both groups focused on being true and real to themselves. Instead of beautifying life and focusing on nature like the romantics did, they wrote and created art about the reality of life. The realistis movement gained lots of attention after the civil war. It opposes the ideas of romantic writers. Both artists and writers wanted their work to depict emotion in the viewer. The difference was the purpose. Artists created art to express how they felt, and the writers wrote lit. to express their thoughts and bring change.
