Par Do Bazan and Naturalism. Alice Sonob

Pardo Bazán and naturalism Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Senob, Alice Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 18:08:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553113 Par do Bazan and Naturalism. by Alice Sonob Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of .•"Master.' :ofv"Art s x ’ > - /" c: ..V /i ; in the College ef Letters, Arts, and Soienees, of the University of Arizona 1 9 3 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Definitions . ................... 1 - 10 / ^ A Short History of Naturalism • . • . • 11 - 25 Naturalism in the Works of Pardo Bazan. • 26 - 73 The Difference Between the Naturalism of Zola and that of Pardo Bazan . 74 - 87 ^ /Conclusion . ................... 88 - 93 Notes ................................... 94 - 111 Bibliography . ................... 112 - 114 798«3 - 1 - Definitions of ilnturalisra What is naturalism? Is it something comparatively new, an original discovery with Zola and other nineteenth century novelists*or is it something old, known in the days of Aristophanes or earlier? Of what does it consist? What are its principles? How shall one define it? Many definitions have been made and are yet b’eing made, for although naturalism is no longer such an intensely "pal pitating question" as it was in the days of Pardo-Bazan and Zola, it is still with us. Zola, who by the consent of the learned is usually desig nated as the chief of the naturalistic school, defines natural ism as the "experimental method", applying observation and ex perience to literature.^ He makes this clear by repeating the point until one is weary, in faot one might be tempted to say that if Joubert wished to compress a book into one page and that one page into a line; Zola must have wished to expand one line into a page and that page into a book. Perhaps, like Matthew Arnold, he was afraid his readers would not under stand or remember what he said the first time, so he admin istered several doses. After reading Zola1s book on natural ism, one knows that he believes naturalism in letters is e- qually a return to nature and to man, direct observation, exact anatomy, the acoeptanoe and painting of things as they are 2 •* 2 — Wordsworth onoe defined poetry seven times in one essay, eaoh definition being fairly distinct from the other. For example, "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feel ings"3 and "poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge"4, are not the same. But Zola's definitions of naturalism are very little different. A naturalistic novel, for him, is simply an inquest of nature, beings and things.5 The Gonoourt brothers have very rauoh the same idea as Zola: declaring that a novel must be founded on nature, that as the historians are the relators of the past, the novelists are the relators of the present.6 Brunetiere defines naturalism as "an art which saori- * floes form to matter, design to color, sentiment to sensa tion, the ideal to the real".7 He adds that: "There are al ways insignificant and low details."® Martino states that naturalism is a method of intellec tual work directly borrowed from science.9 Pellissier declares "the fundamental doctrine of Natural- 10 ism is to portray reality taken from actuality". Blanoo-Garoin states that contemporary naturalism is a conjunction of two elements: ••pessimistic negation in the con tent and absolute nakedness in the forms." It amounts to a sad and exact representation of a decadent period, a docu mentary history of vice.12 Croce tells us that naturalism Is the experimental method of the natural sciences applied to literature.13 «** J5 <*• With his usual cleverness Saintsbury declares: " % e am bition of the Naturalist, briefly described without epigram or flippancy, but as he himself would say scientifically, is to mention the unmentionable with as much fullness of detail as possible. The Encyclopaedia Britannloa contributes this to the subject: "Naturalism, in philosophy, is the view which maintains that all explanation should keep within the reala of what is natural and avoid all recourse to the supernatural. Thinkers may be agreed about this even if they differ on many other points. Thus, for example, materialism, pantheism, posi tivism are all naturalistic; but it is absurd to equate them for that reason.1,15 Although dictionary definitions are usually not accept able, it may be pertinent to see how Webster defines natural ism: "1. A state of nature, action, inclination or thought based on natural desires and instincts alone. 8. Theol. The doctrine that religious truth is derived from nature and not from revelation: the denial of the miraculous and supernatural (that is, of anything not explainable by natural law) in religion. 3. Philos. The doctrine that physical laws give, or may be expected to give, an adequate - 4 • account of all phenomena; and asserts that the conceptions of the natural sciences furnish the only possible explanation of reality; loosely,. materialism or positivism." 4a. The theory that art or literature should conform to nature, realism; also the quality, rendering or expression of art or literature executed according to this theory. b. Specif., the principle and charac teristics professed or represented by a 19th century school of realistic writers, notably by Zola and Maupassant, who aimed to give a literal transcription of reality, and laid special stress on the analytic study of charac ter, and on the scientific and experimental nature of their observation of life." Naturalism professes to be an experimental method, it professes to be representation without idealization, and it believes that physical laws give or may be expected to give an adequate account of all phenomena; - : and it asserts that natural sciences furnish the only possible explanation of reality. It also denies the existence of free will. Naturalism is more than realism carried to an extreme de gree. As Pardo-Bazan points out: "Someter el pensealento y la pasion a las miamas leyes que determinan la ca{da de la piedra; considerar exclusivamente las Influenoins ffsioo qul- micas, preaoindiendo hasta de la espontaneidad individual, es lo que s© propone el naturalism y lo qua Zola llama en otro pasaje de suo obras ’mostror y poner do realoe la bestia humana*• For logioa oonaeouenola, natural!smo se oblige a no reaplrar alno del lado de la materia; a oxplioar ol drama de la vida humane por medio del Instinto oiego y la oonoupleoen- oia desenfrenada, She again points out a distinction when she says! *31 ea real ouanto tiene existenoia verdadera y efectiva, el realla- m en el arte nos ofreoe una teorfa mas anoha, ooiq>leta y per- feota que el naturalism. Conq>rende y aborca lo natural y lo espiritual, el ouepo y el alma, y ooncilia y reduce a unldad la exposioion del naturalismo y del idealismo radons!. In el realism cabe todo, memos las exageraelones y desvarios de dos esouelas extremes y, por preoisa oonseouenoia, exolusivistas. Of course it is understood that all realistic writers are not alike, nor are all naturalistic writers alike. Each real istic or naturalistic writer has personal traits which dis tinguish him from other writers of the some general school to which he belongs, be it realistic or naturalistic. Maupassant, for instance, is a naturalistic writer, although his natural ism is somewhat different from that of Zola. But the fact re mains that both are naturalistic writers, not realistic writers like Jane Austen or Thackeray. Perhaps a comparison between two works on the same general theme will show this difference between realism and naturalism more clearly than a general discussion of the terms. George - 6 — LlllotS'Tho London Merchant is realistic, vrlille Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy is aaturalietio# . Barnwell, the hero of The London Merchant, gives us the impression that he was master of his own fate, that he oould have thrown off the influence of Millwood if he had really wanted to do so.. Clyde Griffiths, the hero, if one may call him that, of An American Tragedy, gives us the impression that he was not the master of his fate. He was extremely weak, it is true| but we are given the Impression that,be really oould- n't help doing what he did because destiny willed it so. The very beginning of Lillo's play shows that lie thinks Barnwell is capable of doing whatever he wishes} he possesses every virtue until he meets the "fallen” woman, and then he proceeds to lose a virtue in every scene. The expressed moral of the play shows that Lillo, the realist, believes wo are masters of our fate because he tells us that Barnwell is an ex ample of what not to d o . ^ In other words, if one really knows a thing is evil and that such and such a course of action will lead to the gallows, one will avoid it. On the other hand, Clyde sees the•harm sexual indulgence does to his sister and yet he pursues the same course of action himself. Dreiser makes us feel that the final tragedy is in evitable because Clyde is what he is, and having no free will, cannot change himself. This is one of the greatest character istics of naturalism, and the characteristic which most sharply distinguishes it from realism. - 7 - Both Barnwell and Clyde are represented as being typi cal, One Immediately accepts Barnwell as a typical charac ter, but the first few pages of An American Tragedy makes ^ one think that Clyde is not typical.

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