French Literary Giants: Stendhal, Balzac, Flaubert, and Zola
Stendhal
Stendhal departed from romantic outbursts, creating cold and cerebral works based on analysis and observation. His ability to perceive the human soul and his clear and precise style, which he claimed to have learned in Idéologie, make him an initiator and master of the realistic movement. The Red and the Black is a psychological novel that recounts the futile attempt of a cynical and ambitious villager to ascend in high society.
Balzac
Balzac loved wealth, luxuries, and pleasures beyond his means, which obligated him to constantly write to settle his debts. He leaned towards political reactionaries, but in his work, he sometimes defended the throne and the altar as the basic pillars of society, while at other times, he identified with and criticized the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. He believed that a writer is obligated to provide readers with a complete panorama of society, which led to his enormous project, The Human Comedy.
Flaubert
Flaubert is considered not only the greatest novelist of the century but also the founder of contemporary novels. His ability to discover and describe the human soul, settings, and environments, combined with a despairing vision of life, a longing for objectivity, and an obsession with realistic style, sets him apart. This eagerness leads him to carefully document his work through observation of people and readings. His pursuit of objectivity makes him stand idly, neutral to conflicts, and highlights style in his novels, such as Salammbô and Madame Bovary.
Zola
Zola was the creator and leading representative of the naturalist school, which emerged from a deviation from realism and under ideological scientific currents. The writer meticulously examines what surrounds him, copying data to understand the biological heritage and the environment in which characters develop. Émile Zola was the most influential French author of his time, keenly showing the misery and luxuries of workers. He wrote 20 novels in the Rougon-Macquart series, but his best-known work is Germinal.
Poets of the Lake District
Coleridge was a man of great imagination and adventurous spirit. The friendship between Coleridge and Wordsworth resulted in Lyrical Ballads, a book that marks the beginning of Romanticism in England. Wordsworth sought inspiration in his poems from the beauty and everyday nature. Coleridge preferred mysterious, Satanic, and hallucinatory characters.
Second Generation Romantic Poets
The poets of the second generation made their life and work an act of rebellion against society and the era. They all died young or away from their homeland. Lord Byron gives his life to his poems, creating rebellious characters through which, with an eloquent and passionate style, he shows his contempt for society. Shelley, an idealist, was expelled from university and became a political agitator. Following the suicide of his wife, he moved to Italy and authored Frankenstein. Keats lacks the aura of the damned poets before him, although his humble origins and early orphanhood connect him with them. He died in Rome at age 26, poor and sick with tuberculosis, distressed by the poor reception of his books. Keats is considered the purest romantic poet, seeking beauty and capturing the most essential elements.