OUR TOWN

Plot Overview

O

UR

T

OWN

is introduced and narrated by the Stage Manager, who welcomes the audience to

the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, early on a May morning in

1901. In

the opening scene, the stage is largely empty, except for some tables and chairs that represent

the homes of the Gibbs and Webb families, the setting of most of the action in Act I. The set

remains sparse throughout the rest of the play.

After the Stage Manager’s introduction, the activities of a typical day begin. How

ie Newsome,

the

milkman,

and

Joe

Crowell,

Jr.,

the

paperboy,

make

their

delivery

rounds.

Dr.

Gibbs

returns from delivering a set of twins at one of the homes in town. Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb

make breakfast, send their children off to school, and meet in their gardens to gossip. The two

women

also

discuss

their

modest

ambitions,

and

Mrs.

Gibbs

reveals

that

she

longs

to

visit

Paris.

Throughout

the

play,

the

characters

pantomime

their

activities

and

chores.

When

Howie

makes

his

milk

deliveries,

for

example,

no

horse

appears

onstage

despite

the

fact

that

he

frequently

addresses

his

horse

as

“Bessie.”

Howie

does

not

actually

hold

anything

in

his

hands,

but

he

pantomimes

carrying

bottles

of

milk,

and

the

sound

of

clinking

milk

bottles

comes

from

offstage.

This

deliberate

abandonment

of

props

goes

hand

in

hand

with

the

minimal set.

The Stage Manager interrupts the action. He calls Professor Willard and then Mr. Webb out

onto

the stage to

tell

the audience some basic

facts

about

Grover’s Corners. Mr. Webb not

only r

eports to the audience, but also takes questions from some “audience members” who are

actually characters in the play seated in the audience.

Afternoon arrives, school lets out, and George Gibbs meets his neighbor Emily Webb outside

the gate of her house.

We see the first inkling of George and Emily’s romantic affection for

one another during this scene and during Emily’s subsequent conversation with her mother.

The

Stage

Manager

thanks

and

dismisses

Emily

and

Mrs.

Webb,

then

launches

into

a

discussion of a time capsule that will be placed in the foundation of a new bank building in

town. He tells us that he wishes to put a copy of

Our Town

into this time capsule.

Now evening, a choir in the orchestra pit begins to sing “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds.” The

choir,

directed

by

the

bitter

yet

comical

choirmaster

Simon

Stimson,

continues

to

sing

as

George and Emily talk to each other through their open windows. Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Gibbs,

and

their

gossipy

friend

Mrs.

Soames

return

home

from

choir

practice

and

chat

about

the

choirmaster’s alcoholism. The women return to their respective homes. George and his sister

Rebecca sit at a window and look outside. Rebecca ponders the position of Grover’s Corners

within

the

vastness

of

the

universe,

which

she

believes

is

contai

ned

within

“the

Mind

of

God.” Night has fallen on Grover’s Corners, and the first act comes to an end.

Act II takes place three years later, on George and Emily’s wedding day. George tries to visit

his fiancé

e, but he is shooed away by Mr. and Mrs. Webb, who insist that it is bad luck for the

groom to see the bride-to-be on the wedding day anytime before the ceremony. Mrs. Webb

goes

upstairs to

make sure Emily

does not

come downstairs.

George is

left

alone with

Mr.

Webb. The young man and his future father-in-law awkwardly discuss marriage and how to

be a virtuous husband.

The

Stage

Manager

interjects

and

introduces

a

flashback

to

the

previous

year.

George

and

Emily are on their way home from school. George has just been elected class president and

Emily has just been elected secretary and treasurer. George has also become something of a

local

baseball

star.

Emily

tells

George

that

his

popularity

has

made

him

“conceited

and

stuck-

up.” George, though hurt, thanks Emily for her honesty, but Emily becomes mortif

ied

by her own words and asks George to forget them. The two stop at Mr. Morgan’s drugstore

for ice-cream sodas and, over the course of their drink, admit their mutual affection. George

decides

to

scrap

his

plan

of

attending

agriculture

school

in

favor

of

staying

in

Grover’s

Corners with Emily.

We return to the day of the wedding in 1904. Both the bride and groom feel jittery, but their

parents calm them down and the ceremony goes ahead as planned. The Stage Manager acts as

the clergyman. The newlyweds run out through the audience, and the second act ends with the

Stage Manager’s announcement that it is time for another intermission.

Act III takes place nine years later, in a cemetery on a hilltop overlooking the town. Emily has

died in childbirth and is about to be buried. The funeral party occupies the back of the stage.

The most prominent characters in this act, the dead souls who already inhabit the cemetery, sit

in chairs at the front of the stage. Among the dead are Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Soames, Wally Webb,

and Simon Stimson. As the funeral takes place, the dead speak, serving as detached witnesses.

Death has rendered them largely indifferent to earthly events. Emily joins the dead, but she

misses

her

previous

life

and

decides

to

go

back

and

relive

part

of

it.

The

other

souls

disapprove and advise Emily to stay in the cemetery.

With the aid of the Stage Manager, Emily steps into the past, revisiting the morning of her

twelfth birthday. Howie Newsome and Joe Crowell, Jr. make their deliveries as usual. Mrs.

Webb gives her daughter some presents

and calls to

Mr. Webb. As Emily

participates, she

also watches the scene as an observer, noting her parents’ youth and beauty. Emily now has a

nostalgic appreciation for everyday life that her parents and the other living characters do not

share. She becomes agonized by the beauty and transience of everyday life and demands to be

taken back to the cemetery. As Emily settles in among the dead souls, George lays prostrate

by

her

tomb.

“They

don’t

understand,”

she

says

of

the

living.

The

stars

come

out

over

Grover’s Corners, and the play ends.

Character List

Stage Manager

-

The host of the play and the dramatic equivalent of an omniscient narrator.

The Stage Manager exercises control over the action of the play, cueing the other characters,

interrupting their scenes with his own interjections, and informing the audience of events and

objects that we cannot see. Although referred to only as Stage Manager and not by a name, he

occasionally

assumes

other

roles,

such

as

an

old

woman,

a

druggist,

and

a

minister.

Interacting

with

both

the

world

of

the

audience

and

the

world

of

the

play’s

characters,

he

occupies a godlike position of authority.

George Gibbs

-

Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs’s son. A decent, upstanding young man, George is a

high school baseball star who plans to attend the State Agricultural School after high school.

His

courtship

of

Emily

Webb

and

eventual

marriage

to

her

is

central

to

the

play’s

limited

narrative action. Wilder uses George and Emily’s relationship to ponder the questions of love

and marriage in general.

Emily Webb

-

Mr. and Mrs. Webb’s daughter and Wally’s older sister. Emily is George’s

schoolmate and next-door neighbor, then his fiancé

e, and later his wife. She is an excellent

student and a conscientious daughter. After dying in childbirth, Emily joins the group of dead

souls in the local cemetery and attempts to return to the world of the living. Her realization

that human life is precious because it is fleeting is perhaps the central message of the play.

Dr. Gibbs

-

George’s father and the town doctor. Dr. Gibbs is also a Civil War expert. His

delivery

of

twins

just

before

the

play

opens

establishes

the

themes

of

birth,

life,

and

daily

activity. He and his family are neighbors to the Webbs.

Mrs. Gibbs

-

George’s mother and Dr. Gibbs’s wife. Mrs. Gibbs’s desire to visit Paris—

a

wish that is never fulfilled

—

suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents,

rather

than

waiting

for

things

to

happen.

At

the

same

time,

Mrs.

Gibbs’s

wish

for

the

luxurious trip ultimately proves unnecessary in her quest to appreciate life.

Mr. Webb

-

Emily’s father and the publisher and editor of the Grover’s Corners Sentinel.

Mr.

Webb’s

report

to

the

audience

in

Act

I

is

both

informative

and

interactive,

as

his

question-and-answer session draws the audience physically into the action of the play.

Mrs.

Webb

-

Emily’s

mother

and

Mr.

Webb’s

wife.

At

first

a

no

-nonsense

woman

who

does not cry on the morning of her daughter’s marriage, Mrs. Webb later shows her innocent

and caring nature, worrying during the wedding that she has not taught her daughter enough

about marriage.

Mrs. Soames

-

A gossipy woman who sings in the choir along with Mrs. Webb and Mrs.

Gibbs. Mrs. Soames appears in the group of dead souls in Act III. One of the few townspeople

we

meet

outside

of

the

Webb

and

Gibbs

families,

Mrs.

Soames

offers

a

sense

of

the

interrelated nature of the lives of the citizens of

Grover’s Corners.

Simon Stimson

-

The choirmaster, whose alcoholism and undisclosed “troubles” have been

the

subject

of

gossip

in

Grover’s

Corners

for

quite

some

time.

Wilder

uses

Mr.

Stimson’s

misfortunes to explore the limitations of small town life. Mr. Stimson appears in the group of

dead souls in Act III, having committed suicide by hanging himself in his attic. He is perhaps

most notable for his short speech in Act III, when he says that human existence is nothing but

“[i]gnorance and blindness.”

Rebecca Gibbs

-

George’s younger sister. Rebecca’s role is minor, but she does have one

very significant scene with her brother. Her remarks in Act I

—about the location of Grover’s

Corners in the universe

—

articulate an important theme in the play: if the town is a microcosm,

representative of the broader human community and the shared human experience, then this

human experience of Grover’s Corners lies at the center of a grand structure and is therefore

eternal.

Wally Webb

-

Emily’s younger brother. Wal

ly is a minor figure, but he turns up in Act III

among the group of dead souls. Wally dies

young, the result of a burst appendix on a Boy

Scout trip. His untimely death underscores the brief and fleeting nature of life.

Howie

Newsome

-

The

local

milkman.

Howie’s

reappearance

during

every

morning

scene

—

once each in Acts I, II, and III

—highlights the continuity of life in Grover’s Corners

and in the general human experience.

Joe Crowell, Jr.

-

The paperboy. Joe’s routine of delivering papers to the same p

eople each

morning

emphasizes

the

sameness

of

daily

life

in

Grover’s

Corners.

We

see

this

sameness

continue when Joe’s younger brother, Si, takes over the route for him. Despite this sameness,

however, each of the conversations Joe has while on his route is unique, suggesting that while

his activities are monotonous, daily life is not.

Si

Crowell

-

Joe’s

younger

brother,

also

a

paperboy.

Si’s

assumption

of

his

brother’s

former

job

contributes

to

the

sense

of

constancy

that

characterizes

Grover’s

Corners

throughout the play.

Professor Willard

-

A professor at the State University who gives the audience a report on

Grover’s Corners. Professor Willard appears once and then disappears. His role in the play is

to

interact

with

the

audience

and to

inform

the

atergoers of the specifics

of life in

Grover’s

Corners. His reference to Native Americans reflects Wilder’s understanding that the European

ancestors of the current population in Grover’s Corners replaced and extinguished the existing

Native American populations.

Constable

Warren

-

A local

policeman. Constable Warren keeps a watchful

eye over the

community.

His

personal

knowledge

of

and

favor

with

the

town’s

citizens

bespeaks

the

close-knit nature of the town.

Sam Craig

-

Emily Webb’s cousin, who has left Grover’s Corners to travel west, but returns

for her funeral in Act III. Though originally from the town, Sam has the air of an outsider. His

unawareness of the events that have occurred in Grover’s Corners during his absence parallels

the audience’s ow

n unawareness.

Joe Stoddard

-

The town undertaker. Joe prepares Emily’s grave and remarks on how sad it

is to bury young people. This statement emphasizes a theme that grows ever more apparent

throughout

the

play

and

receives

its

most

explicit

discussion

in

Act

III:

the

transience

of

human life.

Analysis of Major Characters

Stage Manager

An authoritative figure who resembles a narrator as he guides the audience through the play,

the Stage Manager is an unconventional character in the canon of dramatic literature. He is

not simply a character in the play. As his name suggests, he could be considered a member of

the crew staging the play

as

well. He exists

simultaneously in

two dramatic realms. At the

beginning of Act I, he identifies the play and the playwright, and introduces the director, the

producer, and the actors. Furthermore, every act

begins and ends with the Stage Manager’s

expositions and announcements. During each act, he frequently interrupts the play’s action for

the

purpose

of

cueing

another

scene,

providing

the

audience

with

pertinent

information,

or

commenting

on

what

has

just

happened

or

what

is

about

to

happen.

All

of

these

functions

suggest that even though the Stage Manager occupies center stage, he is neither an actor nor a

character, but rather someone who works behind the scenes.

But

while

the

Stage

Manager

occupies

a

position

outside

of

the

narrative

action

—

that

is,

outside of the play’s central plot—

he does occasionally assume the role of an inhabitant of

Grover’s Corners. For exampl

e, in Act

II, after

narrating the action, cuing a flashback, and

changing the set to prepare for the next scene, he steps directly into the plot and becomes Mr.

Morgan, the drugstore owner who serves ice-cream sodas to Emily Webb and George Gibbs.

The

Stage

Manager

is

just

as

adept

at

changing

sets

as

he

is

at

changing

roles,

and

this

versatility

enables

him

to

exist

both

within

the

world

of

Grover’s

Corners

and

within

the

world that the audience occupies. Wilder deliberately makes the Stage Manager’s locat

ion in

the play ambiguous, because it is precisely this ambiguity that allows the Stage Manager to

bridge the gap between the audience and the characters onstage.

The Stage Manager essentially plays the role of the audience’s guide. He breaks through the

fourth

wall

—

the

imaginary

barrier

between

the

audience

and

the

action

on

the

stage

—

to

facilitate

a

dialogue

between

the

audience

and

the

content

of

the

play.

Indeed,

through

the

Stage Manager, the interaction between the audience and the play actually becomes part of the

content of the play itself. It is not clear whether the Stage Manager is a native of the town or

an outsider who has been given a privileged view of Grover’s Corners. This ambiguity makes

him both familiar and mysterious and ultimately gives him a metaphorical role in the play,

hinting at the presence of a God. Although Our Town avoids discussion of religion, Wilder

hints that a spiritual force or entity manages human life in much the same way that the Stage

Manager

dictates

the

flow

of

this

play,

or

as

the

stage

manager

of

any

play

dictates

its

dramatic production. In any case, the Stage Manager makes great demands on the members of

the

audience

to

be

active

participants

in

the

play.

His

presence

blatantly

disobeys

the

theatrical convention that has traditionally separated the audience from the events onstage.

Emily Webb

Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?

—

every, every minute?

With the exception of the Stage Manager, Emily is Our Town’s most significant figure. Emily

and

George Gibbs’s courtship becomes the basis of the text’s limited narrative action—

these

two characters thus prove extremely significant

not only to the play’s events but also to its

themes.

In Act

I, Emily displays her affection for George by agreeing to

help him with his

homework. In Act

II, the play bears witness to

Emily’s marriage to George, and the

young

couple’s

wedding

becomes

emblematic

of

young

love.

In

Act

III,

when

the

play’s

themes

become fully apparent, Emily emerges as the primary articulator of these themes. After her

death, Emily joins the dead souls in the town cemetery and begins to view earthly life and

human

beings

from

a

new

perspective.

She

realizes

that

the

living

“don’t

understand”

the

importance

of

human

existence.

After

reliving

her

twelfth

birthday,

Emily

sees

that

human

beings

fail

to

recognize

the

transience

of

life

and

to

appreciate

it

while

it

lasts.

This

conclusion, which Emily expresses in her agonized wish to leave her birthday and return to

the

cemetery,

encapsulates

the

pl

ay’s

most

important

theme:

the

transience

of

individual

human lives in the face of general human and natural stability.

George Gibbs

Well, I think that’s just as important as college is, and even more so. That’s what I think.

If

Emily

displays

an

awareness

—

even

if

only

after

death

—

of

the

transience

of

human

existence, George Gibbs lives his life in the dark. George is an archetypal all-American boy.

A local

baseball star and the president

of his

senior class in

high school,

he also

possesses

innocence

and

sensitivity.

He

is

a

good

son,

although

like

many

children

he

sometimes

neglects his chores. George expects to inherit his uncle’s farm and plans to go to agriculture

school; he ultimately scraps that plan, however, in favor of remaining in Grover’s Corner

s to

marry Emily. Indeed, all of George’s achievements prove less important to him than Emily.

She is

George’s

closest

neighbor since early childhood, and he declares

his

love for her in

all-American fashion, over an ice-cream soda.

The

revelation

of

Emily

’s

death

at

the

start

of

Act

III

draws

attention

to

the

thematic

significance

of

George’s

life.

The

fact

that

George

lays

down

prostrate

at

Emily’s

grave

vividly illustrates Wilder’s message that human beings do not fully appreciate life while they

live

it

.

The

group

of

dead

souls

looks

on

George’s

prostrate

body

with

confusion

and

disapproval,

and

Emily

asks,

rhetorically,

“They

don’t

understand,

do

they?”

Instead

of

mourning for his lost wife, the dead suggest, George should be enjoying his life and the lives

of

those

around

him

before

he

too

dies.

Wilder

forces

the

audience

to

pity

George,

partly

because of the tragedy he has suffered in Emily’s death, but also because he epitomizes the

human tragedy of caring too much about things that cannot change. At the same time, seeing

George’s

pitiable

condition,

we

realize

that

the

dead

souls’

demand

that

George

stifle

his

emotions

is

difficult,

if

not

impossible.

In

this

light,

Wilder

implies

that

perhaps

the

demanding dead souls “don’t understand” either.

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

Themes

：

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Transience of Human Life

Although Wilder explores the stability of human traditions and the reassuring steadfastness of

the

natural

environment,

the

individual

human

lives

in

Our

Town

are

transient,

influenced

greatly by the rapid passage of time. The Stage Manager often notes that time seems to pass

quickly for the people in the play. At one point, having not looked at his watch for a while,

the

Stage

Manager

misjudges

the

time,

which

demonstrates

that

sometimes

even

the

timekeeper himself falls victim to the passage of time.

In light of the fact that humans are powerless to stem the advance of time, Wilder ponders

whether human beings truly appreciate the precious nature of a transient life. Act I, which the

Stage

Manager

entitles

“Daily

Life,”

testifies

to

the

artfulness

and

value

of

routine

daily

activity.

Simple

acts

such

as

eating

breakfast

and

feeding

chickens

become

subjects

of

dramatic scenes, indicating the significance Wilder sees in such seemingly mundane events.

Wilder

juxtaposes

this

flurry

of

everyday

activity

with

the

characters’

inattentiveness

to

it.

The

characters

are

largely

unaware

of

the

details

of

their

lives

and

tend

to

accept

their

circumstances

passively.

The

Gibbs

and

Webb

families

rush

through

breakfast,

and

the

children

rush

off

to

school,

without much

attention

to

one

another.

They,

like

most

human

beings, maintain the faulty assumption that they have an indefinite amount of time on Earth.

Mrs. Gibbs refrains from insisting that her husband take her to Paris because she thinks there

will always be time to convince him later.

The dead souls in Act III emphasize this theme of transience, disapproving of and chastising

the

living

for

their

“ignorance”

and

“blindness.”

The

dead

even

view

George’s

grief

and

prostration upon Emily’s grave as a pitiable waste of human time. Instead of grieving for the

dead, they believe, the living should be enjoying the time they still have on Earth.

The medium of theat

er perfectly suits Wilder’s intent to make ordinary lives and actions seem

extraordinary, as the perspective of the dead souls parallels the audience’s perspective. Just as

the

dead

souls’

distance

finally

enables

them

to

appreciate

the

daily

events

in

Grover’s

Corners,

so

too

does

the

audience’s

outsider

perspective

render

daily

events

valuable.

We

have never before witnessed a Gibbs family breakfast, and when the scene is dramatized on

the stage, we see it as significant. Indeed, every action on the stage becomes significant, from

Howie Newsome’s milk delivery to the town choir practice.

The Importance of Companionship

Because birth and death seem inevitable, the most important stage of life is the middle one:

the quest for companionship, friendship, and love. Humans have some degree of control over

this

aspect

of

life.

Though

they

may

not

be

fully

aware

of

their

doing

so,

the

residents

of

Grover’s Corners constantly take time out of their days to connect with each other, whether

through

idle

chat

with

the

milkman

or

small

talk

with

a

neighbor.

The

most

prominent

interpersonal relationship in the play is a romance

—

the courtship and marriage of George and

Emily

—

and

Wilder

suggests

that

love

epitomizes

human

creativity

and

achievement

in

the

face of the inevitable advance of time.

Though romance is prominent in

Our Town

, it is merely the most vivid among a wide range

of bonds that human beings are capable of forging. Wilder depicts a number of different types

of relationships, and though some are merely platonic, all are significant. From the beginning

of Act I, the Stage Manager seeks to establish a relationship with the audience, which forges a

tie between the people onstage and the audience offstage. Within the action of the play, we

witness

the

milkman

and

the

paperboy

chatting

with

members

of

the

Gibbs

and

Webb

families as they deliver their goods. The children walk to and from school in groups or pairs.

Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb, next-door neighbors, meet in their yards to talk. We glimpse Mr.

and Mrs. Webb and Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs in private conversation. As Mrs. Gibbs articulates,

“Tain’t natural to be lonesome.”

Even

the

play’s

title—using

the

collective

pronoun

“[o]ur”—

underscores

the

human

desire

for

community.

Many

aspects

of

the

play

attest

to

the

importance

of

community

and

companionship:

the

welcoming

introduction

from

the

Stage

Manager;

the

audience

participation, through the placement among the audience of actors within the audience who

interact

with

those

onstage;

and

the

presence

of

numerous

groups

in

the

play,

such

as

the

choir, the wedding party, the funeral party, and the group of dead souls.

The Artificiality of the Theater

Wilder

does

not

pretend

that

his

play

represents

a

slice

of

real

life.

The

events

that

occur

onstage

could

easily

be

moments

in

real

lives

—

a

milkman

delivers

milk,

a

family

has

a

hurried

weekday

breakfast,

two

young

people

fall

in

love

—

but

Wilder

undermines

this

appearance of reality by filling the play with devices that emphasize the artificiality of theater.

The Stage Manager is the most obvious of these devices, functioning as a sort of narrator or

modernized Greek chorus who comments on the play’s action while simultaneously involving

himself in it. The Stage Manager speaks directly to the audience and acknowledges our lack

of familiarity with Grover’s Corners and its inhabitants. He also manipulates the passage of

time, incorporating flashbacks that take us

—

and the characters

—

back in time to relive certain

significant moments. These intentional disruptions of the play’s chr

onology prevent us from

believing that what we see onstage could be real. Rather, the life we see on the stage becomes

merely

representative

of

real

life,

and

is

thus

a

fair

target

for

Wilder’s

metaphorical

and

symbolic

manipulation.

Wilder’s

parallel

posi

tioning

of

the

realm

of

the

play

and

the

real

world implies a separation between the two. However, rather than distance the audience from

the events on the stage, Wilder acknowledges the artificial nature of the stage and thus bridges

the gap between the audience

and the onstage events.

This

closeness

between the

audience

and the story forces the audience to identify more fully with the characters and events.

Motifs

：

Motifs

are

recurring

structures,

contrasts,

or

literary

devices

that

can

help

to

develop and inform the text’s major themes.

The Stages of Life

The division of the play’s narrative action into three acts reflects Wilder’s division of human

life into three parts: birth, love and marriage, and death. The play opens at the dawn of a new

day

with

a

literal

birth:

at

the

very

beginning

of

Act

I,

we

learn

that

Dr.

Gibbs

has

just

delivered twins. Act II details George and Emily’s courtship and marriage. Act III

features a

funeral and delves into the possibilities of an afterlife. The overall arc of the story carries the

audience from the beginning of life to its end. Our observation of the lives of the Gibbs and

Webb

families,

condensed

into

a

few

short

hours,

leads

us

to

realize

that

the

human

experience,

while

multifaceted,

is

nevertheless

brief

and

precious.

Indeed,

Wilder

demonstrates

how

quickly

the

characters

proceed

from

stage

to

stage.

George

and

Emily

marry in Act II, but they appear just as nervous and childish as they do in Act I. The second

stage of life has snuck up on them. This intermingling of the stages of life recurs later, when

the

second

stage

of

Emily’s

life,

her

marriage,

is

suddenly

cut

short

when

she

dies

in

childbirth.

Natural Cycles

While

Our Town

spans the course of many years, from 1899 through 1913, it also collapses

its events into the span of one day. It opens with a morning scene and ends with a nighttime

scene:

Act

I

begins

just

before

dawn,

and

Act

III

ends

at

11

P.M.

The

play

also

metaphorically spans the course of a human life, tracing the path

from birth in Dr. Gibbs’s

delivery of twins in the opening scene, to death in Emily’s funeral in the final scene. The span

of a life parallels the span of the day: birth is related to dawn, and death is related to night.

Wilder’s

attention

to

natural

cycles

highlights

his

themes

of

the

transience

of

life

and

the

power of time. While a single human life comprises only one finite revolution from birth to

death, the world continues to spin, mothers continue to give birth, and human beings continue

to exist as just one part of the universe.

Morning

Morning

scenes

are

prominent

in

each

of

the

play’s

three

acts:

Act

I

depicts

the

ordinary

morning activities of the townspeople, Act

II portrays

the

Gibbs and Webb families on the

morning of Emily and George’s wedding, and Act III includes Emily’s return to the morning

of her twelfth birthday. Despite differences in context and circumstance, each morning scene

appears

strikingly

similar

to

the

others,

which

emphasizes

the

lack

of

change

in

Grover’s

Corners.

In

each

of

the

three

scenes,

Howie

Newsome

delivers

milk

and

a

Crowell

boy

delivers newspapers. Yet while stability is clearly a feature of life in the town, Wilder shows

that

it

often

leads

to

indifference.

Because

each

day

appears

more

or

less

the

same

as

the

previous

one,

the

townspeople

fail

to

observe

or

appreciate

the

subtle,

life-affirming

peculiarities each day brings.

Wilder treats each of the three mornings differently, which highlights the subtle differences

between

them.

He

presents

the

first

morning

as

merely

an

average

day,

but

as

foreign

observers,

we

appreciate

the

novelty

of

the

experience.

On

the

morning

of

the

wedding,

Wilder

shows

how

impending

events

disturb

the

morning

rituals

and

create

a

unique

experience. Lastly, Wilder presents the morning of Emily’s twelfth birthday through the eyes

of

her

dead

soul,

a

perspective

that

gives

the

morning

a

truly

extraordinary

and

beautiful

transience.

Wilder

implies

that

though

mundane

routines

and

events

may

generally

be

repetitive, the details are what make life interesting and deserve attention.

The Manipulation of Time

Events do not progress

chronologically in

Our Town

. The Stage Manager has the ability to

cue

scenes

whenever

he

wishes,

and

can

call

up

previous

moments

in

the

lives

of

the

characters at will. The most prominent of these manipulations of time are the flashbacks to Mr.

Morgan’s soda fountain and to Emily’s twelfth birthday. Wilder explicitly shuffles the flow of

time within the play to engage, please, and inform his audience in three ways. First, Wilder

uses the lack of chronological order to engage his audience by overturning their expectations

of the theater. As opposed to showing us the progression of a day, or of a life, Wilder shows

us

disparate

moments,

reordering

them

in

a

way

that

best

reflects

his

—

and

the

Stage

Manager’s—philosophical

themes.

Second,

the

Stage

Manager’s

informal

treatment

of

the

flow of time adds to the play’s pleasing conversational tone. The Stage Manager’s desire to

flash back to George and Emily’s first date at the drugstore makes him seem just as curious

about the origins of the couple’s relationship as we are. Third, by including flashbacks within

a linear narrative, Wilder reminds the audience how swiftly time passes. The characters spend

precious

time

flashing

back

in

their

own

minds,

appreciating

past

moments

in

retrospect

rather than recognizing the value of moments as they occur in the present.

Symbols

：

Symbols

are

objects,

characters,

figures,

or

colors

used

to

represent

abstract

ideas or concepts.

The Time Capsule

In

Act

I,

the

Stage

Manager

briefly

mentions

a

time

capsule

that

is

being

buried

in

the

foundation of a new building in town. The citizens of Grover’s Corners wish to include the

works of Shakespeare, the Constitution, and the Bible; the Stage Manager says he would like

to throw a copy of

Our Town

into the time capsule as well. The time capsule embodies the

human desire to keep a record of the past. Accordingly, it also symbolizes the idea that certain

parts of the past deserve to be remembered over and above others. Wilder wishes to challenge

this latter notion. He has the Stage Manager place

Our Town

into the capsule so the people

opening it in the future will not only appreciate the daily lives of the townspeople from the

past, but also their own daily lives in the future.

The

self-referential

notion

of

placing

the

play

into

the

time

capsule

also

carries

symbolic

weight.

The

fact

that

Our

Town

is

actually

mentioned

within

Our

Town

clearly

shows

Wilder’s intent to break down the wall that divides the world of the play from the world of the

audience. By mentioning his own play within his play, Wilder acknowledges that his text is

artificial, a literary creation. Even more important, ho

wever, the Stage Manager’s wish to put

the play into the capsule lends historic significance to the audience’s watching of

Our Town

.

He

implies

that

even

the

current

production

of

the

play

—

its

sets,

lights,

actors,

and

audience

—

is in itself an important detail of life.

Howie Newsome and the Crowell Boys

Each of the three morning scenes in

Our Town

features the milkman, Howie Newsome, and a

paperboy

—

either

Joe

or

Si

Crowell.

Throughout

the

play,

the

Stage

Manager

and

other

characters,

such

as

Mr.

Webb

in

hi

s

report

in

Act

I,

discuss

the

stability

of

Grover’s

Corners

—

nothing

changes

much

in

the

town.

Howie

and

the

Crowell

boys

illustrate

this

constancy

of

small

town

life.

They

appear

in

1901,

just

as

they

do

in

1904

and

in

the

flashback to 1899. Because Grove

r’s Corners is Wilder’s microcosm of human life in general,

Howie and the Crowells represent not only the stability of life in Grover’s Corners, but the

stability of human life in general. The milkman and the paperboys embody the persistence of

human life and the continuity of the human experience from year to year, from generation to

generation.

Moreover,

the

fact

that

Si

replaces

his

brother

Joe

shows

that

the

transience

of

individual

lives

actually

becomes

a

stabilizing

force.

Growing

from

birth

toward

death,

humans show how the finite changes in individual lives are simply part of stable cycles.

The Hymn “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”

A choir sings the hymn “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” in the background three different

times

throughout

the

play.

In

part,

the

repetition

of

the

song

emphasizes

Wilder’s

general

notion of stability and tradition. However, the Christian hymn primarily embodies Wilder’s

belief that the love between human beings is divine in nature. The “tie” in the song’s lyrics

refers to both the tie between humans and God and the ties among humans themselves.

The

three

scenes

that

include

the

hymn

also

prominently

feature

Emily

and

George,

highlighting the “tie that binds” the two of them. The first instance of the song comes during a

cho

ir practice, which occurs simultaneously

with

George and Emily’s conversation through

their open windows in Act I. The second instance comes during the wedding ceremony in Act

II. The third instance comes during Emily’s funeral, as her body is interred and

she joins the

dead

in

the

cemetery,

leaving

George

behind.

By

associating

this

particular

song

with

the

play’s

critical

moments,

Wilder

foregrounds

the

notion

of

companionship

as

an

essential,

even divine, feature of human life. The hymn may add some degree of Christian symbolism to

the

play,

but

Wilder,

for

the

most

part,

downplays

any

discussion

of

specifically

Christian

symbols. He concentrates on the hymn not because of its allusion to the fellowship between

Christians in particular, but rather because of what it says about human beings in general.

Act I: Part one

Part one: From the beginning of the Act through Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb’s conversation

in the garden

Summary

The play opens with a view of an empty, curtainless, half-lighted stage. The Stage Manager

enters and arranges minimal scenery

—

a table and three chairs

—

to represent two houses, one

on each side of the stage. The houselights dim as the Stage Manager moves about the stage.

When the theater is completely dark, he introduces the play, naming the playwright, producers,

director,

and

cast.

He

then

identifies

the

setting:

the

town

of

Grover’s

Corners,

New

Hampshire, just before dawn on May 7, 1901.

The

Stage

Manager

speaks

directly

to

the

audience

as

he

maps

out

local

landmarks.

The

audience

must

use

its

imagination,

since

the

minimalist

set

does

not

detail

any

of

these

landmarks, which include Main Street, the public schools, Town Hall, and several churches.

The Stage Manager explains

that the two sets of tables and chairs denote the homes of

the

Gibbs

family

and

the

Webb

family.

As

he

speaks,

his

assistants

wheel

out

two

trellises

to

represent the back doors of Mrs. Webb’s and Mrs. Gibbs’s homes. “There’s some scenery for

those who think they have to have scenery,” the Stage Manager comments.

He mentions that

the 5:45

A

.

M

. train to Boston is just about to depart. A train whistle blows offstage and the

Stage Manager looks at his watch, nodding.

As dawn breaks over Grover’s Corners, the Stage Manager proceeds to introduce the audience

to

the

town

’s

inhabitants.

We

witness

the

beginning

of

a

new

day

in

the

Webb

and

Gibbs

households

and

observe

the

morning

activities

of

the

two

families

and

a

few

other

townspeople. The characters pantomime many of their actions due to the absence of props and

scenery.

Mrs.

Webb

and

Mrs.

Gibbs

enter

their

respective

kitchens,

light

their

stoves,

and

begin

making

breakfast.

The

Stage

Manager

informs

the

audience

that

both

Dr.

Gibbs

and

Mrs. Gibbs have died since 1901, when this scene originally took place.

Dr.

Gibbs,

o

n

his

way

home

from

delivering

a

local

woman’s

twin

babies,

stops

to

chat

briefly

with

the

paperboy,

Joe

Crowell,

Jr.

They

discuss

the

upcoming

marriage

of

a

local

schoolteacher.

Dr.

Gibbs

stands

in

the

street

and

reads

the

paper

as

Joe

exits.

The

Stage

Manager

interrupts

the

immediate

action

to

inform

the

audience

that

Joe

would

go

on

the

become the brightest boy in high school and study at Massachusetts Tech. Well on his way to

becoming a successful engineer, Joe would be killed in France during World War I.

Howie Newsome, the milkman, enters with an invisible horse. Howie stops to converse with

Dr. Gibbs, who gives him the news of the twins’ birth. After Howie delivers his milk to the

Gibbs residence, Dr. Gibbs goes inside and greets his wife, who has made coffee for him. Mrs.

Gibbs asks her husband to speak to their teenage son, George, about helping around the house

more often. Next door, Mrs. Webb calls her children

—

Emily and Wally

—

down to breakfast.

In the Gibbs household, George and his sister, Rebecca, enter the kitchen and sit at the table.

Both pairs of children chatter over breakfast, then go outside, meet in the street, and hurry off

to school together.

Left alone, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb go outside into their gardens. The two women see each

other and come together for a chat. Mrs. Gibbs tells Mrs. Webb that she has some news: a

traveling secondhand furniture salesman recently offered her the hefty sum

of $$350 for her

highboy, an old piece of furniture. The women discuss whether Mrs. Gibbs should accept the

offer and what she would do with the money. Mrs. Gibbs says that if she does decide to sell

the highboy, she hopes to live out the “dream of [her] life” and travel to Paris for a visit. Her

excitement is tempered, however, by the fact that Dr. G

ibbs has already told her that “traipsin’

about Europe” might make him disheartened with Grover’s Corners, and thus thinks a trip to

Paris might be a bad idea. Mrs. Gibbs says that her husband only cares about going to Civil

War battlefields. Mrs. Webb remarks that her husband, an eager student of Napoleonic history,

greatly admires Dr. Gibbs’s Civil War expertise. At this point, the Stage Manager interrupts

abruptly and tips his hat to the two women, who nod in recognition. He thanks the two ladies,

and they return to their houses and disappear from the stage.

Analysis

As

its

title

suggests,

Our

Town

is

a

play

about

a

typical

town

—

in

this

case,

a

typical

American town. The Stage Manager tells us that we are peering in on Grover’s Corners, New

Hampshire,

but

we

get

the

feeling

that

we

could

be

in

any

small

American

town.

The

introduction

—wherein the Stage Manager acquaints us with the town’s layout, its people, and