In spite of the book’s brevity, the lack of memorable characters or poignant soul-searching scenes, Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets marks an important point in American Literature. R. E. Spiller in The Literary History of the United States argues that with the publication of Maggie “modern American fiction was born” (1022). Most critics call Maggie America’s first naturalistic novel. Naturalism was to become one of the most important and pervasive literary movements of the early twentieth century. First popularized in France during the latter part of the nineteenth century, Emile Zola advanced this art form in his essay “The Experimental Novel”, a…
3591 words
Citation: Loges, Max Lester. "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 January 2019 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3773, accessed 22 November 2024.]