'A Hazard Of New Fortunes' By William Dean Howells's Realism

Howells' Realism in the Confrontation Between Isabel March and Poverty in A Hazard of New Fortunes: Isabel March as an Example of Incorrect Realist Observation and Immorality. William Dean Hills is considered to be one of the most important figures of American realism in the nineteenth and twentieth century; he was the writer of a collection of essays about realism called Criticism and Fiction where he worked out his theory of the novel. These essays are relevant to this topic since this paper will deal with Howells' notion of realism. A Hazard of New Fortunes is a realistic novel written by the American novelist and literary critic William Dean Howells and was published in 1890. In the novel, Basil March and his family move to New York because of Basil's new job as an editor of a literary magazine called Every Other Week. In New York, Basil meets with the

This definition means that literary excess and exaggerated emotions should not be used in realist novels (Michaels 378). Amy Kaplan also agrees with Michaels. Furthermore, she adds that the limitation of excess is also present in A Hazard of New Fortunes (75). However, this excess does emerge in a scene where the Marches are confronted with poverty and the poor class in New York. For example, when the street of the tenements is described, a sudden explosion of literary excess can be found (Kohler 201). The description of the tenements with the word 'and' is repeated several times in a row (Kohler 201). Furthermore, the abundance of the descriptions of the shops and the excessive use of 'and' and commas contradict the notion of Howells' realism that constrains excess (Kohler 201). Although this definition of Howells' realism accentuates poverty in the encounters between Isabel and poverty, the ironic narrator cannot be linked to this aspect of Howells'