Naturalism in English Literature

 

Origin & History, Definition, Characteristics of
 Naturalism

INTRODUCTION:

Naturalism is a late 19th-century literary movement of English literature. In Naturalist literature the writers focus more on exploring the fundamental causes for their characters’ actions, choices, and beliefs. They prefer to express the individual characters and their condition in the light of other external forces. Man is not living in a vacuum. Naturalists believed that man’s life is primarily governed by his social environment. So in short, we may say that naturalism focuses on how some external forces like family, society, or environment influence the life of the individual characters.  Naturalism is in many ways interconnected with realism, but realism is primarily a style of writing, while naturalism is a philosophy in writing.

The History of Naturalism:

Jules-Antoine Castagnary, a French art critic, first used the term “Naturalism” to describe a style of lifelike painting that became popular in the early 1860s. Émile Zola then applied this term to literature.

French author Émile Zola first adapted the term naturalism to describe a specific type of literature and designed many of the theories behind the movement.

American author Frank Norris was another formative figure in the movement of naturalism. Like Zola, he viewed his characters as experiments; he exposed them to certain stimuli or phenomena and recorded their reactions in his works.

The popularity of this movement of naturalism almost towards the end of the 20th century. However,it left an ongoing impact, as many modern writers tooexpress naturalist features into their works.

Romanticism, Realism & Naturalism:

When we read early 19^th century poetry of Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, Coleridge and others, we find that it is full of sensuous imagery and fantasy. It takes a flight away from the reality of life. That was the period of Romanticism. If you read Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster provide the vivid imagery and flowery, poetic language which make it part of romanticism.

But some authors of the 19^th century were not satisfied with this romantic view of the world. They wanted the readers to come back to the hard reality of life. They presented the minute realistic details of man’s life. Hence, a new movement started which was named as Realism.

But Naturalism was an offshoot of this Realism. Naturalism was an extreme form of Realism. Where Realism ends, naturalism begins. Naturalism presents scientific objectivism, survival of the fittest, and the environment to mold and shape the characters. Therefore, in the works of naturalism, the characters are presented as controlled by their environment and they are depicted as fighting for their survival, fighting against all natural forces.

Example: John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ (1939):

The best example of naturalism is John Steinbeck’s novel‘The Grapes of Wrath’. Here, the Joad family are presented as instinctive animals just trying to survive against the powerful forces of society and nature. However, as the novel progresses, they learn to adapt to their surroundings and circumstances.

 Elements of Naturalism:

The major elements of naturalist works are determinism, objectivity, pessimism, setting, and plot twists.

1.   Determinism:

The naturalist novels deal with the basic idea that people don't have much control over their fate in Naturalist fiction. Things happen to them, and no matter how hard they try to fight their circumstances, or overcome obstacles, they're often just… doomed.Forces beyond one’s will and control predetermine everything. In short, your fate and life are determined not by you, but by nature.

2.   Pessimism:

No hope, no optimist!!! In naturalist novels, pessimism, sadness and gloomy atmosphere prevails. This is so because the naturalist writers believe that one can't escape his or her circumstances. If one is born in a poor family he has to end up as a poor person in his life. If a character’s father is a drunkard, that character too has to fight against such situation.In short, in naturalist works things never turn out well. Wretched condition of the hero and his poor fate is the prime focus of such naturalist works.

3.   Social Environment:

The Naturalists were mainly interested in exploring social environments because they believed that social environments largely determine our life, our personality and even our destiny. In such novels, the characters are presented as facing racial discrimination (whites and blacks), socially humiliation, poor social condition etc.

4.   Heredity and Human Nature:

Naturalist writers strongly believe that we receive certain basic qualities of nature from our parents. We are the product of our fathers and forefathers. Our nature is pessimistic, sad or happy just because of our parents. Naturalist writers explored how certain personality traits and characteristics are passed on from one generation to the next.

 5.   Theme of Poverty:

Industrialization and development of science and technology created much distance between the rich and the poor during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The society was divided between the two broad classes – the rich and the poor, the factory owners and the workers. The writers of naturalist literature threw light on the poor class more precisely and brought about their tragic economic plight in their novels.

6.   Theme of Darwinian Survival:

The Naturalist writers were much influenced by the theory of Charles Darwin. In 1859 Charles Darwin published a little book called ‘On the Origin of Species’.  This book showed that the evolution of species was all about the struggle for survival.This kind of literature revolved around the idea of the “survival of the fittest”, the strongest animals outlive the weakest animals. 

The tenant farmers in John Steinbeck's novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ are in a struggle for their survival. 

Henry, the protagonist of Stephen Crane's ‘The Red Badge of Courage’, also tries hard to survive as a soldier in the U.S. Civil War. 

CONCLUSION:

In nutshell, we may summarize that Naturalism was a late 19^th century literary movement which sprang as a new form of realism in literature. Here, the novelists focused primarily on man’s susrvival and fight against the oddities of his destiny. Man’s poor economic and social conditions are projected where man seems to be merely a puppet in the hands of his circumstances. Emily Zola was the pioneer of this movement Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, Jack London, Frank Norris and Edith Wharton and others were the major naturalist writers.

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