chapter three概要1.pptVIP

The Gilded Age (1873), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), The Prince and the Pauper(1881) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) The Man That Corrupted Hadleydburg (1900) Major works The Age of Realism 1. the three conflicts that reached breaking point (1) industrialism vs. agrarian [?ɡrε?ri?n] (2) culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west (3) plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility 2. 1880’s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism 3. the closing of American frontier Historical Background 1. truthful description of life 2. typical character under typical circumstance 3. objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of life ---“Realistic writers are like scientists.” 4. open-ending: ---Life is complex and cannot be fully understood. It leaves much room for readers to think by themselves. 5. concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations of characters in an environment of sordidness and depravity Features Three giants in American Realism: William Dean Howells Henry James Mark Twain Howells is known to be the father of American realism, and a denouncer of the sentimental novel. He himself belonged to the middle class and so he almost depicted the pictures of life of middle class in contemporary America . Prolific writer with works including plays, novels, poems, and critical essays. William Dean Howells A Modern Instance (1882) A Woman’s Reason (1883) The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885) 《赛拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹》 A hazard of New Fortunes (1889) A Traveler from Altruria (1894) Criticism and Fiction, Literature and Life Major Works 1. Realism is “fidelity to experience and probability of motive”. 2. The aim is “talk of some ordinary traits of American life”. 3. Characters should have solidity of specification and be real. 4. Realism is by no means mere photogra