Psychological Naturalism: The Period Of Psychological Realism

The period of Psychological Realism started around 1900 and has lasted to the present day. It is a continuation and expansion of the Realism era, especially the in depth study of characters. However, it features a new element: it does not consider reality to be an objective view, but rather "the impressions made by life on the spectator" ("Realism and Naturalism"). This particular characteristic was invented by Henry James, who also made the genre focus largely on "moral and psychological qualities" (Hodgins 517). Because of the idea of subjective reality, stories started to be written in the first person, a unique attribute of this period ("HumanitiesWeb.org - Glossary Definition: Psychological Realism"). William Faulkner used this style throughout his works ("William Faulkner"). Another important difference between Realism and Psychological Realism is that Psychological Realism allowed for social commentary, which was used by Charlotte Perkins Gilman to advocate for women 's suffrage ("Charlotte Perkins Gilman").

This is explicitly told in Stephen Crane 's The Open Boat: "This tower was a giant, standing with its back to the plight of the ants. It represented in a degree, to the correspondent, the serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individual--nature in the wind, and nature in the vision of men. She did not seem cruel to him then, nor beneficent, nor treacherous, nor wise. But she was indifferent, flatly indifferent." Jack London featured this indifference in his books about survival in nature (Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature"). This indifference of nature in writing was partially caused by some natural disasters that happened in the early 1900s. Galveston, the "New York of the South," was devastated by a hurricane on Sept. 8, 1900, wiping out more than 8000 people. Just six years after that, in San Francisco, a large earthquake caused an even large fire, killing many