The concept of naturalism first arose in the 19th century and was an exciting and inspiring time that encouraged many playwrights to replicate reality on stage in a variety of ways. The emergence of naturalism was defined by a commitment to social criticism, scientific objectivism, and a rejection of romanticism. This was a movement inspired by the modification of a selection of reciprocal and natural sciences, particularly that of Darwin's attitude towards the function of nature in both art and literature in the mid-19th century. Romanticism was defined by the idea of ​​the "sublime", the "spontaneous overflow of emotion", as Wordsworth would put it, painting vivid pictures of what was considered good and, at times, how in touch humans were with the natural world that surrounded them. With the use of theatre, it gives the chance for playwrights to portray specific ideas in their performance; invoking particular ideas and questions directly to their audience as an attempt to influence people into considering what similarities there are in their everyday social lives. With naturalism, therefore, playwrights like Zola interact with real-life factors that influence his ideas, in order to show the importance and truth of how the environment and our interactions with it reflect the complex complexity of society and our choices. Arguably, it shows the truth of reality and why people may not be aware or willing to face its sadness. Realism, which analyzes the psychological responses of human beings to certain social or economic situations, seeks to describe certain subjects for what they are, while naturalism also looks at what underlying scientific meaning shaped how and showed what actions were taken, in formation of the topic. Although this was thought to be the deconstruction of naturalism, it was the French naturalist Emile Zola who led the movement, especially within his novel Thérèse Raquin (1867), which I will explain in more detail later. In his first essay Naturalism on stage (1881) Zola exclaims: “since the theater is a material reproduction of life, the external environment has always been a necessity there”. He further continues “the naturalistic movement brought about an increasingly perfect exactitude in stage scenes” demonstrating naturalism as an essential theatrical movement necessary to emphasize the real world for what it is. In this essay I will explore the functions in which naturalism engages playwrights to include the involvement of nature as a key principle in their works, whether it be a fascination with what the natural world holds, or simply how human nature is perceived , experienced. and reformed through exposure to the environment. This essay will also examine these different attitudes towards nature in light of the works produced, which will be examined alongside naturalistic interpretations in order to outline a spectrum of different ideas. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay It was in the preface of his novel that Zola bridged the gap between "the methodical and naturalistic criticism that imbued science, history and literature with "new life..." by highlighting its unheard of qualities in the society of era. He also comments on the fact that other “naturalist writers to whom I have the honor of belonging” have been forced by a certain group of critics to provide a “defense” for their great works, in which a defense must forcibly be madepreface. For Zola this is what he surrenders to, as he wishes to “ask forgiveness of those intelligent people” so that they fully understand the relevance of his novel in providing a basis for what is expected through his ideas. The novel itself is read as if there is no intact moral voice, which essentially traps the reader in a nightmare that they are forced to witness. Zola's novel represents the intrinsic barbarity of man and the depth at which a sort of bestial nature in which human beings risk degrading is revealed; there is the suggestion that the novel attacks the idea of ​​"civilized" man through the idea of ​​naturalism perhaps reconciling itself with the idea of ​​man as beast. It is interesting to note that, analyzing the characters of Therese and Laurent, their sexual nature undergoes a drastic change of pace and tone. What they actually build between them is not a traditionally romantic "emotional" type of love, but one of a masochistic nature. Their relationship is not one of passionate love, but shaped by the horrors of their actions. This extends even further, where their marriage loses its traditional roots; they become the murderous products of man surrendering his primordial self. When Therese and Laurent kill Camille, we readers are shocked by the act, but we are also helplessly complicit with the characters. They both derive a kind of dark, romantic thrill from their actions, which further explains that what was at first glance an early blossoming of love now comes to them as a form of desired adrenaline, filtered solely through the rush of excitement from part of them. murderous. As a result, their efforts are what catalyzes their eventual suicide which, in turn, sparks readers' need for relief after witnessing such horrific events. Zola even mentions in his preface to the novel that his intention was to: "study temperaments, not characters", highlighting how Therese and Laurent were not made to be seen as civilized but shaped to represent the potential of man who falls at such a critical point. Naturalism firmly supports two attitudes according to Stroud, one of which is what is essentially “naturalism as a view of what is so, or of the way things are, or of what is in the world. And there is naturalism as a way of studying or investigating what is so in the world.” He goes on to explain how naturalism firmly holds that there is nothing of real importance to the world except that of the natural world presented to us, which, arguably, may depend entirely on someone's view of the natural world to begin with. with; leading to the consideration that novelists and playwrights can only draw conclusions from actual direct experience or, at best, what the generic moral opinion is. Zola's novel seeks to further expand the relativity of the opposing issue of supernaturalism in what is considered his first naturalistic novel. The naturalistic guiding method that Zola sets out in his preface and in some of the main bodies of the novel are an attempt to unite the book as a whole. Interestingly, however, the text is read in a very misleading way, as the supernatural is instead described as the most integral element of events in the narrative, separate from what was supposedly intended as "naturalistic" such as: "subvert intent expressed as a reading effect.” Basically, the natural in the novel is shown overtly in terms of the supernatural, which undermines what Zola initially set out to portray physical world around them, giving them this.