INTRODUCTION
Modern period and its drama were shaped by world-changing forces, such as industrial-technological, democratic, and intellectual revolution that have disrupted earlier conceptions of time, space, the divine, human psychology, and social order. As a result, a theatre of challenge and experimentation emerged.
Realism, has an Aristotelian overtone, involves a scientific and objective outlook of life: “the world as it is, in psychological, sociological, political, and like terms” (Lowry 94). It’s a movement with the most pervasive and long-lived effect on modern theatre was conceived as a laboratory in which the ills of society, familial problems, and the nature of relationships could be objectively presented for the judgement of impartial observers. Its goal of likeness to life demanded that settings resemble their prescribed locales precisely. The playwright Henrik Ibsen initiated the realistic movement with plays focused on contemporary, day-to-day themes, capturing psychological detail. Anton Chekhov in Russia, has brought the form to its stylistic apogee with plays whose even minor characters seem to breathe the air we do and in which the plots and themes are developed primarily between the lines.
Naturalism is an even more extreme attempt to dramatize human reality without the appearance of dramaturgical shaping. The naturalistic vision draws its strength from empiricism in philosophy, which Ian Watt has related to “the rise of the modern novel and from this the development of science in Europe since the early seventeenth century” (Gaskell 14). With the same reverence for nature, the human being was conceived as a mere biological phenomenon whose behaviour was determined by heredity and environment.
A counterf...
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Lowry G., Robert. O’ Casey Annual No: 2. London: Macmillan, 1983.
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O’Casey, Sean. Juno and the Paycock. London: Macmillan, 1924.
O’Casey, Sean. The Plough and the Star’s. London: Macmillan, 1926.
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The authors of the Realism era wrote most of their stories about everyday middle-class people. Many of the authors wanted to write a story that people could relate to, and make them feel like they were actually in their story. In Leo Tolstoy’s, “The Kruetzer Sonata”, Henrik Ibsen’s “A doll house,” and Anton Chekhov’s “Seagull,” all of the authors tell about the actions and choices that each person has in their lives is what will dictate how their lives will draw out. This in very many ways is something that real everyday middle-class people could relate to, and in doing so, hopefully they could take what they have read and apply it to their lives.
Reality is neither embellished nor blackened, altered or "signified" through a restrictive conceptual vision. Works Cited Benedetti, Jean, Dear Writer, Dear Actress: The Love Letters of Olga Knipper and Anton Chekhov, Methuen Publishing Ltd, 1998, Print. Chekhov Anton Pavlovich, The Lady with the Dog and Other Short Stories, Fairfield, 1st Library Society, 2005, Print. Nabokov, Vladimir, Anton Chekhov, in Lectures on Russian Literature, Harvest Books, 1981. Styan, John Louis, Modern Drama in Theory and Practice, Cambridge University Press, 1981, Print.
Tammany, Jane Ellert. Henrik Ibsen's Theatre Aesthetic and Dramatic Art. New York: Philosophical Library, 1980. Published in Theatre Journal (December 1982),
Important aspects of naturalism are the ideas that people are essentially animals responding to their basic urges without rational thought, and the insignificance of man to others and nature. In The Jungle, Sinclair portrays Jurgis as a man slowly changing into animal as well as a man whose actions are irrelevant to the rest of the corrupt capitalist world of Chicago in order to show the reader the naturalist ideas of the struggles between man and society.
(2012, 12). Outline and Discuss Erving Goffman's Theory of Dramaturgy.. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 12, 2012, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Outline-And-Discuss-Erving-Goffman%27s-Theory-1280254.html
In the story, The Natural, certain characters and events are portrayed in a distinctive way that makes this story unique to other books and shows the typical writing style of the narrator. The author uses a repetitive writing technique that is impossible to overlook. The writer of this book is able to catch the reader’s eye with his concept of the importance of beautiful description. The Natural, by Bernard Malamud, uses great imagery that makes the story appealing.
Goldman, Emma. The Social Significance of the Modern Drama. Berkeley. Edu, n.d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Fiske writes that Watt and Williams “….tend to define it by its content. Watt traces its origins to the rise of the novel in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” And Williams “…whose historical perspective covers the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, lists three main characteristics of realism in drama: he finds that it has a contemporary setting, that it concerns itself with secular action … and that it is “socially extended”.
Styan, J. L. "The Drama: Reason in Madness." Theatre Journal 32 3 (1980): 371-85. Print.
To conclude, naturalism has many definitions and characteristics. It was a powerful movement which suggested the role and influence of the environment, one’s background, and one’s social status had in shaping human character. The major characteristics of it include the environments power or control over humans, objective science, instinct, pessimism, and detachment.
Realism occurs everyday, one may not know but its the reason why know not everyone gets to live their lives to a happy ending, its the reason why sometimes you can't get everything you want in your life. Realism is the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. Realism is a trend which takes place in the nineteenth century during which literature depicted life "as is," and focuses on real life. This literary movement frequently depicted everyday life; it follows the rule of a phenomenal world and that nothing is added to your life. It is the reverse job of what a filter would do to all the troubles that one may encounter later in life. Realism is represented in Kate Chopin's short stories The Story of an Hour and A Pair of Silk Stockings. In both the short stories, the main characters get to face a dream/fantasy that they’ve always wanted to encounter; something rare that lasted only for a short amount of time. The freedom that each character got was some sort of new freedom that they never experienced before. For example in The Story of an Hour, the main character Louise Mallards is feels oppressed because she can't live for herself. She realizes at the end that her husband was alive the whole time and that her short fantasy came to an end. She thought that it would last forever until the death of her but she was wrong. Another example of realism is A Pair of Silk Stockings, the main character of this story was Little Mrs Sommers. She finds fifteen dollars on the floor and this feeling of having this much money eventually controls her until its all gone. Her lack of being able to control herself and curiosity controls her and the money. W...
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
Societies progress can lead to intercultural similarities, and vastily obvious differences. These influences can be seen within the contemporary theatre of the times, explaining and progressing the status of community through storytelling and performance. The reactions to these changes are important, and help shape the society we have today. These elements are best seen between the medieval ans renaissance period.
In the first chapter Esslin deems all common definitions of drama as lacking and insufficient since they overlook dramatic genres that are not staged. He thus draws heavily on those who regard live theatre as the only true form of drama. And yet Esslin does not state his own definition. He instead declares that drama should not have ...