Movement in European drama
Naturalism
is a
movement
in
European
drama
and
theatre
that developed in the
late 19th
and
early 20th
centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create an illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies. Interest in naturalism especially flourished with the French playwrights of the time, but the most successful example is Strindberg's play
Miss Julie
,
[
citation needed
]
which was written with the intention to abide by both his own particular version of naturalism, and also the version described by the French novelist and literary theoretician,
Emile Zola
.
[2]
Zola's term for naturalism is
la nouvelle formule
. The three primary principles of naturalism (
faire vrai, faire grand
and
faire simple
) are first, that the play should be realistic, and the result of a careful study of human behaviour and psychology. The characters should be flesh and blood; their motivations and actions should be grounded in their heredity and environment. The presentation of a naturalistic play, in terms of the setting and performances, should be realistic and not flamboyant or theatrical. The single setting of
Miss Julie
, for example, is a kitchen. Second, the conflicts in the play should be issues of meaningful, life-altering significance ? not small or petty. And third, the play should be simple ? not cluttered with complicated sub-plots or lengthy expositions.
[3]
Darwinism
pervades naturalistic plays, especially in the determining role of the environment on character, and as motivation for behavior. Naturalism emphasizes everyday speech forms; plausibility in the writing (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening in the human action); a choice of subjects that are contemporary and reasonable (no exotic, otherworldly or fantastic locales, nor historical or mythic time-periods); an extension of the social range of characters portrayed (not only the
aristocrats
of classical drama but also
bourgeois
and
working-class
protagonists) and social conflicts; and a style of acting that attempts to recreate the impression of reality.
Naturalism was first advocated explicitly by
Emile Zola
in his 1880 essay entitled
Naturalism on the Stage
.
Influences
[
edit
]
Naturalistic writers were influenced by the
theory of evolution
of
Charles Darwin
.
[4]
They believed that one's
heredity
and
social environment
determine one's character. Whereas
realism
seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to determine "scientifically" the underlying forces (i.e. the environment or heredity) influencing the actions of its subjects. Naturalistic works are opposed to
romanticism
, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment. They 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. As a result, Naturalistic writers were frequently criticized for being too blunt.
[
citation needed
]
Plays of naturalism
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Sacha Sjostrom (left) as Kristin, Manda Bjorling as Miss Julie, and August Falck as Jean.
- ^
Madsen, Borge Gedso.
Strindberg’s Naturalistic Theatre
. Russell & Russell.1962.
ISBN
0-8462-1729-5
- ^
Madsen, Borge Gedso.
Strindberg’s Naturalistic Theatre
. Russell & Russell.1962.
ISBN
0-8462-1729-5
- ^
Williams (1976, 217).
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Banham, Martin, ed. 1998.
The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
0-521-43437-8
.
- Counsell, Colin. 1996.
Signs of Performance: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Theatre.
London and New York: Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-10643-5
.
- Hagen, Uta
. 1973.
Respect for Acting
. New York: Macmillan.
ISBN
0-02-547390-5
.
- Hall, Peter
. 2004.
Shakespeare's Advice to the Players
. London: Oberon.
ISBN
1-84002-411-9
.
- Kolocotroni, Vassiliki, Jane Goldman and Olga Taxidou, eds. 1998.
Modernism: An Anthology of Sources and Documents
. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
ISBN
0-7486-0973-3
.
- Rodenberg, Patsy. 2002.
Speaking Shakespeare
. London: Methuen.
ISBN
0-413-70040-2
.
- Stanislavski, Konstantin
. 1936.
An Actor Prepares
. London: Methuen, 1988.
ISBN
0-413-46190-4
.
- Weimann, Robert. 1978.
Shakespeare and the Popular Tradition in the Theater: Studies in the Social Dimension of Dramatic Form and Function.
Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
ISBN
0-8018-3506-2
.
- Williams, Raymond
. 1976.
Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society
. London: Fontana, 1988.
ISBN
0-00-686150-4
.
- ---. 1989.
The Politics of Modernism: Against the New Conformists
. Ed. Tony Pinkney. London and New York: Verso.
ISBN
0-86091-955-2
.
- ---. 1993.
Drama from Ibsen to Brecht
. London: Hogarth.
ISBN
0-7012-0793-0
.