Differences Between Modernist Novel and Realist Novel

Mahmut Deniz

01. June.2007

Differences Between Modernist Novel and Realist Novel

Modernism is a term typically associated with the twentieth-century reaction against realism and romanticism within the arts. More generally, it is often used to refer to a twentieth-century belief in the virtues of science, technology and the planned management of social change. Realism is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. However, the term realism is used, with varying meanings, in several of the liberal arts; particularly painting, literature, and philosophy. It is also used in international relations. In this essay, I will mention about the differences between realist novel and modernist novel in aspect of their structure, language, style and patterns by giving examples of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen and “A passage to India” by E.M Forster.

While reading the novel “A Passage to India”, we come across some events which we cannot guess what is happening at that moment. The character Aziz, who is a young Muslim Doctor, takes Adela and Mrs. Moore to the Marabar Cave but, after an unknown event, Aziz is unexpectedly arrested. He is charged with attempting to rape Adela Quested. Here we understand that the event is unknown or it is an event that reader should guess, because we do not know what exactly happened in the cave to Adela. So in modernism, such unknown events make the plot unclear and create question marks in readers’ mind, and refuse a final or clear interpretation about the subject. However, in realist novels the plot is clear and understandable, so readers do not have to interpret about it, because realism itself reflects all realities one by one, and everything is clearly explained to the reader.

The language of modernists is impure and difficult to understand. When mentioning about an event, they try to create an aesthetic language, so that the language looks more poetic. In the novel “A Passage to India”, as a modernist novel, there are many examples of these. “Pretty dear, ‘said Mrs. Moore to the wasp. He did not wake, but her voice floated out, to swell the night’s uneasiness.”(pp.31) In the quotation, instead of “her voice floated out”, one can use her voice decreased or some more clear words. But “float out” gives the text an aesthetic and poetic appearance, that’s why modernists use it. And also, there is a personification in the quotation “night’s uneasiness”. The word “uneasiness”, which means tense, is generally used to describe a person’s condition, but in the quotation this term is used for an abstract object. However, in “Pride and Prejudice”, Jane Austen uses language perfectly, but not in flowery or flashy ways. Instead, she wrote her novel with great clarity and the novel itself is the best example for this.

As a modernist, E.M Forster uses the “Stream of Consciousness” writing technique. This technique is like an interior monologue, it gives the opportunity for characters’ own thought to be seen in the text. And this writing style is strongly associated with the modernist movement. As an example in the novel “A passage to India”, “…She found that the tip of the peg was occupied by a small wasp. ‘She had known this wasp or his relatives by day; they were not as English wasps…” Here we see that character includes her own thought in the text. With the help of this technique, reader can easily understand characters’ psychology, but it can make the text difficult to follow. Because, while reading, readers are focused on the original text, and this technique creates confusion in prose.

The “Stream of Consciousness” style of writing is common in modernists, because modernists use a multiple point of view, so that every character can speak or show his or her feelings in the novel. However, when we look at Jane Austen novel, text is structured completely logical. And, as she wrote the novel in third point of view, which means she knows everything, only she can reveal characters’ thoughts and feelings to the readers. Furthermore, as it has a logical order of sentences, there is no confusion as in the modernists’ style. For example, in her novel “Pride and Prejudice”, she shows the world as Elizabeth sees it.

Finally, in modernist novel the order of plot is complex, that’s to say, chapters do not follow an order. While one chapter focuses on a character or a subject, the other chapter suddenly begins mentioning about another character or subject. For example, in “A Passage to India” in chapter IV “Old Mr. Graysford” and “Mr. Sorley” discusses if all living creature go to heaven or not, but then in chapter V the subject suddenly changes. It starts mentioning about the “Bridge Party”, and the chapter is disconnected from the previous one. However, in “Pride and Prejudice” for instance, in chapter 35, the chapter ends with the Darcy’s letter, which he left for Elizabeth, and the chapter 36 goes on as if there was no cut between this chapter and previous chapter, which is about Darcy’s letter.

To conclude, there are many differences between modernist novel and realist novel. And there are many effects of them on novels. With the examples from novels “A Passage to India” as a modernist novel and “Pride and Prejudice” as a realist novel and, which are written in different period and different literary current, we can understand easily how these differences reflect on these two novels and how it affect them seriously in the aspect of their language, structure, style and patterns.