Characteristics of Realism


Romanticism was not the only new idea of this time period. Along with it was the idea of Realism. Instead of taking the flowery approach, realism struck at the hard cold truths of life. It held the belief that the world should be viewed realisticly. In fact, such ideas had a strong impact on the realpolitk of Bismarck(mentioned earlier). It also touched on science as well, as scientists began to report exactly what they saw and seperated that from a hypothesis, where in the past opinion was mixed with observation. Also, it had a profound influence on literature. Such well known books as Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flauberthttp://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/, came into being at this time, based around these ideas. Also a subscriber of realism was Charles Dickenshttp://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/, author of the well known novels A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist, which are both based on the sad stories of the poor and downcast. Finally, the movement was filled with visual arts, painting the picture of pain in cold truth and vivid description. Of great renown for his realist paintings was Gustave Courbet, best known for his painting in 1849 of The Stonebreakershttp://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism/roots.html. All in all, realism was filled with captivating theories on life, worthy of opposing those set forth by romanticism.
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