Hard Times Europe began the nineteenth century dominated by the romanticists. The realists changed the face of Europe once more by the middle of the nineteenth century. The importance of science and the industrialization of Europe characterized their movement. Where the romanticists believed in feelings, intuition, and imagination, the realists believed in a movement known as positivism, which applied the scientific method to the study of society. The authors of this period also changed their style of writing by dealing with cultural representation and life. They focused on "the here and now, with everyday events, with his own environment and with