However, when describing the different ways in which the country and the city were depicted, it is not the case that rural novels were simply idyllic, pastoral reflections of a dying way of life. Equally, cities were not necessarily depicted as grimy, claustrophobic hell-holes, or even erudite, intellectually advanced, opulent and desirable communities. One can draw certain general conclusions about the representation of "city" and "country" but one must be careful to avoid over-simplification. This essay will seek to demonstrate the various ways by which rural and urban communities are observed in Realist and Naturalist novels, making comparisons and highlighting both similarities and differences where relevant. The essay will also concentrate on English novelists, bearing in mind that, to some extent at least, a dialogue was ongoing between the writers of that period.
Charles Dickens" Great Expectations (1861) tells the story of a boy's journey from the Kent countryside where he was brought up to the city of London, his adventures, successes and failures and his ultimate return to the place of his birth. The regular changes in the location of the narrative between the village on the Kent marshes where the major protagonist, Pip, grew up and the city of London allow us to make ready comparisons between Dickens" representations of the two places.
In the opening of the novel, Pip's home village is described by him as "this bleak place" in a "dark, flat wilderness". Immediately, one can identify that this "countryside" is far from being a pastoral paradise. The river is described as a "low, leaden line" and the sea as "the distant savage lair" (GE pp1, 2). Indeed, the physical nature of the village is best summarised in the ubiquity of the marsh mists which seem to seem to be a constant factor in Dickens" handling of the country-based episodes, adding to an overall feeling of fear and mystery.
