Summary:
A rendition of Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" and an analysis of how the play celebrates the extraordinary aspects of daily life and emphasizes the immorality of taking each day for granted.
The first act of "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder, titled A Day In The Life, is a rendition of the daily routines taken on by the residents of a small New Hampshire town. Set in the early 1900s in Grover's Corners, the play transpires a busy morning with several characters and families, dictated by the stage manager. The narrator initially points out the 'scenery' on the stage at sunrise and introduces Joe Crowell, Jr. and Dr. Gibbs as they chat idly on their way. Joe Jr. is delivering the morning paper and Dr. Gibbs has just delivered twin babies at a home in the town. Dr. Gibbs is followed home where his family and the Webb family are introduced, preparing for their children Rebecca and George Gibbs and Wally and Emily Webb. Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs lightly chat in their gardens about the social events and their families. The stage manager proceeds to interview the town historian, Professor Willard. By the afternoon, George Gibbs walks Emily Webb home from school and requests that she pass hints to him while they are doing their homework. He is well aware that Emily is a dedicated and intelligent student who would oblige to helping him with his algebra. When Emily arrives home, she wonders if George finds her attractive, but her mother doesn't fully reassure her that she is pretty enough to appeal to boys. That night, Mrs. Gibbs returns home from choir practice with the latest gossip in town about the choir director. Meanwhile, Mr. Gibbs advises his son to do his own chores instead of leaving them to his mother, as he is becoming a man now.
In Love and Marriage, Act Two of the play, three years have passed and the children have grown up. On the day of the wedding, George is very anxious and slips over to the Webb house to see his bride-to-be. Mr. and Mrs. Webb advise him not to look for Emily because of their belief that it is bad luck for the groom to see his bride before she has walked down the aisle. In the meantime, Mr. Gibbs relates to how he had been very nervous on his wedding day, because his marriage had been arranged and he would have to spend his life with a stranger. Mrs. Gibbs also anticipated misery, fearing that she and her new husband would never have anything to talk about.
However, they lasted 20 years of marriage and were still very content with their loving relationship. The stage manager interrupts to reminisce on how George and Emily progressed to their decision to wed. One afternoon, George confronted Emily after school because he thought she was angry at him. Emily reluctantly informed him that his schoolmates found him to be conceited, so they no longer were interested in his friendship. She, likewise, decided to avoid him since he only had an eye for sports and playing baseball. George offered to buy her a drink and promised her he would change his personality. He expressed his gratitude to her for bringing his negative reformation to his attention and rushed off. The scene returns to the wedding where the stage manager acts as the reverend and reads the bride and groom their vows.
Act Three is the concluding act of the play with a more remorseful and somber mood. The characters of the play have aged nine years and it is now 1913. The town is beginning to change and develop as more farmers move into the area and horses are no longer the method of transportation. Mrs. Gibbs and Wally Webb, as well as other minor characters, have passed away by this time and another funeral is occurring for Emily Webb. A man by the name of Samuel Craig has come to the town for his cousin Rebecca's funeral as well. As Samuel talks to the undertaker, Joe Stoddard, the dead bodies talk amongst themselves. Emily gets excited and wants to return to life to relive the day she and George fell in love, but the other dead warn her that she shouldn't. Being dead means they have to forget all their memories and move on to another stage of death. If one tries to be alive again they will have knowledge of the future and know what is to happen. The stage manager allows Emily to relive a day of no significance to her and she goes back to her 12th birthday. She asks to withdraw for a moment when she realizes there isn't enough time for her to appreciate everything about life. Everyone is moving about without paying any consideration for nature or for each other. When she returns, the other dead scold her for recalling her life of ignorance and blindness to the natural world. Their quarrels are interrupted when they are paid a visit by George who lies weeping at Emily's grave.
"Our Town" explores the extraordinary aspects of daily life and emphasizes the immorality in taking each day for granted. There is not nearly enough time for an individual to contrast their life to other lives, whether they are breathing or just simple objects, such as a flower or the stars. Women, men, and children run along their busy schedules in a haste, routinely following the same procedure each day without pausing to treasure their surroundings. Eventually, they fall in love, get married, and start their own families. They get a glimpse of real life when they partake in such a significant stage in their life when they can find someone who they wish to spend their every last day with. Emily realizes after she has died that she longs to be alive again when she can go about her day loving her family and see all the familiar sights that she never really saw before. She wants to go back to the day when she fell in love with George, one of the most important days of her life. This was a day she lived and recognized the integrity of life. The stage manager cannot grant her the pleasure of reliving this day as it will bring forth her knowledge of their future. Near tears, she whispers, "Good-by, world...Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
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