One of Auerbach’s primary revelations about literary realism throughout Western history is that literature has always reflected something about (or been a reflection of) the society within which it was written. Realism might typically be thought to refer to any literature that objectively portrays the real world, but Auerbach explores how texts can be “realistic” even when they portray something other than objective reality. Instead, critics can understand realism as expressing something vital about the society of a particular work’s author. As Said explains, “[t]he ‘representation’ of reality is taken by Auerbach to mean an active dramatic presentation of how each author actually realizes, brings characters to life, and clarifies his or her own world” (xx).

The so-called objective realism that might be expected by most readers requires the author to imbue both a sense of historiography and an awareness of the reality of social strata beyond his or her own, but Auerbach’s study reveals that these two concepts took quite some time to develop. In ancient times, he explains, historiography (or research into and interest in social and intellectual developments in history) is unknown. Antiquity “does not see forces [social or otherwise], it sees vices and virtues, successes and mistakes.