Maggie and Naturalism notes

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

by Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane

·         American writer

·         Invented “Naturalism” literary movement in America

·         Notable novels: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, The Red Badge of Courage

FUN FACT:

Wrote Maggie when he was 22. Self-published it in 1893 under the pseudonym “Johnston Smith.” After The Red Badge of Courage came out in 1895 and was a great success, he revised/rewrote Maggie and republished it under his own name.

Naturalism – literary movement

1             1880s to 1940s

·         grew out of Realism (literary movement)

-       attempts to depict everyday life as it really is (dirty, rough, few happy endings)

-       characters are regular people with real problems

-       explores middle and lower-class

·         suggested that social conditions, family, and environment determine one’s outcome ·         influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution (Survival of the fittest) ·         exposed the dark side of life—including poverty, racism, violence, prejudice, disease, corruption, prostitution, and filth ·         criticized for focusing too much on human vice and misery

Difference between Realism and Naturalism:

Where Realism tries to describe subjects as they really are, Naturalism also attempts to determine "scientifically" the underlying forces (e.g., the environment, heredity) influencing the actions and outcome of its characters