Our Town by Thorton Wilder

Introduction

In Thorton Wilder's "Our Town", universal human themes are explored by looking at the daily lives of the citizens of Grover's Corners, an imaginary location in New Hampshire which Wilder uses to represent the average American small town. Through witnessing the everyday occurrences of common people much like ourselves and those we know, we become more aware of what we've always sensed about life, but which has often been swept under the rug by our own business and daily concerns. Rather than using esoteric and foreign concepts to communicate his ideas, Wilder more effectively speaks to us in a language that we all understand, that exists at the most practical level of our existence: the daily events that repeat themselves over and over throughout our lives. (Joseph, 121)

Our Town by Thorton Wilder

The play starts out with just the stage manager, who serves as the narrator of the story. He explains the scenery and gives the setting for the first, second, and third acts, and even does a little acting. The first act deals with a full day in Grover's Corners, starting with the morning and ending with at night. The first act serves to introduce each character and their individual personalities. It also sets the stage for the second act. The second act deals with growing up and falling in love. This is where the two main characters (George and Emily) evolve to be more important than the other characters in the story line. This act ends with the marriage of these two characters. The third act bears a striking contrast to the other two acts, which are relatively happy in nature. The third act leaves us with a puzzling question, in which the answer lies in our own interpretation. (Joseph, 121)

Wilder makes the audience aware of the role of women in the play by making them appear traditional and as they stay at home all the time, it seems they are only house wives that never leave the house to socialize with anyone outside the immediate community. One of the women's roles in the play would be to look after the health of the family. Mrs. Gibbs is found in her garden stringing beans for the winter. Beans are very healthy and are good for people to eat. This also shows that the stereotypically women would be the member of the family that would most, if not all, (Wilder, 15) of the cooking. She knows that her two children don't like them, but she notices that they manage to eat them in winter. This shows that they have grown up eating whatever their mother cooks for them as they know that the mother would only give them food that is good for them. This shows that the mother looks after the children's health and that the cares enough about them that they don't go hungry. Women are generally more concerned about their health as Mrs. Webb talks to Mrs. Gibb about a slight cold that ...