Naturalism in a Lost Lady

Charles Darwin developed a theory of biological evolution that stated all species evolved from other species through natural selection. Herbert Spencer followed up with this theory by coining the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ as a way to describe natural selection. This theory grew among scientist, but the Fundamentalist Christians opposed Darwinism because it goes against their core beliefs. Some used it as a way to justify classifying some people as second-rate and how they treated those people. Darwinism also played a major role in America’s immigration policy and furthermore is one of the main reason for the start of World War I.

Social Darwinism is a theory that individuals, peoples, and groups are subject to darwinian laws of natural selection. Another way to describe social darwinism is survival of the fittest. The strongest and the smartest will survive. It is now largely discredited, it was advocated in the late 19th and early 20th century by Herbert Spencer and others. It was used to justify political conservation, imperialism, to discourage intervention and reform and racism. This theory was used to support the laissez faire capitalism and political conservatism.

Herbert Spencer was the most important Social Darwinist of the 19th Century. He was the first to begin thinking about evolutionist long before Darwin came out with his book on the "Origins of Species". He had many theories such as that everything evolves from one basic creature and then breaks off into more diverse species (Haberman (Hab.), 171). His theory was that social, political, and intellectual movements were caused by the development from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous. Spencer once stated, "If the advance of man towards greater heterogeneity is traceable to the production of many effects by one cause, still more clearly may the advance of society towards greater heterogeneity be

“Maggie” is a story that is pessimistic. It is not only a story of a character who ultimately succumbs to her situation by becoming a prostitute because she feels she has no other way if supporting

Ronald Reagan made many economic decisions that supported his beliefs in Social Darwinism throughout his presidency. Social Darwinism is considered to be the ideas of struggle for existence and “survival of the fittest,” a term coined by Herbert Spencer in order to justify social policies. Over time the individuals with superior biological characteristics will dominate populations that this super species possessed. Couples who possessed these special qualities would then pass them down to their offspring, creating an elite generation in the modern world. Dominic Sandbrook the author of Mad as Hell, The Crisis of the 1970s and the Rise of

Social Darwinism is a quasi-philosophical, quasi-religious, quasi-sociological view that came from the mind of Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher in the 19th century. It did not achieve wide acceptance in England or Europe, but flourished in this country, as is true of many ideologies, religions, and philosophies. A good summary of Social Darwinism is by Johnson:

Naturalism is a literary movement that encapsulates the struggles of the common population. Hamlin Garland presents an excellent example of Naturalist literature in his short story “Under the Lion’s Paw”, published in 1889. In this short story, many of Dr. Stephen doCarmo’s characteristics of Naturalism are visible. Dr. doCarmo describes three broad characteristics of Naturalism: individuals are subjected to larger uncontainable forces, political undertones are prevalent within the work, and the subject matter of the work appeals to the middle-class. “Under the Lion’s Paw” possesses all three of these characteristics and radiates naturalism.

In the opening stages of the novella, Maggie tries to escape her troubling life through her relationship with Pete. As Maggie grows up, she becomes a beautiful girl who hates her life in Rum Alley. She sees Pete as a savior who could lead her away from her poverty stricken life and bring her into the world of leisure because he introduces her to popular music, dances, and dramas, all of which seem extravagant to her. Maggie “begins to note the well-dressed women she meets. She [envies the women’s] elegance (11).” Most of the melodramas that Maggie watches with Pete show the American dream of a person going from rags to riches, which is a goal that she thinks Pete will help her in achieve.

Social Darwinism stems from a misapplication of Darwin 's theory of evolution. In 1859 Charles Darwin published On The Origin of Species, which describes the mechanism for changes in the traits of a population over time. This mechanism, called natural selection, favors the survival, and hence the reproduction, of those

Naturalism is a theory in writing that focuses on the indifferent characteristics of nature. Naturalism was an extension of the outgrowth of literary realism in the mid 19th century. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution influenced the thinking of these naturalistic writers. Two authors depict naturalism in their stories heavily. Stephen Crane tells a story about a lifeboat lost at sea in “The Open Boat” and Jack London depicts a man’s trials in the wilderness through “To Build a Fire”.

One of the major theories of Charles Darwin dealt with evolution for social purposes. “Darwin concluded that the physical world had been and still was subject to continuous change

Permeating academia and achieving cultural acceptance, naturalistic philosophies actively influence nearly every facet of the human experience, including the contemporary church. Writing for a Christian audience, Bush devotes significant attention to accentuating the inherent problems of advancement philosophy, while demonstrating the logical inconsistencies of naturalistic propositions and adverse implications of adopting such perspectives consistently. This critique will summarize Bush’s publication, demonstrating his success in appraising advancement ideologies, while simultaneously highlighting the importance of a proper Christian response.

Anyone who has read American literature will know of the significance of naturalism as a literary genre in American literature. Merriam Webster’s definition of Naturalism is as follows: A theory that art or literature should conform exactly to nature or depict every appearance of the subject that comes to the artist’s attention, specifically a theory in literature emphasizing the role of heredity and environment upon human life and character development. Naturalism went from being a movement in the 19th and 20th century to the literary genre it is today. Even though some consider naturalism to be stereotypical and one-dimensional, naturalism remains an important literary genre in American literature today because of it’s ability to turn from a literary movement to a literary genre and it’s popular novelists and major characteristics remain front and center in American literature today.

    Writers involved in the naturalist movement believed that actors' lines should be spoken naturally, and that mechanical movements, vocal effects, and irrational gestures should be banished. A return to reality was proposed, with the old theatrical attitudes replaced with effects produced solely by the voice. There was a call to individualise characters, instead of generalising them, to produce characters whose minds and bodies would function as they would in real life. Strindberg's 'Miss Julie' has been said to be an excellent example of this movement, as it involves stress on multiple motivation of action; a departure from the stereotypical depictions of character; and random, illogical

Realism and Naturalism are basically the same thing they both have the view of the nature, and this styles of writing do not present God as a good guy. This forms of literature developed around the 1860’s and that was after the Civil War,which had a great negative effect in the entire country. That was when poets, and writers started to realized that life wasn’t fair to anyone; that's what the Romantic writers fail to see that life wasn’t fair. Romanticism made nature look like if it was a good place to be, and naturalist prove that fact wrong for example: the writer Jack London Proves that nature is not just about finding cute animals in the forest but it is about the dark side of the forest, nature is cruel to man, and man will die if he is not well prepared. There is a romantic writer named Nathaniel Hawthorne author of The Scarlet Letter. The book tells a story of a priest who have had a baby with a beautiful woman and throughout the period of seven years there is conflict with the antagonist name Roger Chillingworth, and ugly looking man who was married to one of