The belief that the world should be viewed realistically, a view frequently expressed after 1850, was closely related to the scientific outlook.
In politics, Bismarck had practiced the “politics of reality”
In the literary and visual arts, realism became a movement as well.
Realism in Literature:
The literary realists of the mid 19th century rejected romanticism.
They wanted to write about ordinary characters from life, not romantic heroes in exotic settings.
They also tried to avoid emotional language by using precise description.
Many literary realists combined their interest in everyday life with an examination of social issues
The French author Gustave Flaubert, who was a leading novelist in the 1850s/1860s, perfected the realist novel with his work “Madame Bovary”
In Great Britain, Charles Dickens became a huge success with novels that showed the realities of life for the poor in the early Industrial Age.
Novels such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield crated a vivid picture of the brutal life of London’s poor.