Question

Instead of the romantic idealism of antebellum authors, Gilded Age America fostered a more ________________ way of looking at the world.

Answer 1

Answer: Realistic

Because before the American civil war (around 1850s), Romanticism was on its peak with the great authors like Henry Melville, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

After American civil war, which considered as the bloodiest wars in the history of the world, literature shifted from romanticism to realism. This realistic period was from 1870-1900 with the authors like Mark Twain and Henry James. Instead of romance, they wrote about real scenarios and political situations present that time in the society. This is known as Glided Age on the name of novel "The Glided Age: A tale of today" by Charles D. Warner.