A basic difference between realism and sentimentalism is that in realism, "the redemption of the individual lay within the social world," but in sentimental fiction, "the redemption of the social world lay with the individual"
Its aim against romanticism, the interest in scientific method, the systematizing of the study of documentary history, and the influence of rational philosophy all affected the rise of realism. In the same way, in Quod Erat Demonstrandum, Gertrude Stein draws up a portrait of Mabel Neathe that is completely part of the scientific methods, because Gertrude Stein's way to describe her seems to be very straight and logical, as if she wanted to demonstrate a state of fact. Moreover, the description of Mabel Neathe calls for a moral dimension, reinforced by the effect of kaleidoscope. She is presented under many faces, but each of them could be rational.
According to William Harmon and Hugh Holman, where romanticists transcend the immediate to find the ideal, and naturalists* plumb the actual or superficial to find the scientific laws that control its actions, realists center their attention to a remarkable degree on the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence. (A Handbook to Literature 428). This expression qualifies well what Gertrude Stein does in Fernhurst : if we analyse the different paragraphs, we are forced to admit that the "now", the action that is happening at the present time, is really important, whoever the character or the situation is.
Relation to naturalism : it is a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Naturalism implies a philosophical position. Naturalistic writers believed that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives might be studied and understood. Again, we are facing the philosophical dimension in a literary movement. Gertrude Stein, in her whole work, tries to draw her ideologies so that the reader is brought to put everything, from the laws behind the forces that govern human lives, to be reconsidered and retought, or even rethought.
Concerning the characters, they are frequently but not invariably ill-educated or lower-class characters whose lives are governed by the forces of heredity, instinct, and passion. We can consider that Gertrude Stein's Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas works under those principles. Stein is fully passionate for her lover, and in a twisty kind of way, she is governed by unexpected and at the basis unwished forces. Alice Babette Toklas has always been described as an awful person, in any sense of the word. Gertrude Stein was blinded by her instinct and her passion for her, because she was the only one that had that kind of feelings for Alice.
As the United States grew rapidly after the Civil War, the increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the rapid growth in indistrualisation and urbanism, an expanding population base due to immigration, and a relative rise in middle-class affluence provided a fertile literary environment for readers interested in understanding these rapid shifts in culture. For example, when she comes back to America in the early thirties, she wants to give to the reader a perfect view of the new American way of life. We're in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, when lots of new things appear. Moreover, the culture is going to change soon, so as the ideology. The phenomenon of the American Dream is faithfully followed in the entire world. That reinforces the interest of the reader, wherever he is. It's also the beginning of mass-immigration to non-endangered countries, such as the United States or more generally in America.
There is a selective presentation of reality with an emphasis on verisimilitude, even at the expense of a well-made plot. Characters are more important than the action and the plot; complex ethical choices are often the subject. Quod Erat Demonstrandum is the archetypal of this vision. Gertrude Stein, in that piece of literature, writes three distinct descriptions : Adele, Mabel Neathe and Helen. In the three of them, Gertrude Stein focuses more on the characters rather than on the plot that could exist. Their whole stories deal with who they are, sometimes morally, sometimes physically, but there is no real foundation of plot.
Characters appear in their real complexity of temperament and motive; they are in explicable relation to nature, to each other, to their social class, to their own past. Gertrude Stein tries to "enter the descriptive people's mind". it is as if she already know who they actually are. She bases her writings on statements. She paints the reality as it is actually. For instance, when she draws up the portrait of Adele, considered to be herself, she does not emphasize anything and paints really herself as she thinks she is.
Class is important; the novel has traditionally served the interests and aspirations of an insurgent middle class. (See Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel)
Events will usually be plausible. Realistic novels avoid the sensational, dramatic elements of naturalistic novels and romances.
Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic; tone may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact. In this way, we must confess Gertrude Stein's style when she writes respects the vernacular system. It is not a poetry or a heightened story. It stays a basic novel, that mixes lots of effects and tones, but that are always plausible. She does not get out the view of awareness and truth she creates since the beginning of her writing.
Objectivity in presentation becomes increasingly important: overt authorial comments or intrusions diminish as the century progresses.We see clearly that Gertrude Stein stays quite covert when she writes.There are very few intrusions of the narrator's point of view in her books. There is a symbol of fidelity that isn't broken.
In its own time, realism was the subject of controversy. Debates over the suitability of realism as a mode of representation led to a critical exchange known as the realism war.
Complex in appearance, rich in character, diverse in outlook, teeming with ideas and operating on several levels, the realism manages in any way to cope with that controversy. It took a big place in the history of literary movements.
Realism on BBC : In our time, Victorian Realism
Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. [William Dean Howells]
