Do you consider Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” to be a work of Realism or Naturalism? Why or why not?

To answer this question, one must have a complete
understanding of both the Realist movement and the Naturalistic
movement.

Realism, historically defined as "the faithful
representation of reality," typically focuses upon life of the middle-class. Evoked from
the disapproval of the previous period, Romanticism, Realism was focused upon scientific
methodology, history, and rational.

Naturalism is very
similar to Realism given its base in science. Naturalists considered themselves as
observers. One of the characteristics of Naturalism was the giving of power to nature
over mankind. Naturalists did not believe in free-will.Typically, Naturalists depicted
the lives of the lower class.

Many critics have found it
very difficult to distinguish Realism from Naturalism. Many have found that one
characteristic which defines the difference between Realism and Naturalism is the focus
upon the socio-economic class depicted.

Therefore, based
upon a distinction provided by David Pizer in The Cambridge Companion to
American Realism and Naturalism: Howells to London, one could define Gilman's
"The Yellow Wallpaper" as a work of Realism. The class depicted is far from that of the
lower-level working (and struggling) class. Solely based upon this one distinction, the
story is one written from the Realist perspective.