Category: Naturalism

Naturalism was first proposed and formulated by French novelist Emile Zola, and it was introduced to America by American novelist Frank Norris. It is a new and harsher realism. It is a theory in literature emphasizing scientific observation of life without idealism or avoidance of the ugly. American literature naturalists dismissedthe validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were dominated by their environment and heredity. The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such writers as Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London, Henry Adams, Theodore Dreiser, and Hemingway etc. This essay intends to deal with the application of naturalism in American literature and thereby seeks a broader understanding of naturalist literature

in general.

Webster’s Dictionary gives naturalism a concise definition: A made of thought glorifying nature and excluding supernatural and spiritual elements close adherence to nature in art or literature, esp. the technique, chiefly associated with Zola, used to present a naturalistic philosophy, esp. by

emphasizing the effect of heredity and environment on human nature and action. Naturalism was first proposed and formulated by Emile Zola, the French writer and theorist, who is universally labeled as the founder of literary naturalism. Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from 1865 to 1900 that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. Naturalistic writers were influenced by the evolution theory of Charles Darwin. They believed that one’s heredity and social environment determine one’s character and influence the actions of its subjects.

Naturalism is a new and harsher of realism, The term naturalism itself came from Emile Zola. It is believed that he sought a new idea to convince the reading public of something new and more modern in his fiction. He argued that his innovation in fiction-writing was the creation of characters and plots based on the scientific method. Skinnerian principles of learning through conditioning and the Darwinian hierarchy of the survival of the fittest are the underlying themes involved in shaping the human character. There are many defining characteristics of literary naturalism.

Determinism is basically the opposite of the notion of free will. For determinism, the idea that individual characters have a direct influence on the course of their lives is supplanted by a focus on nature or fate. Human beings are living in a natural environment like animals. They can react toward the exterior and interior forces but they are helpless before these forces. Often, a naturalist author will lead the reader to believe that a character’s fate has been pre-determined, usually by heredity and environmental factors, that the destiny of humanity is misery in life and oblivion in death and that he/she can do nothing about it.

The author often tries to maintain a tone that will be experienced as ‘objective.’ The author presents himself or herself as an objective observer, similar to a scientist taking note of what he or she sees. Of course, no human being can ever be truly objective, but by detaching the narrator from the story he or she tells, an author can achieve objectivity. Also, an author will sometimes achieve detachment by creating nameless characters. This puts the focus more on the plot and what happens to the character, rather than the characters themselves. Very often, one or more characters will continue to repeat one line or phrase that tends to have a pessimistic connotation, sometimes emphasizing the inevitability of death. Naturalistic works often include uncouth or sordid subject matter, for example, Emile Zola’s works had a frankness about sexuality along with a pervasive pessimism. Naturalistic works exposed the dark harshness of life, including poverty, racism, sex, prejudice, disease, prostitution, and filth.

Equally, there tends to be in naturalist novels and stories a strong sense that nature is indifferent to human struggle.

The text, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, by James Sire prioritizes a list of eight basic worldview questions to help one determine the values and accords of specific worldviews. The nihilist worldview is difficult to apply to Sire’s questions. The nihilist’s response to “What is prime reality – the really real?” Nothing. The response to “What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview?” There are none. Nihilism is the belief of nothing. Not even a philosophy, but a rejection of philosophy, nihilism is a negation of the world and everything in it – from ethics, understanding, reality, semiotics, and more. Specifically, nihilism is more similar to a feeling (malaise, anxiety, pain, etc…) than a particular credo. Here there is no God the cosmos are all that is.

Today nihilism still exists, but certainly experienced it’s prime halfway through the previous century. Often viewed as the offspring of naturalism, nihilism is the descendant of naturalism in that it is naturalism carried to its commonsense denouement. Simply stated, many nihilists are former naturalists, though not all naturalists metamorphose into nihilists. Naturalism becomes the connection between deism/theism and nihilism. The birth of nihilism traces back to arguments against naturalism from deism/theism. In preference of renouncing the innermost discrepancies of naturalism in favor of another worldview, nihilists welcome those discrepancies and renounce worldviews altogether.

The first connection between naturalism and nihilism is the denial of free will. Naturalists have the tendency to show partiality towards believing in free will, but Nietzsche explains that one’s actions are the foregone conclusion of the worldly, environmental, and genetic makeup. Nihilism treats the evolutionary process with resoluteness and significance. The cause and effect system in naturalism is driven here serendipitously in a closed network. There is no purpose or substance as things occur haphazardly. For example, if I cheated on a test it would not be my fault, due to the fact that every event leading up to that moment was not my responsibility. The world seizes on an individual, but the individual does not act on the world (B.F. Skinner, Sire, J. W., 2009). A nihilist would argue that the naturalist view would not provide a just foundation on which an individual might act significantly. Humans are merely machines devoid of the aptitude and capacity to do anything important, therefore humans are of negligible value.

The second connection between naturalism and nihilism is a combination of metaphysics and epistemology. If humans are the corollary of natural selection, which means that they are wired to adapt to survive, there is no incentive to think that there’s any sign of interest in leading a human to the truth. One can’t trust their mind if was created by accident. Holding confidence in that reason results in accepting an act of faith. Taken seriously from naturalism, nihilism questions the realism and correctness of the world. Nothing is real, not even myself. If I am of this world, but the world is all there is, how am I sure that I am of this world?

The final main connection between naturalism and nihilism is the death of ethics. Why are a majority of naturalists not nihilists? The answer is that they don’t take their worldview seriously. Naturalism lacks a definite and exact universal thought, but rather affirms their values and gathers with those who believe the same. Ethics are these groups of individuals who believe in the same social constructs. Nihilists take a step back and say, this is not ethics. There is no right versus wrong, there is no what should instead of what should not. Nihilism recalls that in a closed system there is nothing – no ethical basis, no wrong or right – all these terms without meaning. Briefly, nihilism negates the existence of philosophy and in turn, anticipates a life sans the probability of meaning.

In conclusion, nihilism is not sustainable. From a life without purpose and meaning, any action is fair game. The moment that nihilists trust in their thoughts, they avouch that there is value in thinking and that it can lead to intelligence or knowledge, but this fact alone is a paradox since the core of nihilism is no meaning. Additionally, one can seemingly live a life without limitations and can deny God, but doesn’t there have to be the knowledge of a God to deny in the first place? What does a nihilist actually believe, since there is no God in their life? Finally, a question that presents itself after learning more about nihilism, one may ask, “How can nihilism be transcended?” The answer is through existentialism.

Existentialism is the belief that human existence is about being in the present, primary state, while the essence is secondary. Similar to how nihilism is extracted from naturalism, existentialism is extracted from and is a response to nihilism. Existentialism is basically naturalism with an effort to rescue human meaning from the depths of nihilism. With the goal to transcend nihilism, existentialism branches out into two main branches: atheistic existentialism in response to nihilism, and theistic existentialism in response to dead orthodoxy. In terms of the really real, prime reality of a worldview, the matter is a constant – it has been here and will continue to be here. Spitefully though, some naturalists have advocated for matter originating in the past out of nothing.

Sire asserts that there are two worlds, objective and subjective. The first is one where all things are non-human, a world full of things, objects, and systems that are “it”. The latter is one where self-consciousness and self-determination are the utmost evolved location that a person can experience and can be attained only through experience. The moment a person is a part of the objective world is also the moment where humans become strangers in that world because they are subjective. The structure and chaos of existence are complicated for humans as they are objective and immune to the subjectiveness of humans. Furthermore, the “composition” of a human is defined by their experience-based actions and existence. Sire quotes, “Salt is salt; trees are tree; ants are ants. Only human beings are not human before they make themselves so.” Sire, J. W., p. 121, 2009). Thus the human ability for subjective experiences provides endless liberty to act as they prefer; for their mere existence predates and verifies their life. Drawing back to how existentialism asserts that matter has always been present and is a constant, when that matter finally breaks down, the human-made up of that matter breaks down as well. Death is a quite ludicrous and onerous reality to surpass in existentialism, as a subjective person becomes objective. A once authentic person becomes absurd.

Outside of the absurd and objective is human reason, is a place where a person can experience subjectivity while facing objectivity. Basic human reasoning is the outcome from an arbitrary evolutionary procedure – this is how humans know anything at all. However, how does an existentialist determine what is good and what is bad? What is the competition between good and evil notions? Essentially the choices of others provide a general guideline for what’s good, and kind of offer a checkpoint on the continuum between good and bad. Though Sire expressed that humans will “always choose the good,” existentialism fails to answer what is good for humanity (Sire, J. W., 124, 2009). The self-consciousness of good decisions is the backbone of the nature of human history for this worldview. Though history was meant to be linear in an evolutionary process, this is a new phase. It is meaningful in a way that the biological or natural part is now, and humans represent a new perspective in evolution because of that self-consciousness. To the degree of being self-conscious and self-determined, humans have the choice to define their existence. Finally, the personal core commitment consistent with existentialism is a subjective answer: the duty to his or her own self. All objectivity is rejected, and life value comes through a human’s personal conscious choice.

The similarities between nihilism and existentialism begin with the fact that each says there is no inherent meaning in the world. This leads to a difference where existentialism believes that one has the power that can change who they are and that there is potential in the human being. Existentialism asserts that people create the degree of meaning and value in their own lives and it would not be considered any less valid than what religion could do. Nihilists affirm the absence of any religion and meaning and go a step further into this meaninglessness by saying that any value a person tries to create would not be valid either but only a construct.

The Deceitful Street

The term blackness is a term that has been extremely prominent throughout the history of black individuals not only in the United States but from all corners of the earth. The meaning of the term has changed multiple times from when it was first originally coined, but to highlight its original meaning, it can be described as the despicable mistreatment of black people as it relates to their overall lifestyles, mainly on one of the shameful slave plantations seen throughout the United States of America.

It was the time period following the Civil War in which the term essentially meant to reduce the status of lower-class blacks who were having trouble adjusting to a new way of operating throughout life as it relates to their freedom and overall governing laws. The meaning then shifted in the 1940s, during which time the famed novel The Street was composed. Later, the term went on to mean the revitalization of not only self-evaluation for black individuals but black culture as a whole. This meaning went on to encompass everything we saw not only during the Harlem Renaissance but in modern society as we know it today. In today’s political climate, we see different elements of blackness creeping in to increase the relevancy of black males and females in a controversial modern world. The concept of blackness is a lot easier to understand when discussing personification, naturalism, and setting as it relates to African American women’s writing in the 1940s and beyond.

It is at the very beginning of the novel in which we see Ann Petry use the imagery of the wind to express not only the negative energy roaming the streets of the town but the violence and sinister actions that are so prominent on a day to day basis. The clearest example in which we see the use of wind in the text is when the text states “There was a cold November wind blowing through 116th Street. It rattled the tops of garbage cans, sucked window shades out through the top of opened windows and set them flapping against the windows.” (Petry 1). From what I can gather, Ann is using the actions of the wind to reflect the actions of the humans roaming the streets, and if there is one literary element that I can associate with the wind’s actions, it would be that of foreshadowing for the entirety of the actions that are going to take place throughout the entire novel. It basically acts as a reflection of all the trials and tribulations each and every character in the novel will have to go through as it relates to their freedom and future success throughout life.

From my observation, if there is one character in particular who faces an overwhelming amount of struggle throughout the novel, it would be of Lutie. Lutie from the very beginning of the novel faces struggles that no woman should have to go through at any point throughout their life. Whether this is having to have sex with random men or doing whatever else it takes in order to obtain the money to keep her place on the sin-ridden streets.

Up until this point, everything in the novel has come together to punish Lutie in every sense of the word when it comes to the despicable circumstances and disgusting mistreatment for which nobody should have to encounter at any point throughout their lives. What is particularly interesting is that at the end of the novel we see Lutie flee to Chicago, Illinois to avoid arrest. The events that take place during this period of Luties life give the talented Ann Petry the opportunity to take the character of Lutie in a completely different direction.

Lutie was able to surpass these obstacles and successfully fight against the number of inequalities she faced, and this led to her being able to pursue her own life path and obtain some form of peace that is often associated with it.

In literature, naturalism is essentially an extension of realism. To expand on this, most well-educated writers use naturalism in their stories to decide and govern the actions of the main character. In this case, it is Lutie. Ann Petry does a wonderful job at expressing this to the reader. She uses the environment of the dreadful streets, which are violent, sinful, and sexually insensitive. She expresses to us that Lutie is at the lowest point of this societal structure in the United States. Now, I am not saying that most if not all black women were not at this low point in society but as it relates to Lutie being put in a specific place. We can associate the relationship this has to the term blackness as it is an overwhelmingly prominent theme that is prevalent throughout the entire novel in relation to the idea of naturalism.

When it comes to Lutie and her overall growth, the idea of naturalism as it relates to the overall environment of the street is what constructs her view of the life of African American women on the streets. Lutie experiences the feeling of absence throughout a number of different experiences in her life, whether it is her encounters that take place in the household or the encounters she experiences in the clubs she works in at night. This is what I would call a reflection of the use of naturalism and a black females life, this use of reflection gives us the opportunity to reject and fight back against the many injustices African American women in particular encounter in a sexist, racist, and despicable American society during this time period.

Now finally, when it comes to discussing the setting, and the role it plays throughout the novel, the first thing I would like to highlight is the fact that the novel takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1940s. Being a black woman in Harlem during this decade essentially could not get any worse. These women were mistreated, looked down on, and taken advantage of in every aspect of life and in every sense of the word. The misrepresentation of blacks, but in particular black women is very easy to see in this setting. The setting of Harlem is the overall bubble we see throughout the novel but we cannot ignore the other lesser settings seen throughout The Street, The Casino, Junto’s Bar, and Grill, and The White Blouse is just some of the settings in which we see an extension to where black women are mistreated. These settings essentially act as a hub for where black women are completely degraded and in most cases, are not even seen as human beings to a majority of the men on this setting, but more so seen as objects just there to have sex with and use in every way that could be degrading to black women who are already going through a lot in their lives.

Overall, The Street is one of the best novels I have read for some time. Ann Petry’s use of personification, naturalism, and setting is what makes this novel so different from similar novels I have read in recent years. Using the wind to express the hardships of African American women in American society, and using the setting to express the fact that where you live and the places you tend to find you self in during everyday situations can absolutely have an impact on the direction for which your life is going to go. All of this comes together to prove that the concept of blackness is extremely important to the style and content of Ann Petry’s The Street but not just this novel, but African American literature as a whole.

Works Cited

1. Petry, Ann. The Street. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. (ISBN 978-0-395-90149- 6]

Moral philosophy or ethics is the discipline that is concerned with what is morally good and bad, and morally right and wrong. This term can also be applied to any theory of moral values or principles. How should we act? Is it right to be dishonest in good cause? Morality describes the principles that govern the answers to these kinds of questions, and thus our behavior, character, and how we interact with one another in society today. This being said, it is clear that our beliefs are critical to our moral behavior. Due to variance in our beliefs, many philosophers debate whether or not there are universal moral facts– “universal” meaning objectively true, and “objectively true” meaning truths that do not depend on anyone’s particular beliefs, opinions, or preferences. The belief that there are at least some moral ideas that refer to something objectively real and true is known as moral realism. Therefore, the belief that moral ideas do not refer to anything objectively true is known as moral anti-realism. The validity of both realism and anti-realism are contingent upon their supporting theories, theses, and evidence presented by those philosophers who agree with or create these. With a plethora of theories and philosophers supporting both sides of this debate, it is unclear whether or not we should believe objective moral truths exist. So, I will lay out the arguments for Ethical Naturalism and Intuitionism on behalf of realism, followed by the arguments for Sentimentalism and Nietzche supporting anti-realism.

Ethical Naturalism or Utilitarianism is the view that moral claims are objectively true and reduced to statements about some intrinsically good, measurable, natural fact. “Utilitarians believe that the purpose of morality is to make life better by increasing the amount of good things (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world and decreasing the amount of bad things (such as pain and unhappiness)” (“Utilitarianism, Act, and Rule | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy”). Thus, the morally right or wrong action is dependent on the amount of good or bad it creates, making it measurable and thus objective. Philosopher, Jeremy Bentham argues in favor of ethical naturalism in his essay Introduction to the Principle and Morals of Legislation. Bentham begins with “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure” (Bentham, 1). From this, we see that for Bentham, pleasure, and pain serve as explanations for action and define one’s good. Throughout his essay, Bentham provides evidence to support his main argument that human decisions and existing ethics trace back to the search for pleasure and that good must mean pleasure. Bentham supports this stance with the argument that good and desired things are always pleasant. He continues with the case that people wrongly associate pleasure with lower pleasures such as eating and often forget about higher pleasures such as reading, which are equally pleasurable. Bentham also uses the practice of asceticism to elucidate that although this lifestyle may require abstinence from sensual pleasures, the purpose of abstinence is to achieve spiritual pleasures. Therefore, all actions are derived from the hope to achieve direct or indirect pleasure. This being said, ethical naturalism has been criticized most prominently by philosopher, G.E. Moore. Moore’s criticisms are based on ethical naturalism failing to prove that “good” simply means “pleasure.” Instead, Moore suggests instead that the meaning of the word “good” is simply intuited as described by the Intuitionism thesis.

Intuitionism is a moral realist thesis that elucidates there are objective moral truths, that these truths cannot be broken down, and humans are capable of discovering these truths (“BBC – Ethics – Introduction to Ethics: Intuitionism”). Specifically, this thesis says that our awareness of value or knowledge of evaluative facts forms the basis of our ethical knowledge. Philosopher, G.E. Moore provides evidence for Intuitionism with his writing on goodness and consequently moral truth being indefinable (unable to break down). In Principia Ethica, Moore explains that “goodness is a simple, undefinable, non-natural property” (Moore and Baldwin). Moore describes how goodness exists in its own basic, autonomous form, is not reducible to its constituent parts, and is therefore only definable or evaluated through its terms– moral, non-natural ones. Put simply, “good” cannot be defined as it is instead simply intuited. Moore uses what he calls the “Naturalistic Fallacy” and the “Open-Question Argument” to provide evidence for the impossibility to describe the term good (or any equivalent term) using natural, scientific and metaphysical statements. The Naturalistic Fallacy provides us with “x is good” is equivalent to “x is pleasure” shows us that “good is good” is not equivalent to “good is a pleasure.” The open-question argument turns any proposed definition of good into a question, for example, “good means pleasurable” becomes “is everything pleasurable good?” “Moore’s point being the proposed definition cannot be correct because if it were the question would be meaningless (“Naturalistic Fallacy | Ethics | Britannica”).” This being said, some negative consequences result from the open-question argument.

The open-question argument confirms little for Moore’s point that good cannot be defined. It seems that almost any definition might fail when put through the open question test. Take for instance the definition of yellow. No matter what you say about yellow it will not match exactly what yellowness is. Moore tells us that this is due to the simple, basic nature of yellowness that it shares with goodness; however, any definition can suffer this fate of deficiency. Alongside criticisms of the open question argument, one could argue against the idea of intuitionism with the claim that there is no way for a person to distinguish between something being right and seeming right to that person. Thus, if intuitionism worked properly, everyone would surely come to the same moral conclusions, unfortunately, this is not the case.

Unlike Intuitionism, Sentimentalism is an anti-realist theory in which everyone is not expected to come to the same moral conclusions since morals are just feelings. To be specific, ethical decisions lie purely in our emotional reactions to events, facts are therefore neutral, and moral judgments are not produced by understanding. Philosopher, David Hume analyzes the ideas of sentimentalism in his essay Of the Influencing Motives of the Will and Moral Distinctions Not Derived from Reason. Throughout the essay, Hume demonstrates that reason alone is limited in its uses and therefore, reason never gets to right and wrong. Hume analyzes this by explaining that reason can only calculate facts, and an analysis of facts does not by itself disclose any moral right or wrong. Hume also explains that feelings, desires, and preferences are never “contrary to reason.” Thus, we cannot be criticized rationally for our desires because as Hume remarks, it is “not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger” (Shafer-Landau). Furthermore, desires cannot be evaluated as reasonable or unreasonable. Desires are ‘original existences’ that form in our minds and arise from natural causes. Thus, David Hume explains “nothing can oppose or retard the impulse of passion, but a contrary impulse; and if this contrary impulse ever arises from reason, that latter faculty must have an original influence on the will, and must be able to cause, as well hinder, and the act of volition” (Shafer-Landau, 8). This quote explains that no amount of reasoning through facts can influence the will on its own. Furthermore, this idea coined “reasons internalism,” states that one needs feelings attached to facts and only another passion (emotion) can change one’s mind. In response to sentimentalism, the trolley problem and the fat man rendition of it could serve as a critique. People choose differently between the two scenarios due to morally irrelevant factors, despite them being the same moral dilemma.

Exceptionally different from Hume, Friedrich Nietzche was a German, anti-realist philosopher. He believed moral realism is false since actions and events are meaningless. To support his beliefs, Nietzche proposed three theories: nihilism, perspectivism, and will to power. Nihilism states that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated because the universe is a blank canvas. Nietzche cohesively states this idea as “[the universe] is neither perfect nor beautiful, nor noble, nor does it wish to become any of these things” from his works in The Gay Science (Nietzche). Furthermore, perspectivism says all truth claims are contingent on the product of a person’s perspective and we project meanings to serve our self-interests. The will-to-power theory explained by Nietzche is the idea that historical groups take control of the way the universe and actions are described. Moreover, morality just comes about when a group temporarily seizes power and narrates human activities in a way that increases their power and influence.

In conclusion, it seems the debate over universal moral facts will continue as there is not yet a concrete theory to prove one side or the other. The validity of both realism and anti-realism are contingent upon their supporting theories, theses, and evidence presented by those philosophers who agree with or create these. Ethical Naturalism and Jeremy Bentham’s coinciding arguments of pain and pleasure seem to have more validity than its counter moral realist theory, Intuitionism. This is due to the only major criticism of Bentham’s pleasure and pain being G.E. Moore’s stance that Ethical Naturalism failed to prove “good” simply means “pleasure.” Furthermore, upon evaluating the validity of Intuitionism and G.E. Moore’s arguments it was apparent that the open-argument test had its issues in confirming that good could not be defined. Therefore discrediting Ethical Naturalism’s equivalating of good and pleasure seems to be void. Sentimentalism, on the other hand, seemed more probable than its counter-moral anti-realist theory presented by Nietzche. Though Nietzche’s theory may be difficult to refute, sentimentalism is a more realistic and understandable theory in my opinion.

1. Introduction

Literature is most valuable for what it helps us understand about the world and to help us come to realizations about ourselves as we learn and grow. Although time and culture evolve, human nature does not, which is why humans often still read and connect with pieces written at different points in history. Literature that has no personal relevance to our lives, is only interesting as a historical fragment. Over the last three weeks, we have studied realism, poetry, and naturalism in various texts. In this essay, I will be discussing realism through Henry James’ “The Beast in the Jungle”, poetry through Emily Dickinson, and man in nature through Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat.”

2. Realism

Realism was a French movement attempting to find a faithful representation of reality without artificial or artistic convention. Realism stresses character emotion and thought over action and plot. “The Beast in the Jungle” follows this idea, as most of the story examines the thoughts of the main character, John Marcher, and conversations he has with the character May Bartram. The story is rooted in John waiting to find true meaning, never looking beyond himself, and living without understanding the importance of love.

What I felt most connected to and what I found to be most applicable to life today is self-absorption. The reader learns early on in the story that Marcher is obsessed with a lurking feeling that something incredible is to happen to him, a predatory quality, like “a crouching beast in the jungle” as the text describes, although Marcher never explains why he believes that he has been chosen for something different. The self-absorption first appears when he is reacquainted with May and cannot recall their first encounter. On the other hand, she remembers very detailed information about their meeting ten years earlier. She remembers it in a way that she is even able to withhold information that intrigues Marcher’s interest. From this meeting and the many that follow, Henry continues to portray this theme with the two character’s relationship. May has been in love with John for years, while John cannot think of anyone other than himself and is not in love with May. When John Marcher debates whether he should marry May, his conviction and obsession with his beast isn’t a privilege he could share with any woman.

Humans are complex creatures. We are self-aware and perceive ourselves through every aspect of ourselves we’re conscious of. I am not denying that self-perception is 100% natural in humans, I just feel that self-absorption has gotten to dangerously high levels in today’s society more than ever thanks to social media. Digital platforms provide men and women from any background the opportunity to advertise themselves. This is done through words in comments, likes, status updates, and private/group messages, however, it is most clearly seen through pictures. Photos are no longer for memory purposes, but more so being taken for self-promotion purposes. Many are experiencing life simply to snap the right photo to receive likes and comments to support their self-absorbing agenda. Adding to the problems, apps like Snapchat and Instagram offer photo-editing filters to achieve the illusion of a perfect appearance. These altering tactics help people look and feel extra fit and happy. Comments from others confirm this more. To reinstate, self-perception is natural and healthy, however as we saw through John Marcher and see in people today, it can be the destruction of the self and relationships with others.

3. Poetry

While fiction and the essay were important literary genres during the latter part of the 19th century and into the first years of the 20th, poetry also flourished during the period, particularly in the works of Emily Dickinson. From class notes, we learned she lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world and we can see that her poetry reflects her loneliness. Several of her poems focus on death as her principal subject. During Dickinson‘s early years, she experienced the death of many people close to her, including that of her cousin. It is easy to see why she felt familiar with the topic. The two poems I want to discuss with this theme are “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died.” In “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” Death becomes a driver and arrives to take the speaker on a supernatural journey beyond the grave. Death is made out to be kind, driving with care, and has formal politeness about him. This ride appears to take the speaker past symbols of the different stages of life, before coming to a halt at what is most likely her own grave. In my opinion, this poem explores all the uncertainties and questions of what happens once you die. “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died” describes the atmosphere of a room where someone is dying, with a weird twist; the sound of a fly buzzing around the deathbed. She tells us about the people standing around her, who are calmly preparing for her final moment. She mentions the will to show us that everything is truly ready. Right at the end, the fly interposes, coming between the light and her. While some have argued this shows dissatisfaction with the end, I think it represents the last vision she sees before death.

My connection to these two poems by Dickinson comes from my background as a Christian. Although she doesn’t state this directly, I feel it’s safe to infer through Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she called ‘my closest earthly friend”, that religion goes hand and hand with death in her writing. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” examines one of life’s greatest mystery is what happens when people die. Death is at the very core of the Christian religion. There is an anticipation of a heavenly Christian afterlife as the bible describes heaven far more glorious than anything we can even begin to imagine on earth. I felt very at peace reading this. The “kindness” of the driver (Death) was comforting and I felt reassured hearing eternity. People often think of death to be scary, however, I think the image of death created in “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died” as not ruthless, or brutal, should ease the fear that people have. Death and acceptance are the major themes of both of Emily Dickinson’s poems.

4. Naturalism

The term naturalism describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Unlike realism, which focuses more on literary technique, naturalism implies a philosophical position. Naturalistic writers, created characters beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as how the characters’ lives were governed by forces of heredity and surroundings.

The relationship between humans and the world is a central theme in Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat.” The four men in the dinghy are trying to justify their survival in the struggle against the sea, but their values and calls to the heavens go unanswered. The prevalent idea in Naturalism is the belief that humans are creatures and subject to the same laws of nature that all creatures are, despite the characters’ courage and brotherhood. Nature does not have emotions and cannot show care for the four men in the dinghy. Waves are going to crash and the ocean is going to do what the ocean does even without human presence. Throughout the plot of the story, we see a drastic change in how the men understand this relationship. The men go from thinking that the universe is intentionally making them suffer to thinking it’s completely indifferent.

While I enjoyed the read, I think man and nature no longer have the same relationship today as they did when Stephen Crane wrote this story in 1897. “Nature is a force to be reckoned with” is a common expression however I believe this is understated and has been slowly losing credibility. Naturalism often depicts a human situation in which the individual is insignificant in the universe they live in, however, it doesn’t look at how humans can affect nature. Examples include deforestation, coral bleaching, pollution, and poaching-driven animal extinction.

Headmasters Essay

In my headmaster’s essay I will describe ‘what affected Renaissance art?’ and use artists to illustrate my points.

In my opinion, there were three key factors which significantly affected Renaissance art.

The Renaissance period was a time after the Medieval era of European social, literary, economic, and political ‘rebirth.’ The Renaissance described as taking place between the 14th and 17th centuries,

Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture, and fine art of the era of European history that appeared in Italy during 1400 as a unique style in connection with advances in culture, literature, music, and science.

Some of the artists I will use are:

Masaccio

Masaccio, born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist regarded as a great Italian painter period of the Italian Renaissance.

He was born on the 21st of December 1401 in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy and died in 1428, in Rome at the age of 27.

He is known for religious drawings, such as the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden and The Holy Trinity.

There is no evidence for Masaccio’s artistic education, however, most Renaissance painters traditionally began with an established expert around the age of 12. Masaccio began with Masilino.

In just six years, Masaccio dramatically altered Florentine painting.

The expulsion of Adam and Eve. The Holy Trinity Masaccio uses two main techniques, fresco, and painting. Fresco is a painting done rapidly in watercolour on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling so that the colours penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.

Masaccio was inspired by Giotto, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Masolino da Panicale.

Donatello

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period.

He was born in 1386 in Florence and died on 3 December 1466, in Florence, Italy. He was 80 when he died.

He is known for sculptures.

There is no hard evidence for his schooling however like most other artists he was an apprentice in the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Donatello was regarded as the greatest sculptor of the renaissance period. One of the foremost sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, Donatello was a master in working of both marble and bronze and had extensive knowledge of ancient sculpture.

Donatello also developed his own style of relief known as schiacciato which is a technique which allows a sculptor to create a recessed or relief sculpture with carving only millimetres.

St Mark. David

Donatello was influenced by antique art and Humanist theories.

He usually used bronze and marble for his sculptures. For David he used bronze. He normally sculpted famous people, prophets, or other religious figures.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, more commonly Leonardo da Vinci, was an important figure of the Renaissance whose areas of interest included invention, drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, science, music, mathematics, and engineering amongst others. He is arguably the most intelligent man to have ever lived.

He was born on 15 April 1452 in Anchiano, Italy but he died on 2 May 1519 at the Chapel of Saint-Hubert, Amboise, France.

Leonardo Da Vinci had many talents; however, I will be focusing on his art and some of his sculptures.

Leonardo Da Vinci received no education beyond reading and writing, but his father appreciated his talent and placed him as an apprentice to the noted sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio, of Florence.

The Mona Lisa. In the last supper, Leonardo Da Vinci’s main mediums were paintings, drawing, sculpting and murals.

He, like his renaissance counterparts, painted religious paintings; however, he was also a scientific painter with his drawings and sketches being perfectly exact with the Vitruvian Man.

His main inspiration was Andrea del Verrocchio, Lorenzo de Medici, and John Argyropoulos.

Humanism

the new concept of ‘Humanism,’ motivated Renaissance art. Humanism greatly affected renaissance art, as it focused on the revival of ancient Roman and Greek forms, styles, and subject matter. Humanism brushed aside religious and secular beliefs and instead added importance to one’s dignity and worth.

This is highlighted by Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, The Vitruvian Man is based on De Architectura, a building guide written by the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius between 30 and 15 BC.

In this mathematical, realistic and representational drawing done by Leonardo da Vinci, we can see a male figure perfectly inscribed in a circle and square, known as the ‘Vitruvian Man,’ reveals what he thought was a divine link between the human form and the universe.

The Vitruvian Man is a drawing in pencil and ink on paper with a wash-over metal point. There is one main shape, the body, with other legs and arms projecting out of the main body, to make it seem like there are four arms and legs. Above and below the main drawing, there is backwards writing (a common feature of Leonardo da Vinci). For the inscription of the circle and square, he used a straight edge as well as a homemade compass.

Leonardo’s drawing was carefully done. His clear lines showed that he had designed this drawing very thoughtfully and knew exactly what he was doing. He used a combination of mathematics, geometry, and anatomy.

The work took about a year including the research he did (bisecting bodies) to achieve this perfect, scaled ratio of various parts of the body in correlation to each other.

This piece of art is not appealing to my eye as it seems like a diagram from a textbook, however it gives key information about the anatomy of humans and life. It gives me an impression of Leonardo da Vinci as a very logical, scientific person.

The Vitruvian Man is one of the most well-known and easily recognized images of Renaissance art and serves to display the blend of art and science which appeared during this period.

This is a prime example of humanism as it has a contemplative revival of both the forms and styles of classical Greek / Roman art and geometry and further adds to the value and worth of the perfect human proportions.

Secondly, Masaccio’s Holy trinity illustrates humanist art.

In this religious piece, we can see six distinct figures. In the centre we can see the figure of Christ being crucified on the cross, and the next most obvious figure is God himself, standing above Christ with eyes that look out towards the viewer, the white object beneath God’s neck is often mistaken as some sort of collar, but it is, in fact, the Holy Spirit, who has taken the figure of a white dove with a halo. We can also see four other distinct figures, who seem as if they are followers of Christ begging, and kneeling with their hands outstretched, which makes it seem like they are praying.

It is quite plain in what it is displaying. He has used a vibrant colour scheme with green on the border and the robes of the four figures being different shades of reds and blues. The pillars are off-white, with maroon arches. It is once again very realistic with the clothing and arches reoccurring throughout the painting.

The work was made using a technique called fresco, (a signature of Masaccio and other renaissance artists). This art piece was done rapidly as he only lived to around 28 years old.

This painting is very powerful, and in my opinion is a very mixed piece of art, with the obvious crucifixion of Christ in the centre, that inflicts some sadness and negativity on the painting in contrast with the vibrant warm colours of the surrounding which tone down this feeling making it more appealing.

This is an example of humanism because of the classical pillars in the background (beams and grooves), which suggests that of Greek or Roman architecture which illustrates the fact that humanism was all about the revival of these ancient times.

In summary, humanism didn’t significantly affect the detail or techniques of renaissance artwork, however, it affected the subject matter, as the renaissance artists where reviving ancient Roman and Greek painting matter and subjects (for example pictures of Gods and religion).

Naturalism

Renaissance art was always about being realistic, this was why naturalism (a type of art that pays attention to fully accurate and precise details and shows things as they are, making them realistic) affected this specific era of art significantly.

Donatello shows this in his sculpture of Saint John the Evangelist.

In this sculpture, there is a clear, detailed figure of Saint John the Evangelist. There is a black base on top of which is another bronze engraved platform. This links in with humanism as the engravings of this platform are ancient Greek/ Roman. Donatello portrayed St. John as a noble and introspective prophet. He is seated in traditional flowing robes that hide his body but show off a gracefully sculpted arm and torso.

The predominant colour is bronze which occurs throughout the figure.

The statue was made of marble and took over 1 year to complete (1410-1411).

This was an adequate amount of time to undertake the work: given the sheer detail, size, and precision captured in the sculpture. This depiction of St john is just taller than the average man.

Donatello used an expert command of sculpture to create this piece. He would have also used a bit of science (anatomy) to create this life like the interpretation of St John. He must have had some formal training in drawing to assist him in creating a masterpiece like this.

Donatello used a very plain colour scheme to dampen the pensive mood slightly, while still retaining that sense of calmness, which is very soothing.

I do very much enjoy the attention paid to detail in this piece as well as the colours, as I am a fan of bronze. I am fond of the ancient roman Greek style. I do prefer realistic to abstract art because in my opinion, realistic artwork requires artistic talent.

This is an example of naturalism as contains very concise details. The hair on the beard is so realistic, with his robe carefully crafted to portray its draping. The statue is lifelike, in terms of size and appearance. This shows the meticulous planning and execution he undertook to create such a piece.

Masaccio was among the first artists to use naturalism and perspective, generating a very realistic space that the plane of the image that appears rather like a window than a level surface. He displays this in his piece, San Giovenale Triptych

In this painting, there are eight distinct figures – On the left wing are Saint Bartholomew and Saint Blaise, and on the right are Saint Antony and Saint Juvenal (or San Giovenale), all of whom are identified by name labels in the inscription below. There are also two angels, with black wings, kneeling with their hands outstretched, indicating that they are praying. Finally, in the centre is Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.

The Virgin Mary’s throne melts away into the background, placing the figures in front of the thane, indicating a revolutionary use of perspective.

Masaccio developed a believable deep space skilfully, which looks like you can step into it. This technique is called ‘Trompe-l’oeil,’ a French technique for ‘deceiving the eye.’ It is an art technique that uses realistic images to create the optical illusion that there are three dimensions of the objects depicted.

The colour scheme is very vibrant which indicates a joyous mood. The background is a goldish yellow, this is the predominant colour, however shades of red and pink on some of the clothing add vibrancy and this is contrasted by the black on Virgin Mary’s clothing.

The art piece dated back to 1422 and is painted on a wood surface in a fresco style. It took just around a year to complete. This is exceptionally long for a painting.

I very much enjoy this style of painting because I prefer vibrant colour schemes in comparison to darker ones as this creates a happier mood and makes it more pleasing to the eye. However, I am not fond of the left panel, as it doesn’t have the same intensity of detail, in comparison to the other panels. This is because it is darker, and you cannot make out the detail on the two saints in this panel.

Masaccio used a single-point perspective to make the visualization of the painting correct as in to make things look further back or closer, in correlation with each other. This makes the painting look much more real. This focus of detail and precision is an example of naturalism as it tries to make it as real as possible.

Naturalism had a profound effect on Renaissance art. It helped to make this art more realistic with careful attention to detail, to portray the correct image such as perspective, dimensions, and depth.

Religion

Even though religious painting became less frequent in renaissance art in comparison to medieval art, it was still a prominent feature of Renaissance art, with almost every artist painting at least one. Churches, chapels, and cathedrals would hire these artists to paint a religious paintings for them. This greatly affected the purpose and subject of renaissance art.

This was especially true of early renaissance artists.

Leonardo da Vinci showcases this in his painting the last supper.

In this picture of the last supper held between Jesus and his disciples, we can see 13 distinct figures sitting around a table with food. In the centre of the painting, we can see Jesus Christ with his hands outstretched as a sort of gesture for people to begin eating. To his left and right, we can see the 12 disciples, talking and chatting amongst themselves attempting to figure who betrayed Jesus. In the background, we see a door that leads outside.

The colour scheme used combines both dark and light colours. The background, especially to the left and behind is very dark while the table and the disciple’s clothing is very vibrant. The food on the table is, like the whole painting, detailed.

He painted The Last Supper on drywall instead of on wet plaster, so it’s not a true fresco and to paint it Leonardo used an oil/tempera mix and applied it to a drywall.

Leonardo da Vinci implemented the use of perspective and depth to make this painting more realistic. I prefer realistic paintings as I can visualize the art more and it is more pleasing to the eye.

This painting has quite a contrasting mood. On one hand, it appears that Jesus Christ looks calm and sombre while on the other hand, the disciples around him are frantic and chaotic. This can be also described as an oxymoron in painting. I very much love this idea as it displays Leonardo da Vinci’s expertise to convey two opposing moods at the same time.

I have mixed feelings about this painting. I enjoy the detail of the disciples, Jesus, and the food. I dislike the left-hand corner in comparison to the right as it is too dark, and you cannot see anything or anyone. He could be attempting some sort of shadow, but it is still not eye-catching. This lack of completeness about the piece is creating these mixed thoughts on the painting.

It was painted for the monastery Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan, this proves that religion was still a big subject that people painted about in the renaissance, even though humanism was becoming a major subject.

At the beginning of the Early Renaissance, the Christian belief that influenced artistic subject material was requested by the Catholic Church. This shows that religion greatly affected the subject of some art in the Renaissance period as artists were painting scenes from the bible or pictures of Jesus Christ to be displayed in churches.

However, as the impact of humanist values began to grow, the focus of artists gradually increased to include some secular subjects inspired by Classical Mythology’s tales like of Roman life. These two major points, religion, and humanism, greatly affected the subject and purpose for most of the renaissance art.

However, the use of naturalism made renaissance art more realistic than anything before that. Renaissance artists achieved this through certain techniques like single-point perspective and three-dimensional imaging. Naturalism affected the way people painted. They wanted to convey to the people who would look at their art, what they saw or what they imagined.