Naturalism

As a movement, naturalism developed in Europe in the late nineteenth century and sustained until the early twentieth century. It explored the concept of scientific determinism, drawing on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Due to the movement’s scientific influence, naturalistic plays often explored subject matters previously considered taboo on the stage, such as suicide, prostitution, and working-class poverty. This guide explores the beginnings of naturalism as a dramatic movement and the fundamental differences between naturalism and realism.

Terminology

• Manifesto: a public definition of beliefs, intentions, and aims.
• Realism: a theatrical movement developed alongside naturalism, which aimed to be more truthful to real life through texts and performances.
• Scientific determinism: the idea that everything that happens in nature is determined completely by previously existing causes.
• Theory of evolution: the theory that all the kinds of living things that exist today have developed from earlier types, as proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859.
• Three unities: the theory that all drama must follow the three unities set out by the Greek philosopher Aristotle:- action, place, and time.

Key Dates & Events

• 1828 - 1910 - Life of Leo Tolstoy
• 1849 - 1912 - Life of August Strindberg
• 1860 - 1904 - Life of Anton Chekhov
• 1863 - 1938 - Life of Konstantin Stanislavski
• 1868 - Émile Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin is published; Zola adapts his novel for the stage in 1873.
• 1880 - Publication of Emile Zola’s Naturalism on the Stage.
• 1898 - Foundation of the Moscow Art Theatre by Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.
• 1906 - The first production of Miss Julie at The People's Theatre, Stockholm.