Realism in Wallace Stevens' Poetry

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to show how Wallace Stevens is handling realism to provide real pictures to the readers in his poems. Stevens rejects all notions of a fixed, stable reality. The external world, according to Stevens, is in a state of constant flux. As we are parts of this world, we can only affirm the reality by flowing with its flow. Poetry is the good embodiment of such a flowing. He rejects the orthodox Christian conception of paradise in favour of a secular paradise. The heavenly paradise as conceived by orthodox Christianity is only an illusion. Stevens, as a realist, gives objective presentation of details rather than a subjective concentration on personal feelings and imaginings. He presents unvarnished truth without regard to ideals or romance in his poems. There is a tendency to posit human beings in the center in his poems. Humans have a certain degree of free will that they can exercise to affect their situations. Therefore, Stevens' poems give the beautiful pictures of the socio-cultural realities of his time.