Realism: A Reaction to Romanticism     By the late 19th century, Romanticism, although still popular, was gradually losing its hold in America. Wallace’s Ben Hur and Burnett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy are examples of romantic works from this later period; but by this time, many of the original romantic and transcendentalist writers were dead, and a new generation had replaced them. The Realists stressed the flaws of modern life, choosing to write about life as they saw it, rather than idealizing or romanticizing their characters or plots. Realism was a reaction to industrialization, the Civil War, and the new discoveries of science, including the Theory of Evolution. Realist writers tended to be more pessimistic than their romantic predecessors. They thought that their function was to portray reality in their works the way it was, leaving a snapshot of their period for the benefit of posterity. By the turn of the century, Realism was the dominant force in American literature.     The American Realists in literature were few in number but quite influential, though the movement was quite important for art of the time period. Mark Twain, one of the leading realists, was responsible for many important works, including Huckleberry Finn, The Gilded Age, and The Innocents Abroad. In both his fiction and his nonfiction he remained ever interested in human nature. He gradually became more and more pessimistic and died a disillusioned, pessimistic man. William Dean Howells, a contemporary, was responsible for many novels dealing with urban upper-class life. And Henry James was responsible for subtle psychological portraits of people of his time and the society in which he dwelt, though James eventually became an expatriate. The movement’s excesses appeared in the form of naturalism, another movement of the late 19th century.