Criticism and Fiction
1891
Published in 1891, 'Criticism and Fiction' by William Dean Howells is a critical examination of literary theory and aesthetics. The book explores the relationship between art and literature, questioning the criteria for evaluating artistic merit amidst changing tastes. Howells advocates for realism in literature, emphasizing the importance of truth and sincerity over idealized portrayals. He critiques prevailing literary standards and argues that meaningful art should reflect genuine human experience rather than conform to superficial fashions.
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“I hope the time is coming when not only the artist, but the common, average man, who always 'has the standard of the arts in his power,' will have also the courage to apply it, and will reject the ideal grasshopper wherever he finds it, in science, in literature, in art, because it is not 'simple, natural, and honest,' because it is not like a real grasshopper. But I will own that I think the time is yet far off, and that the people who have been brought up on the ideal grasshopper, the heroic grasshopper, the impassioned grasshopper, the self-devoted, adventureful, good old romantic card-board grasshopper, must die out before the simple, honest, and natural grasshopper can have a fair field.””
— William Dean Howells
