ABSTRACT
Modernism found its first convincing dramatic expression in naturalism, in the plays of Ibsen and Chekhov, and soon in British plays, too. The tenets of naturalism were first expounded by Emile Zola who called for the rejection of ‘the tricks of the trade, the contrived formulas, the tears and superficial laughs’ and for their replacement by ‘the naturalistic formula which makes the stage a study and picture of real life’. In Britain, the new drama was always associated with other intellectual movements, such as the development of sociology in the work of people like Sidney and Beatrice Webb and the prescriptions and arguments of groups like the Fabian Society. British naturalist theatre aimed to be a force in society, relevant to everyday living, examining society in order to reform it. An integral part of Ibsen’s naturalism, but not Zola’s, was the use of symbols, and British naturalism followed Ibsen in this.
