Stephen Crane is most known for his novel The Red Badge of Courage, one of the most famous novels about the American Civil War, which: uplifting! (If by uplifting, you mean possibly the bleakest chapter in American history.) But what you may not know about Crane is that he is also considered to be one of the earliest, and most important, American Naturalists.

Crane was very interested in exploring the relationship between environmental forces and individual character. Too bad he died from tuberculosis at the tender age of 28. Guess the environmental force of tuberculosis didn't agree with his individual character: hey-o.

Oof. Too soon?

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893)

Crane's first novel wasn't a big success. In fact, Crane couldn't find a publisher for the novel so he decided to go ahead and publish it himself. (This is in the days before e-publishing—back then we couldn't just upload our novel to the Internet.)

While Maggie didn't do so well when it was first published by Crane, it's nevertheless considered to be an important Naturalist work. The novel is about a girl who grows up in the slums. Poverty—a topic that was very popular among the Naturalists—is a big theme in this book. Like other Naturalist works, this novel traces the effects of environment on character and deals with questions of fate and free will.

The Red Badge of Courage (1895)

Crane's most famous novel isn't just a great depiction of the Civil War. It is that, of course, and what's even more impressive is that Crane himself had no direct experience of the war, since it ended before he was born. But what he lacked in experience he made up for in imagination.

The Red Badge of Courage is also a great example of Naturalist fiction, because it's a study in the way that environment—in this case the extreme environment of war—shapes and warps character. Private Henry Fleming, the protagonist of the novel, finds himself thrown into the middle of the Civil War. The book traces the internal and external battles he's forced to live through as a result.

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Stephen Crane's novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, explores the effect of poverty on one girl's life. Delve into the novel here.

Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage is one of the most important novels about the American Civil War. It's also a great example of Naturalist fiction. Crane presents us with a pretty scientific picture of the horrors of war. Check out these quotations from the novel here.