Realism started around the 1880's, with the idea that people were moving towards realistic ideals. The main cause of this change was due to the developments in science and the changes in thought at the time, the most important reason being that Charles Darwin came out with his theory of evolution which disturbed both the scientific and modern worlds.
             Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859 and created a worldwide stir which exists to this day. Darwin suggests that life developed gradually from common ancestry and that life favored "survival of the fittest." The three implications of Darwin's theory were: 1. People were controlled by heredity and environment. 2. Behaviors were beyond our control. 3. Humanity is a natural object, rather than being above all else. Of course many people disagreed with Darwin and his beliefs. In the play Inherit the Wind, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee, a teacher is put on trial for teaching his class about Darwin and evolution. Stories like these only begin to describe the people who dared to write, support, and practice realism. Realism refers to any play, novel, or idea that tries to create an illusion of a real place. Realistic plays were trying to make a real room with one wall removed. These plays were set in real places and with scientific study of real life. The plots had neither villains nor exotic heroes, but real people with there real problems not dreams or fantasies. This new movement was due to the founders turning away from the old romantic view of the world that to the realist seem foolish and unreachable. Though realism was not accepted by many and was considered absurd, it caught on quickly and soon paved the way for a much deeper wave of realism that was called Naturalism. This new form of realism was even harder to accept by the masses because it went much deeper into the everyday lives of people. This meant that the would have to face basic ...