Realism In Gustav Flaubert's A Simple Heart

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Recommended: The emergence of realism

The literary period of Realism began during the nineteenth century in Europe and Britain (“Realism Across the Globe” 625). The transition to this style of writing originated during the time when technological advances in transportation and communication were just beginning, which allowed ideas to spread rapidly throughout the world. Realism focuses on the realistic, truthful, and accurate occurrences in the everyday life of individuals. In many well-known stories or movies, the most dominant and heroic character stands to be the main character of the work; however realism tends to shed a light on the “little guy” or the guy behind the scenes. Therefore, Gustav Flaubert’s “A Simple Heart” serves as an excellent example of realism because rather than focusing on the middle class widow, Madame Aubain, this story focuses on her servant, Félicité. Although this story discusses Madame Aubain’s pain, suffering, and mistreatment of Félicité, it also discusses how Félicité stands beside her through thick and thin. Madame Aubain appears to have lived a very difficult life …show more content…

However, according to my Christian beliefs, God sent his son, Jesus, to Earth to die and pay for the sins of all people, and one day Jesus will return to Earth to take all Christian believers to Heaven; I believe that Yeats named his poem “The Second Coming” because it portrays his prediction that Jesus’, “Second Coming is at hand” (524). Yeats dedicates the entire first stanza of his poem to telling the reader the problems that he sees with politics and violence/terror, “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / The blood-dimmed tide is loosed” (524). The second stanza of the poem basically says that “surely” Jesus will return soon and he describes a beast-like character that could possibly be representing Satan, God’s demon opponent in the Book of

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