Characterization Techniques and Naturalism in Stephen Crane`s 'Maggie: A Girl of the Streets'

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Leipzig (Institut für Anglistik), course: Written Academic Discourse, language: English, abstract: Scholars classify Stephen Crane's novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets as a 'blend of realism and naturalism' (Keenan 937). Set in the Bowery district of 19th century Manhattan, it vividly conveys the poor living conditions of the lower classes. Due to rising immigration rates and urbanization during the so-called 'Gilded Age', the social character of New York had undergone dramatic transformations. Thus, the realistic description of the heroine's poor living conditions in Crane's Maggie serves as a vivid illustration of the urban 19th century 'residential segregation according to [. . .] social class' (Shi and Tindall 780). Despite its evident realistic elements, Crane's novel cannot merely be categorized as a work of realism. In fact, the dominant techniques of characterization militate in favour of its categorization as a naturalistic novel rather than a realistic one.