NATURALISM IN DREISER & OSBORNE AND EXPLORING THE EXISTENTIAL ANGST

Abstract

The article discusses the basic tenets of Naturalism as prevalent in the twentieth in connection with the twenty-first century New Historicism. The concept of “angry young man,” becomes the cult image of the twentieth-century democratic society where the lead characters, or rather the anti-heroes of Osborne, Wesker, Dreiser etc. try to pull down the social mores while striving to make cataclysmic changes in the dogmas and conventions. Society and individuals influence each other and are responsible to each other. Jimmy Porter, the lead character of Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, and Clyde Griffiths, the protagonist of An American Tragedy, are rebellious against all forms of bureaucracy and are not successful to materialize the “American Dream” (Adams, James Truslow, 1931) (1). They are popularly called the anti-heroes because unlike heroes they are successful in life, they are brought up in modest families and struggles for higher education, blames the social codes that are partly responsible for their failures, neither are they powerful enough to change the existing codes but only reveals their sarcastic vituperations. The last section of the essay deals with the philosophy of existentialism with reference to some texts.  The protagonists of these texts however influenced the masses because they became the paradigms of the millions who have tried hard but still failed to live up to their expectations.

Keywords

naturalism, new-historicism, positivism, anti-hero, existentialism.

Works Cited

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Positivism. (2021). Comte has stated, “Comte stated the idea that man is able to govern himself is what makes this stage innately different from the rest. There is no higher power governing the masses and the intrigue of any one person than the idea that he can achieve anything based on his individual free will and authority.” Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism#cite_note-32

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To cite this article

Gargi Bhattacharya. (2021). Naturalism in Dreiser & Osborne and Exploring the Existential Angst. John Foundation Journal of EduSpark, 3(2), 1-11.