In what way did the serious art and literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries function as social criticism? What were these artists and writers criticizing?

Art: Realism; Ashcan school:

portraying the working conditions of lower class workers.

Literature: Horatio Alger, Mark Twain.

Naturalism, Common Men, And symbolism.

Colorful characters chased futile dreams, irony and humor to criticize upper-class ignorance, common speech to glorify the midwest.