Realist Fiction Sees Man More as a Social Creature than an Individual

An illustration of the introductory scene to Great Expectations, where Pip the orphan first meets the escaped convict, Abel Magwitch in a churchyard.

Realism emerged as a literary movement around the middle of nineteenth century marked by Stendhal’s work in France after the 1848 revolution. It is notably a part of the artistic movement which went by the same name, at times also referred to by Naturalism, especially in case of paintings. The need for realism arose after the creative minds found the need to express reality the way it was, without romanticizing it or adding any implausible, exotic or supernatural elements. While art found the existence of realism over ages, and at times from earlier times as a test of skill, its presence in the literary sphere was marked by the need to present a truer image of the world around us, not to, however, cater to the relatable factor. The prime motive however, was to open our eyes to the way the things were in, contrary to what the romantics yearned for, coping with the changes in an entirely different way. Just as romanticism was a movement that found its seeds in an intellectual revolt against the Industrial Revolution, emphasis on classics and the scientific rationalization of nature, realism rose not to justify any of this, but to bring us out of the oblivion and help us come to terms with the changing times.

Realism had aimed to reproduce ‘objective reality’ (objective reality implying a collection of objects that can exist independently as its existence can be validated, or verified by anyone), and focused on showing mundane everyday activities and life, primarily among the middle or lower classes of the society. Upon analyzing this deeply, we realize that a human’s reality is ontologically independent of his plans, linguistic practices and ideologies and this is essentially one of the underlying themes to be found in all realist works, specifically novels, aligning with the statement, ‘Realist fiction sees man more as a social creature than an individual’.

With realism we also see the rise of the novel as a genre, in fact, being chosen over other formats of composition. While poetry was the preferred medium of composition in earlier times, be it in the classics with the epics, or as troubadour poetry or minnesang during the Middle Ages, or even during romanticism with the Lyrical Ballads, the novel was indeed the most effective tool that could be used to bring out the grim reality and setting that existed at the time of realism’s emergence. While this claim could be refuted by many upon citing the fact that novels have had “a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years”, the earlier statement doesn’t in any way deny the existence of novels before the birth of literary realism. Instead, it focuses on the subject matter and use of the medium in serving the purpose of effectively projecting the intended philosophy behind the creation itself. Novels found their origin in classical Greece and Rome, moved on to medieval and early modern romance, and then found their way into the Italian novella. However, in the earlier instances, the existence of a verse was still a necessary component, unlike the present benchmark for novels which states it as a lengthy narrative in prose. It is in this context that we may agree with literary critic Ian Watt, who in his 1957 book The Rise of the Novel, suggested that the modern novel, as we know it, was born in the early 18^th century (as even novels were made use of even during romanticism, as can be seen with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but just not as extensively as during realism).

Unlike the distinct balance that existed between the use of novels and poetry during the period of the romantics, we see a shift towards the use of the novel to better explain the human condition during realism. To better understand this, we must delve into what these two mediums essentially focus on. The magic of a poem lies in defamiliarization, by presenting us an image which despite being a common sight appeals to us because of the way in which it has been presented to us, essentially in a light in which it hasn’t been seen before. On the other hand, a novel is a long, fictional narrative which describes intimate human experiences. This didn’t however; keep realists from using poetry. Theodore Storm (1817 – 1888) and Klaus Groth (1819 – 1899) were both realists who composed in verse, the most notable of Storm’s works being ‘The Beach’, and Groth’s, ‘Old Busum’, both talking about the horrors of death and destruction, the first with the slaughter of seven hundred revolutionary soldiers on a beach, and the latter of an island falling prey to nature’s wrath. However, the logic behind the choice of novels over poems can be seen in both works which are esoteric and rely heavily on imagery to keep the reader guessing, and at times have them conclude in ways unimagined, making them stray away from the originally intended message. It is this cloudiness that differs from the originally intended motive of realism, which forced most writers to resort to prose than verse. It is in this context that we shall take the aid of realist novels to better understand the way in which realist fiction viewed humans with respect to the society.

One of the most notable works of this period is Charles Dickens’ thirteenth novel, Great Expectations, which tells the story of an orphan Pip using bildungsroman with his personal growth and development. The novel which is set in nineteenth century Kent and London makes use of extreme imagery showing poverty, prison ships and fights, and also showing the opposite with the rich way of life. The setting is further brought to life with a range of diverse characters from the eccentric, rich spinster Miss Havisham, to her cold yet stunningly beautiful adopted daughter Estella, the rich brute Bentley Drummle to the kind blacksmith Joe. The novel shows us how Pip, whose imagination was for a long time limited to the physical limits of his village and the poor life he had seen, hence snipping of any desires to strive for the better. However, true to the philosophical sense of the period, we see how Pip is just a toy at the hands of the intricate net of the society, as he is one day an apprentice to the blacksmith, his elder sister’s husband, Joe, and on the next, bound for London to be a gentleman, thanks to a benefactor he doesn’t even know of. In fact, the novel itself starts with Pip’s being accosted by a fugitive who has him steal food for him. It is later however, revealed that the same fugitive, who had later escaped to New South Wales and made a fortune, who paid for him to go to London. The beauty of this work lies in the fact that the entire story is built on the relations that the characters share with each other and the sense of responsibility that they bear (as is normally expected, and usually heartfelt) for the other. When Pip learnt of his luck favoring him with an anonymous benefactor paying for him to set off for London, he immediately thinks of Miss Havisham who had been kind to him, and leaves for Satis Hall along with Joe to thank her. At the same time, when both Estella and Pip were of age, Miss Havisham encouraged him to court Estella, fuelled by a sense of responsibility she had for her, along with the fact that she knew Pip (and was also ashamed of having kept the truth of Estella and the benefactor from Pip). Similarly, we also find how Pip had, with the help of Miss Havisham, paid for his friend Herbert’s job in Cairo, and at the right time, without even knowing what Pip had done for him, Herbert let Pip come with him to Cairo after he was too heartbroken about Estella and Abel Magwitch.

Middlemarch, like Great Expectations, is another British realist work by writer George Eliot, the pseudonym for Mary Anne Evans. This novel is centered around the lives of the residents of Middlemarch, a fictitious town from around 1829, just prior to the 1832 Reform Act which was to change their lives. However, unlike Dickens’ novel, this novel doesn’t have any central character, and indeed focuses on many characters; Dorothea Brooke’s life, Tertius Lydgate’s career, Mary Garth, Fred Vincy and Nicholas Bulstrode. The book starts with Dorothea Brooke and orphan living under the guardianship of her uncle, Mr. Brooke. Dorothea is a very kind young girl who took upon herself the renovation of buildings that the farmers on their grounds lived in, as a hobby (showing an innate sense of responsibility towards the community), something discouraged by her uncle for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, Sir James Chettam, a young man of her age has her eyes set on her and wishes to marry her, only to find Dorothea ignorant of him. Dorothea, on the other hand, is attracted to a forty five year old reverend and even accepts his proposal of marriage, going against her sister’s wishes. Meanwhile, Sir Chettam’s interests are averted towards Celia, Dorothea’s younger sister, who too has started to soften for him, setting a clear example of the social creature that man is. Sir Chettam, instead of standing by his individual belief or wish, is easily steered on by his relatives to move onto another person right after being denied by Dorothea, and plays well into the existing societal structure of the time. Much like Great Expectations, we see a careful and intricately woven net of characters, each related to other in ways of service or interaction. While Fred Vincy is lucky to have been selected as an heir to a childless uncle of his, he soon accumulates a lot of debt and is helped by his uncle’s niece, and also his romantic interest, Mary Garth, who ends up insolvent herself. Meanwhile, after Fred’s illness, he has Dr. Tertius Lydgate tend to him, the same doctor who attends the reverend after he suffers a heart attack when they return from Rome. From the reverend keeping Dorothea distanced from his intellectual pursuits and even Ladislaw should he die, Eliot draws a realistic image of the society and the way it treated women in those days. At the same time, with the absence of a central character and just the right balance between each one’s presence, we see this novel a flavor unlike any other of this time. This tactic helps reinforce the idea of man being seen as a social creature with each either playing into the existing societal norms or being bound by the responsibility they have (at times, not because of any sense of affection) for the person.

Pere Goriot is an 1835 novel by Honore de Balzac (1799 – 1850), and is included in a section of his novel sequence, The Human Comedy. Set in the Paris of 1819, the novel revolves around three characters, the elderly Goriot, a criminal in hiding named Vautrin and a law student Rastignac. Balzac’s story revolves around the residents of a boarding house, Maison Vauquer. The three above mentioned characters are all residents of this building, the old Goriot a now bankrupt man, who was once a pasta maker. It was later learnt that he lost all his wealth in order to get both his daughters married. Rastignac had come to Paris, all the way from the south of France to study law, and could only afford to stay in the boarding house. However, while the old man lay counting his days, Rastignac, originally from a poor family, was attracted to the high society like a moth is to flame. Of all the people he could take a liking to, he fell for Delphine, Goriot’s well married elder daughter, and started to ask for more allowance from his already poor family back home, in order to associate more with her. Meanwhile, the observant Vautrin learnt of the naïve law student’s ways and wishes and played well to him. He suggested that the two go in pursuit of easy money, by having Rastignac court and marry an unmarried rich woman, Victorine. The only roadblock to this scheme was her brother, someone Vautrin could easily have killed, but something Rastignac was against as he backed out of the entire set up. Meanwhile, Vautrin isn’t willing to give up on this plan of his and has a friend set to get Victorine’s brother killed. It didn’t however take the other residents of the boarding house residents to learn of Vautrin’s true identity, that of a feared criminal mastermind being pursued by the police. With the help of these people, the police are able to arrest Vautrin before anyone gets killed, but all this left Rastignac with the knowledge of the harsher side of things, the side that he never saw when thinking of the higher society and how people could kill just for some money. The novel however, ends with the death of Goriot caused by a stroke when he learns of the disastrous marriages his daughters are now in, where one is under a tyrannical husband and the other is forced to sell the family jewels. Nobody, but Rastignac and a servant showed up at the old man’s funeral, as both daughters, for whom the old man had given away everything, just sent empty carriages with their family’s coat of arms.

Here too we see the sway the society has over our actions, but in an entirely different way, in terms of exclusion. Where the daughters leave their father’s funeral unattended, where Rastignac who initially had a hard time fitting in with the rich, had to shed his past habits and take up new ones to get along.

Tolstoy too was one of the realists, and aside from his lengthy novels, even his short stories bear the sharp edge of realism. One such notable story is God Sees the Truth, But Waits written in 1872. Set in a Russian village it tells the story of Aksyonof, a merchant. Unlike any of the above stories, most of this takes place in a prison, after Aksyonof is arrested for a crime that he didn’t commit, but was framed for. Of the many pivotal points in this story, one is the testimony of the people of his village, who admitted to his being a good man, but also one easily influenced by alcohol. However, what’s even more striking is the existence of another society inside the prison, one where he is respected for the person he truly is, and one where the true perpetrator was forced to lie after all these years, just to make his stay for his sentence bearable, again playing into the traps of the society. 

                                                                        - Anirban Chakroborti

                                                                          Dept.of Comparative                                                                                Literature, 

                                                                          Jadavpur University