... and Marivaux, and many, many others-enable us to determine the essential characteristic feature of the new method, the fundamental distinction between it and all other literary movements. The essence of realism was social analysis, the study and depiction of the life of man in society, of social relations, the relationship between the individual and society, and the structure of society ... , is not a simple matter, and the degree of its originality or otherwise is never easy to determine; nevertheless a broad and necessarily summary comparison between the novel and previous literary form...

• Word Count: 3498
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate