What subcategory was created under the realists?

• A. The romantics
• B. The naturalists
• C. The symbolists
• D. The modernists

Answer: (B)

Realism aims to portray life as it is, focusing on ordinary people and social conditions without idealization. A development within realism is naturalism, which takes a more scientific view: characters are shaped by heredity, environment, and social forces, often leaving them with limited personal agency and outcomes determined by forces larger than an individual. This approach grounds fiction in observable phenomena and cause-and-effect, suggesting life is largely shaped by factors beyond personal choice. Writers like Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, and Jack London illustrate how environment and biology influence behavior, producing bleaker, more deterministic narratives. The romantics emphasize emotion and individual imagination; the symbolists rely on imagery and symbolic meaning rather than social forces; modernists push beyond realism with experimental forms. So naturalists are the subcategory created under realists.