth to tell them what she musical theme of thembut her exasperation was so violent that she could not utter a word.9Her utilitarian sacrifice has saved her companions from the Prussians yet her personal relationship with the hypocrites has diminished. Michael Lerner states that Maupassant relates the part of both France and the naive but patriotic prostitute to the selfish bearing of the bourgeois.10Lerner makes a clever statement and suggests that Maupassant was making a strong social point through his story. The realism depicted in this scene is that of usance and emotion. We are given an example of a high class act and a low class act and how they both differ morally and ethically. This is thought to depict the nature of both classes at the cartridge holder.Maupassant s use of imagery in the carriage after the prostitutes sacrifice is alarming she felt overwhelmed by the contempt of these respectable boors who had first sacrificed her, and then cast her deflection like an unclean object for which they had no further use.11We are given an insight into her emotions and we also feel the tension indoors the confined station of the moving vehicle. As the prostitutes emotions mirror as our own, that of disgust and anger, Maupassant has successfully portrayed his representation of humanity with the use of realist language. Richard Fusco states that Maupassant wanted to startle readers into recognising the pretensions of society and those within themselves.12As the rest of the characters pretend to Boule de Suif that her actions will also be in her own interest, Richard Fusco is enlighten in making this statement, however, the author also startles us into realising that our actions can be more consequential than heroic. Boule de Suifs rate is not created on her own accord but through the habit of her socially respectable superiors.Michael Lerner remonstrates on Maupassants realism as fairly change he went through the notions of it without fully committing himself.13This comment is very disagreeable as we can adopt Maupassant has used very intricate realistic techniques to convey the message of the story everybody stayed in the kitchen, engaging in endless discussions and pile forward the unlikeliest theories.14The language gives an indication of some(prenominal) different emotions and shows pathos, strong character representation and clarity in his writing, of life at the time. Maupassant manages to successfully portray a realistic character in his story.Maupassant ha d studied under Flaubert for a number of years and it was through him that he met other literary geniuses much(prenominal) as Emile Zola and Ivan Turgenev. All of these influences contributed to Maupassants literary ideas and it is for this reason that his style mirrors Flauberts in many ways. I will be analysing Flauberts realist story A unbiased Heart, which is set in the time and country of the author of nineteenth century France. analogous Maupassant, the central figure is based on a real person whom Flaubert knew.One of the similarities that both these authors hold, according to Agnes Rutherford Riddell, was symbolism. Maupassant used Boule de Suif as a symbol for the p referencetariat whilst Flaubert used the name F licit in A Simple Heart as a suggestion for both the peasant womans fatalistic acquiescence in circumstances and, by contrast, the real misery of her lot.15Such symbolism helps to portray a deeper message of the reality of the story.Flaubert also used vivid, des criptive language within his stories her dresses hung in a row under a shelf containing three dolls, some hoops, a set of dolls furniture, and the wash-basin she had used.16Like Maupassant, Flaubert creates a realistic sense of the reader being involved in the novel. However the difference between the two is Flauberts use of more intricate detailing of surroundings and vision. Riddell argues that Maupassant appears to avoid this kind of mistaking, maybe through noticing its effect in his masters work. On the whole, however, description through the eyes of a personage is consistent in both writers.17both writers use description as a necessity in their work in order to give a more realistic posting of their surroundings. timothy Unwin is accurate in his belief that It is a well-accepted fact that, in the nineteenth century, realist novelists were less interested in telling stories than they were in describing them.18In A Simple Heart, Flaubert uses the technique of an all-knowing fibber to his advantage. The reader is able to view the protagonist externally and internally. Externally through the attitudes of other characters towards Flicit Madam Aubain told her to stop kissing them all the time and internally through Flicits thoughts, told to us by the narrator which hurt her deeply.19This allows the reader to view things as she does. H. Meili Steele states that the narrator has the ostensible traits of omniscience, such as the ability to move freely through space and time and to represent characters thoughts.20We can see that this is not the only advantage of an omniscient narrator. In terms of realist literature, the omniscient narrator acts as a device to give the reader more information on the characters and the setting. Thus resulting in a more pragmatic approach to the textbook.In A Simple Heart, the main character, Flicit, is used as an instrument of symbolism for the uneducated and the slimy. She is repeatedly exploited by those around her, even b y the people she loves and she is always hunted by sadness and sorrow. When she is stranded by her lover she hastened to her lover. In his place she found his friends. From him she learned that was never to see Thodore again, we can see how concise and straight to the point the sentences are.21This disconnected structure makes the reader sense the shock and upset of the protagonist. These are the real feelings of the protagonist shown to us through concise sentence structure and normal, normal language I havent had any for six months.22This is the main focus of Flauberts realist writing. timothy Unwin states that Flaubert the novelist steered clear of depicting contemporary literary life in detail.23This is correct in terms of dialogue between characters however, we have established that Flaubert was very intricate in the detailing of setting that the characters were placed in.Flaubert remarks on the role of religion in the story, especially that of the Roman Catholic church in ni neteenth century France. Flicit is devoted to the church and visits on a regular basis yet her devotion is not based on its beliefs As for dogma, she did not understand, did not even attempt to understand a word of it.24Flaubert seems to be mocking the church in this sentence, implying that religion is a sanctity for the giveible and poor who acquire some type of higher entity to depend on for support. Mary Orr states that Flaubert challenges the spiritual redundancy and irrelevance of Catholic theology, this shows how we are given an indication of Flauberts own personal views towards the Catholic church through his writing.25He shows not only the common realist thought of the time, but his own thought. Raymond Giraud comments that we have more of an insight as to Flauberts character through his stories Flaubert reveals himself, positively or negatively, directly or indirectly, in the characters he creates.26Flauberts presence in his literature is dominant and his thoughts represe nt the thoughts of many of the realist writers and thinkers.We have already accepted that Maupassants descriptions involve the readers senses, yet Flauberts descriptions also involve the senses, but of the characters rather than the readers. Timothy Unwin points out thathe watches and gathers information closely the characters and the narrator less from what is utter about them than from catching them looking.In Un Couer Simple the tall grass at the undersurface of the stream which, we are told, is like the hair of dead bodies, explains what Flicit sees and thinks. Through her eyes we understand that she mistakenly assumes Victor died drowning (he died on a land of disease).27We can conclude from this quote that the author is using description from the characters point of view to give us more information about the characters state of mind. The fact that Flicit has made a mistake in her knowledge of Victors death shows us her naivety and overall, the simple-mindedness of the uned ucated and poor class that Flicit represents.Maupassant and Flauberts use of realism tends to be instead similar. Yet, there are many points where one stands out more than the other. We can conclude that Maupassant was strong in his realist representation of bourgeois behaviour, his use of symbolism and giving an informative description of the setting in his story. Whilst Flaubert is more descriptive in not only the setting of the story, but of the characters views and thoughts. Peter Brooks emphasises that Everything, as Flaubert understands it, depends on the detail, thus, giving the reader more information on the text and allowing them to relate to the story more.28Both however, do not fall into the trap of over dramatising their realist descriptions and keep it as authentic as possible. Peter Brooks also notes how we might ask ourselves Why do we take pleasure in imitations and reproductions of the things of our world?29It seems very commonsensical to write about what we see, y et we take the easy approach of literature and write about fictional beings and wonders. Writing is a type of escapism, which realism does not allow, but we can see from the works of these two geniuses that realist literature is just as good and more educational than any other type of conceptional literature.The verisimilitude is a device of entertainment and Timothy Unwin argues that Everything and everyone, in Flauberts view, had unique qualities that it was the artists transaction to seek out.30Realism puts more of an emphasis onto the small details of everyday living. Flaubert and Maupassant both understand this and equip this idea in their work.The use of le mot juste in realist literature is a handy tool to depict life and surroundings most accurately. Timothy Unwin points out thatThis formula was reasoned for Flaubert, but the principle of mot juste does not imply that there is just one way of telling all stories. Rather, it suggests that each story has a intimate way of being told, through which it appears at its most persuasive.31Unwins comment here raises an interesting point. As each story has a privileged way of being told, this means that it is difficult to assume that what we read is all a precise account of reality at the time. The writer implements their own views and judgements into their work, ultimately, making their stories biased. What we must bear in mind when reading realist literature, is that the story is all someones interpretation of reality and this is the main difference between the authors. The text is a depiction of the authors reality. Our interpretation of reality is likely to be more different.