Monday, June 6, 2011

How does dramatic monologue reveal the character of one of the protagonists in the Spoon River Anthology poem?

Dramatic Monologue reveals the character of every speaker in this poetry anthology.  In dramatic monologue, one person speaks his/her thoughts aloud and through what he/she says (or sometimes doesn't say) and does, the reader gets a feel for who the speaker is as a person.

The anthology is a collection of short poems about citizens of Spoon River.  In all the small "stories," the reader learns about each of these citizens from a single member of the town.  The speaker tells us about others buried in the cemetary--what he/she did for a living, how he/she conducted his time on earth, how others felt about him/her, and sometimes how he/she died.

The speaker allows us to see into the lives of the characters of this small town, and reveals their juicy secrets.  The author exposes stories of corruption, disappointments, sins, failures, and occassionally some goodness which surrounded the former inhabitants of the town, now buried on The Hill.

 

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