Antique Poverty Part 2: Naturalist Novels

Every innovation, every new mode of expression, every attempt to expand the boundaries of art has met with stern opposition. Novel reading was not always seen as an activity worthy of the upstanding, moral middle class. Like most new and enjoyable things, novels were once seen as a gateway drug to immorality. The moral gatekeepers of the Victorian age had very definite ideas of what constituted acceptable literature--usually those works that reinforced their ideal vision of themselves as God-fearing, prudent, self-reliant and industrious people. These are not exactly the ingredients for compelling fiction, and fortunately for us, the most widely read books of the period tended to subtly (and often not so subtly) subvert and question these ideals within their pages despite the objections of prim moralists. By mid-century, strains of a more realistic view of the world began to find a way into mainstream fiction that increasingly expressed the need for social change.

These two novels are examples of naturalism, a movement that sought to overturn conventional Victorian morality and style in favor of more realistic characters, settings and stories that used more direct language. It's beginnings can be seen in the works of Russian author Ivan Turgenev and the works of French novelist Émile Zola.

The thematic breadth and scope of literature during this period expanded while prose became leaner and the narrative voice became more objective. The characters depicted in naturalist novels did real things that most people do, like have sex, drink, gamble, fight, murder, etc. Moreover, the naturalist movement gave an emerging voice to the plight of women, the poor and to other issues of social and economic inequality that characterized the Victorian era. Naturalists saw human behavior as inexorably tied to heredity, class and education, and the behavior of the characters they created were portrayed as natural and inevitable responses to their environments.

As might be imagined, this movement generated its share of controversy. French novels of the mid-nineteenth century were seen as far too saucy and frank for English and American readers, but their influence was to be found in the work of a new crop of reform-minded writers who directly addressed unpleasant truths while attempting to express the commonality of human suffering to a mainstream, middle class audience. Critics saw this new literature as sordid, but by the time these novels were written, naturalism was more or less familiar to readers in both England and the U.S.

These two novels are worth considering side by side:


Esther Waters (1894) by George Moore

Discovering the work of Irish author and playwright George Moore is like discovering a secret. He wrote many novels, short stories and plays, but Esther Waters is his most famous work. Moore's brand of naturalism got him into trouble with lending libraries that refused to circulate his books, but by 1894, the furor had died down and this novel was widely acclaimed.

It's the story of a poor London girl who, lacking any other option and hoping to get away from an abusive family life, goes into service in the home of a well-to-do family whose wealth comes from breeding and racing horses. Her deeply religious background doesn't prepare her for the reality of her new surroundings in which loose talk and drinking among her fellow servants and the gambling obsession that possesses nearly everyone in the household regardless of rank, stands in contrast to the moral lessons of her youth. While below stairs, she falls in love with William, a fellow servant who promises to marry her as soon as his bets start to bring in money, but instead leaves her with child and runs off with a wealthy cousin of the household. She is then forced to fend for herself while caring for her son in a world that has little sympathy for an illiterate servant girl with a bastard child.

Esther's story mirrors the real life struggles of single English mothers of the age. In deciding to keep her son, she has taken on a burden that so stigmatizes her as to make it difficult for her to make even a meager living. She and those around her struggle against a rigid class system that allows for little social and economic mobility. Gambling seems the only chance to escape poverty and toil, but more often it leads to short term gains followed by long term ruin. Esther's religious beliefs become increasingly incongruous to her, representing to her an ideal which she finds it impossible to live up to and difficult to reconcile with the reality she faces.

But this is no artless social criticism or political tract; this is a very finely crafted novel written with great sensitivity and economy. Moore's language is direct and to the point, and that precision is what allows the story to flow in a way that would be impossible with language encumbered by dense Victorian style. This is also a novel that manages to bring itself full circle from beginning to end without capitulating to public taste for a happy ending. And yet, we get closure. That's good writing, and this book is worth reading.

Download Esther Waters from Project Gutenberg


Sister Carrie (1900) by Theodore Dreiser

In contrast to the Englishness of Esther Waters, Sister Carrie is a decidedly American story. Carrie is a middle class girl from rural Wisconsin who goes to Chicago with vague visions of wealth and status, uses men she meets as the stepping stones to sophistication and material success, and becomes a renowned actress in New York. The second of these men, George Hurstwood, is a married manager of a private Chicago dining club who leaves his wife and children, steals ten thousand dollars from the company safe and flees with Carrie, eventually settling in New York where, under an assumed name, they are married, albeit illegally.

As Carrie's star rises, Hurstwood finds it difficult to regain the status and wealth he once enjoyed in Chicago. As she becomes more confident and independent, Hurstwood sinks into depression and despair, increasingly relying on Carrie's new found success to support the household. He also gets a glimpse into the reality of the urban poor when he attempts to take a job as a scab streetcar driver during a labor strike. The two undergo a complete role reversal, and their contrasting experiences reflect the reality of millions trying to claw their way to the top or to regain the lives of status and leisure that have somehow slipped through their fingers.

Theodore Dreiser, once considered the premiere man of American letters in the early twentieth century, has fallen out of style. His writing is notoriously turgid, his dialogue can be stiff and unnatural. and his plots are generally underdeveloped and relentlessly linear. Yet this, along with his greatest novel, An American Tragedy (1925), are still read by American high school and college students. Why? Because he pulls no punches about the living and working conditions of the urban poor and the practical and moral dilemmas they faced. Sister Carrie breaks new ground, pitting the optimistic American cultural ideal of material reward for hard work and industry against the gritty, realistic urban backdrop of toil, poverty and degradation that existed at the turn of the twentieth century. Social mobility was--or was at least believed to be--achievable in America, where the ascribed status of family and rank had less meaning. Dreiser sees the pursuit of the American dream as an obsession that sacrifices moral reasoning for material gain in the name of virtue.

Sister Carrie is a novel that is very much of its time, and while it may not have aged well in some respects, it still has something to teach us. The American argument of self reliance versus social conscience still rages more than a century later, and along with the novels of Sinclair Lewis, Dreiser's work serves as a fairly accurate map of American cultural DNA. George Moore goes even further in Esther Waters by examining the incongruent demands of the Protestant work ethic--a doctrine at the core of American values--in light of the grim reality of those without the necessary breeding or education to escape their situation.

Download Sister Carrie from Project Gutenberg


Here are a few other good ones:

McTeague (1899) by Frank Norris

An odd, dark story about greed and animal instinct run amok. This novel has perhaps the greatest ending of all time. This book was adapted for the screen by Erich von Stroheim in the notorious Hollywood epic, Greed (1924), a film widely considered to be one of the greatest silent movies ever made. I can take or leave this novel, but that ending really does pack a wallop.

Download McTeague from Project Gutenberg


The Jungle (1909) by Upton Sinclair

This novel depicts the plight of immigrant workers in the Chicago meat packing industry, the inhuman nightmare of wage slavery and corrupt politics. The reading public's attention was more focused on the unsanitary conditions of food processing rather than the dire living conditions of those who had to work those awful jobs, so while a success, it kind of backfired. Like many Americans, I was forced to read this book in high school. Not for the squeamish.

Download The Jungle from Project Gutenberg


The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London

A story about a domesticated dog who is captured to serve as a sled dog in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. This is a truly timeless story of instinct and survival that is a fabulous read. It's also another book that American students are familiar with. Funny how many naturalist novels have become staples of American education, if indeed American school children are even required to read books anymore.

Download The Call of the Wild from Project Gutenberg