Realism and Regionalism in "Spoon River Anthology"

Edgar Lee Masters really bears it all with his lengthy work titled "Spoon River Anthology," but this is not necessarily a bad thing because what he does throughout this composition is demonstrate characteristics of both Realism and Regionalism. Spoon River, Illinois's cemetery serves as the setting for the entire story, which serves as possibly the most important part in this collection of over two hundred individual monologues by different people (Cone). The setting serves as the only similar basis really out of all the people. Also, this setting reveals many traits included in the genre of Regionalism such as, the dialect, characters, and writing style. All of these traits in the stories stem off of the similar setting of the Midwest, which exhibits its culture through the people (Anderson).

The setting is probably the most important aspect of the story. Masters does not spend a great amount of time describing the cemetery in awesome detail, but the reader knows enough to have a good understanding. After all, the setting is a great determining and important factor in Regionalism (Anderson). As the story progresses, the setting, time as well as place, becomes more familiar to the reader, and moreover, it becomes more relevant (Masters).

As compared to the South, the Midwest does not truly have an accent of its own, but it is rather simple and neutral. All the characters in the story share this similar style in writing, or speaking as the case may be. This fact reveals the culture of sorts in the Midwest which has a direct correlation to the story's classification of Regionalism (Anderson). The lack of complexity in Masters's writing keeps the stories easy to follow, and in a way, it adds the the dull landscape of the Midwest. Of course, it is a stretch to say that Masters purposefully wrote without much dynamics in order to represent the setting better, but in the work of Regionalism, the setting is crucial.

Temple Cone suggests that throughout the story, there is an almost hidden Realistic theme of the difficulty of living in America in the twentieth century. It is indeed understandable that the reader may conclude this from the numerous viewpoints of the characters in the story, and if so, the composition exhibits Realism society in this way. Oftentimes, the writing of Realism details the current society as a whole in a realistic way no matter how subtle, and Masters does ultimately achieve this goal (Werlock). Going back to Regionalism, any theme that really stems off of the setting is very relevant to its Regionalism categorization (Anderson). This is because the setting is indirectly affecting the writing of the story in general because of the location, which is what the entire subgenre of Regionalism is based off of.

Overall, the work by Masters demonstrates Realism as well as Regionalism through its setting, tones, and characters' personalities and language. The small, Midwestern town in Illinois seems to be a great location to use simple language and convey a broader commentary on society from Masters (Cone). It is these characteristics though that actually tie this work into the more specific category of Regionalism.

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.

Cone, Temple. "Spoon River Anthology." In Kimmelman, Burt, and Temple Cone, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CTAP0520&SingleRecord=True. February 13, 2011.

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Spoon Rivers Anthology." Bartleby: Great Books Online. 2011. Online. http://www.bartleby.com/84/index.html. February 13, 2011.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.