Our Town | Study Guide

Thornton Wilder

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Our Town | Infographic

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

our-town-thornton-wilderThe CornerstoneRepresents the preservation of the message about the importance of everyday life The Milkman & Paper BoySymbolize life’s permanence and transienceSymbolsHeliotropeAs it comes up in conversation, highlights the value of forming connections through ordinary objectsIt’s 1910 in the small New England town of Grover’s Corners. Neighbors Emily and George grow up, fall in love, and marry. It’s all perfectly ordinary—until Emily dies in childbirth. Given the chance to relive a single childhood day, Emily sees too late the beauty that underlies even our most trivial moments on Earth.A Universe in Each Moment We LiveTHEMESTimeFlashbacks and foreshadowing make the point that life and death are nearly simultaneous because time passes so rapidly. Value of LifeEven small daily events have value when you think about how brief life can be.MinimalismOur Town’s minimal stagecraft strips the play of traditional artifice, making its message universal. Main CharactersMr. WebbEmily’s informative father; edits town newspaper Simon StimsonTroubled church organist; commits suicideDr. GibbsSmall-town doctor; George’s father Joe StoddardTown undertakerGeorge GibbsFaithful and decent husband; becomes a farmerEmily Webb GibbsGeorge’s sweetheart and then wife; dies in childbirthStage ManagerOmniscient, plainspoken narrator; also plays the minister MorningMotifs“Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”All three acts of the play open in the morning, representing the natural cycle that begins each day and the town's consistency. The lyrics of this traditional Protestant hymn underscore Wilder’s message about the importance of human connection. Sources: Biography.com, Modern American Drama on Screen edited by William Robert Bray and R. Barton Palmer, Playbill.com, PBS,Sinatra in Hollywood by Tom Santopietro, Thornton Wilder: A Lifeby Penelope Niven, ThorntonWilder.comCopyright © 2016 Course Hero, Inc.As a playwright, teacher, scholar, author, and actor, Wilder crossed boundaries to share his passion with the world, earning three Pulitzers: two for plays and one for a novel. Our Town’s sad, honest portrayal of American life has made it a classic that still appeals to audiences.THORNTON WILDER1897–1975AuthorOur Townby the NumbersFeet off the Atlantic Coast (in the ocean) that Grover’s Corners’s coordinates would actually place it1,000Performances in the play’s premiere run at Henry Miller’s Theatre in New York336Year a live musical version of the play was telecast, starring Frank Sinatra as the Stage Manager1955o any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?Emily, Act IIIThornton Wilder1938EnglishPlayAuthorFirst PerformedOriginal LanguageOur TownDrama
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