Theatrical realism was a general
movement that began in the
19th-century theatre, around the 1870s, and remained present through much of the
20th century. It developed a set of dramatic and theatrical
conventions with the aim of bringing a greater fidelity of real life to texts and performances. Part of
a broader artistic movement, it shared many stylistic choices with
naturalism, including a focus on everyday (middle-class) drama, ordinary speech, and ordinary settings. Realism and naturalism diverge chiefly on the degree of choice that characters have: while naturalism believes in the overall strength of external forces over internal decisions, realism asserts the power of the individual to choose (see
A Doll's House).