Realism and Regionalism in "O Pioneers!" and "A Wagner Matinée"

Realism, and more specifically, Regionalism, is certainly displayed in both her short excerpt of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!" and her story "A Wagner Matinée." This Midwestern pioneer praising works displays many characteristics of Regionalism and Realism such as the American Dream according to this era and the focus of the Midwest region although "A Wagner Matinée" is even set in Boston (Cather "A" 521-526). The attention in which the Midwest receives is really what sets this work apart in Regionalism. Cather is generally know for this because she grew up in the prairie and typically praises its farmers and pioneers (Regionalism). The American Dream is very well represented in this short work as well. When we think of the typical American Dream, we think of immigrants coming to America to make a better life for themselves. However, this is more of a current view. This happens in this excerpt with the immigrant farmers coming into the Midwest; however, the American Dream of Realism is more than just that (Cather "O" 489). It focuses more on a middle class man who simply helps out his community or his fellow man by no large means, but he does enough (Anderson).

According to George Anderson, in writing of the Regionalism genre, the writer uses "detailed and dramatic portraits that draw on characteristic speech and manners." In this small excerpt as well as the story, Cather is very descriptive as well as detailed about her characters and setting which helps the reader to understand and comprehend just what the situation really is. This description is particularly of the Midwest land, which connects this literature even more to Regionalism. "The settlers sat about on the wooden sidewalks in the little town and told each other that the country was never meant for men to live in; the thing to do was to get back to Iowa, Illinois, to any place that had been proved habitable" (Cather "O" 489). This quote from Cather's excerpt really describes the harsh and fruitless land in which the pioneers were experiencing in the previously uninhabited Midwest such as Nebraska. Even though the setting of "A Wagner Matinée" is in Boston, the monotony of the landscape and dugout homes lived in by the settlers are described vividly (Cather "A" 521-526).

Of course, the Midwest does not really have a particular vernacular in which they speak, but it is more of an everyday, "normal" diction. This is what Cather uses, a simple, normal, vocabulary which what typically represent the Midwest region. This is characteristic of Regionalism as well to use the normal vernacular of the region so as to represent its culture (Anderson).

The American Hero of Realism is prevalent in both of these works. In these cases, it is a man who leads his family and whole homestead really to a new land to settle and prosper in no matter the risk. More specifically, the immigrant farmers in "O Pioneers!" search for new farm land, but they fail (Cather "O" 489). Since Realism attempts to show the way in which the world really is, this is a classic trait of the literary genre.

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True. February 13, 2011.

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinée." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 521-526. Print.

Cather, Willa. "O Pioneers!" Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 489. Print.

"Regionalism." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 488-489. Print.