Historical and Cultural Connections – Introduction to Realism

The Union accepted freed slaves as soldiers,
shown here with white teenage soldiers.

Realism was a literary movement that attempted to explain the human condition by focusing on the everyday events of ordinary people. Gone was the idealism of the Romantic period, and in its place was a nation struggling to come to terms with the horrors and grim reality of war as well as the rapid urban and industrial expansion. An emphasis on the human condition and human behavior allowed the people to see themselves in the writings of the time. As a result, they saw themselves in the same conflicts that they were reading, thus shining a light on the concerns and plights of a growing nation.