Dark Romanticism In Maggie, A Girl Of The Streets

The novella of Crane, “Maggie, a Girl of the Streets” is marked in the pages of the history as a naturalist story, which at the current time gains no attention from the public due to its inappropriate subject. When Crane was born, it was after some decades when the period of Dark Romanticism came to its end. The theme about break up of couple considered to improper at a first glance from the perspective of critics. While the speaker depicting urban society’s culture, and by the help of his characters, shows the darkest qualities and sides that dominate in NY. This period is well known as Gilded Age during which the middle-class shows up. The writers of the time besides dealing with the reality also pay attention to the anxious of people reaching

One may argue that it comes from her failed personality described in the book that is titled by her name. By telling the story, Crane argues that the cause of the fall of morals lie under the widespread drunkenness and low living standards. However, Maggie is not so strictly determined as it is narrated, "None of the dirt of Rum Alley seemed to be in her veins (Crane, 1979, p.40) ". Her character contains many contradictions, the most significant of which lies in the genesis of the observant beauty of her image. The beauty of her nature complements with her hopes to the better life. Her only downfall was her naïve attraction and inner wishes that built up more when she becomes enamored of Pete. Someone may say that the destruction starts by their engagement as before that time she got a job and was more well-determined. The environment hacks her and she ends up considered as a damaged good with her career of prostitution, splitting of family, and aftermath, the death. Even at the beginning Crane does not give Maggie’s bright future promises. She was living aside quietly in the storms and out of concentration on her character, which as a protagonist of the novella is not peculiar. Robert Tine writes, “By my count, Maggie - though she is the title character - has fewer than two dozen spoken lines in the entire book. She is passive […] and yet it is her silence (Tine, 2005, p.19).” Besides, her inner life stays not defined and for all her narrative centrality - the book itself bears her name, but after all, we know nothing about her feelings that push her to act in different situations. Moreover, one may find out that the uncertain death and incomplete endings are usual for the writers of that time because of the fact that the real life continues and tomorrow is vague. In such a way, it shakes the critical thinking and Crane gives each reader the opportunity to use