Realism And Materialism In The Characterization Of Galsworthy's First Trilogy

Characters have been one of the three fundamental elements of fiction ever since the novel came into existence as a form of literature. A group of successful characters like Soames, Irene, Young Jolyon, etc, are noticeably vivid and representative in John Galsworthy's first trilogy, The Forsyte Saga. The Forsytes, particularly represented by Soames, are regarded as representatives of the upper-middle class people in England of the period depicted in the trilogy, who not only own houses, stock shares, money and art pieces, but also consider life, and even wives, as part of property.As a realistic writer at the beginning of the 20th century, Galsworthy successfully depicted dozens of characters in this trilogy with two tendencies conspicuously demonstrated. On one hand, he inherited the realism of Victorian tradition, adopting various realistic methods to vividly portray the characters, including the description of complex characters and background, the application of irony and humor as criticism and the reflection of social changes. On the other hand, his characterization greatly shows the materialistic tendency under the influences of revolutionary changes at the turn of the century, which asserts itself in the author's material-oriented characterization and the dominance of materialism in characters. This thesis will be focused on the study of these two literary fashions reflected in the characterization of The Forsyte Saga.Apart from the introduction and the conclusion, there are three chapters in this thesis. In the introduction,a comparison is made between realism and materialism, and a brief introduction is given on the influences of English novel tradition and life experience of the author. In chapter two are generalized the characteristics of the characters in this trilogy. Chapter three is devoted to a detailed analysis on the realistic description of characters in the three novels respectively. Chapter four is focused upon the materialistic tendency of the characters and the characterization. Finally, merits and demerits of Galsworthy's characterization and its artistic and social significance are pointed out in the conclusion.