The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie, 1830-1871

1. Cultural Trends: From Romanticism to Realism - Literature (pp. 540)
Literature > Setting > Social environment
http://www.mhhe.com/HumanitiesStudio/5/4/2.html
Read the mid-nineteenth-century accounts by Charlotte Bronte and Hippolyte Taine (pp. 560-561). Their descriptions of places, events, and people are also historical documents that reveal the differences between classes in the mid-nineteenth century. Based on Bronte’s and Taine’s characterizations, what can you tell about their points of view regarding those whom they describe? Take a look at the explanation of point of view by clicking on the link above. How is point of view a concept that can apply to fictional narrative as well as non-fictional accounts such as these historical passages?

2. Cultural Trends: From Romanticism to Realism - Literature (pp. 542)
Literature > Point of View > Perspective
http://www.mhhe.com/HumanitiesStudio/5/4/2.html
Click on the link above to read a passage from the points of view of several characters in a story. The literary concept of point of view can be extended to discuss art as well. Edouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies Bergere (Fig. 18.8, p. 562) calls attention to its many points of view with an impossibly placed mirror. Other points of view in this painting include those of the man with the top-hat, the barmaid, the crowd, and even the viewer (implied by the barmaid’s stare out at us). Try writing an imaginative description from the points of view of those in this painting.