Our Town Questions

What does this quotation reveal about the stage manager?

Pg 7 "There's Doc Gibbs comin' down Main Street now, comin' back from that baby case. And here's his wife comin' downstairs to get breakfast... Doc Gibbs died in 1930. The new hospital's named after him. Mrs. Gibbs died first long time ago, in fact."

This shows that the Stage Manager is all-knowing.

Consider the stage manager's comments about Joe. What do the comments reveal about the stage manager and his role in the play?

Pg 7 and 9

He is all-knowing.

Describe the interaction between George and Emily. What does their interaction suggest about George?

Pg 28-30

Their interaction with each other is playful and friendly.

George has a crush on Emily.

Consider Emily's conversation with her mother and the placement of this scene in the play. What might this suggest about Emily?

Pg 30-32

Emily is very insecure.

Compare George's conversation with his father and Emily's conversation with her mother.

Pg 36-38

What do these differences suggest about family dynamics in Grover's Corners?

George: he talks about chores with his dad

Emily: she talks about her insecurities and lack of confidence

Differences: they share the traditional roles and values that were required of men and women

What sorts of lives do Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb seem to want for their children?

What values do they want for their children to develop?

Both women want their children to be perfect.

Text Evidence: "Walk fast, but you don't have to run. Wally, pull up your pants at the knee. Stand up straight, Emily."

What do Rebecca, George, and Emily want for their own lives?

Rebecca: she loves money the most in the world

George: he wants to be a farmer

"I want to be a farmer on Uncle Luke's farm."

Emily: she wants to give speeches (academic)

Explain how Wilder develops the themes of birth and death in Act One.

he shows the pair of twins born

he knows the future (parents' death days)

"This is the way we are, in our growing, living, and dying."

How does the structure of Act One reflect the circular pattern of everyday life?

They are largely rushed through details.

How much time passes between the end of Act One and the beginning of Act Two?

How has the setting changed?

How has it remained the same?

3 years pass

The mountains have grown, and people have been born and have died.

...

How do the Stage Manager's comments suggest the theme of the cycle of life?

Pg 47-48

the Earth revolves, the seasons change, people are born and they die

What do you think the Stage Manager is suggesting when he tells the audience, "The first act was called Daily Life. This act is called Love and Marriage. There's another act coming after this: I reckon you can guess what that's all about?"

the next Act will be about death and love

How does foreshadowing impact the audience's reaction to Act Two?

it gives the realization that it won't be all happy for forever

What does the Stage Manager say is a "vicious circle"?

Pg 49

"You have to have life to love life, and you have to love life to have life."

What do Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs remember about their own wedding day?

Why do you think Mrs. Gibbs calls weddings "farces"?

they remember that they didn't know each other enough before they got married

"it was like marrying a stranger"

Mrs. Gibbs calls it a farce because she went into her marriage blindly

Why does George go to the Webb's house?

how do Mr. and Mrs. Webb respond to him?

he wants to see Emily before they get married that evening/afternoon but the Webbs don't want him

Summarize the marriage advice that Mr. Webb gives to George.

Do you think it is good advice?

Mr. Webb told him not to ask family for advice on the wedding day, and he also said that ordering your wife around is not the way to a happy marriage.

Why does the Stage Manager say he wants to interrupt the action of the play to insert a flashback?

So the audience can see how the wedding started.

What criticism does Emily have of George?

How does he respond to her criticism?

She says that he has become self-centered.

He is shocked but happy she told him.

What do you think the Stage Manager means when he says, "This is a good wedding"?

Pg 75

They were meant to be married.

What do you think the Stage Manager means when he says, "The real hero of this scene isn't on stage at all, and you know who that is."

Pg 75

Who is the real hero?

He is talking about God.

What do you think she hopes that Emily's girlfriends have told her a thing or two about?

Pg 76

Sex and Marriage

What purpose does the small chorus of baseball players serve?

They show the immaturity still left in George.

Why does George have second thoughts about getting married? Discuss his interaction with his mother.

He's nervous he has rushed into things.

She tells him that he is ready.

Why does Emily have second thoughts? Describe her interaction with her dad.

She is just as nervous as George.

She wants to stay with her father and possibly work for him.

Are George and Emily worried about the same thing?

Yes, they both are experiencing "universal nerves".

What appears to be the major conflict at this point?

People spend their lives rushing into things.

Examine the juxtaposition n the last moments of Act Two. In what way does Mrs. Soames serve as a dramatic foil for the other characters in this final scene?

She's there as comic relief.

Interpret what Thornton Wilder is saying about Love and Marriage in Act Two.

Humans need companionship.

Marriage consists of ups and downs.

What is the setting at the beginning of Act Three?

What stage direction does Wilder give the actors playing the dead people about the way they should speak?

What mood is Wilder trying to establish?

Cemetery [1913]

Everyone sits still without stiffness.

Emotionless/Gloomy mood

How much time has passed since the wedding?

According o the Stage Manager, how has Grover's Corners changed during that time?

9 years

Horses are getting rarer because everyone is getting richer, everyone locks their doors at night.

Which characters have died in these past years?

Are you surprised by any of the deaths?

Mrs. Gibbs, Mr. Stimson, Mrs. Soames, and Wallace Webb

Wallace Webb- appendix burst

Paraphrase the Stage Manager's comments about death.

According to him, what happens to people when they die?

Pg 88

It is eternal; they don't stay interested in the living; they're weaned away from the Earth

Whose death is foreshadowed in Joe's and Sam's conversation, and what lines reveal this in the play?

Pg 90-91

Emily [George's Wife]- died in childbirth

How did Simon Stimson die?

What is unusual about it epitaph?

He committed suicide. He left sheets of music for his epitaph.

Describe the interaction between Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Soames, and Emily.

Pg 92-97

It is somewhat of a sad interaction because Mrs. Soames and Mrs. Gibbs are trying to console Emily.

They converse and interact with each other even though they're dead.

How has the one shifted from conversations in Act One and Two?

What does this scene suggest?

This scene is about loss and learning to cope with death, rather than life and the seemingly endless game of it.

The tone is serious, solemn, sad.

What do the dead think about the living, and how does this impact their reaction to Emily's desire to return?

They don't understand the reality of death and dying; they are ignorant about death

Emily wants to keep on living her life on Earth

Why does Emily break down sobbing and return to her grave, instead of reliving the the whole day?

Pg 108-109

It's all so fast-going for her; she feels like she wasted all her time on Earth; she's sad because when she was living, her family didn't take the time to enjoy life and each other

How do Wilder's choices in structuring the events of Our Town contribute to the development of the play's themes?

He makes the structure of Our Town support the themes of each Act; he can see the past, present, and future

What is the meaning and effect of the Stage Manager's final speech?

Pg 111-112

he ends the play like it's a constant thing in his life, like it will happen over and over again

How do the Stage Manager's final words at the end of Act Three further develop a theme of the play?

His final words impact the theme that every life ends in death and the cycle just starts over

Theme: Every life neds in death, so don't take it for granted.

Reread Emily's monologue, "Take me back-up the hill-" and identify Emily's tone and the words and phrases that contribute to the tone.

Her tone is one of acceptance, like she has finally accepted the fact that she will not return to Earth and she will eventually learn to move on.

Identify at least two themes revealed through Emily's monologue.

She recalls her life and goes through some memories that she remembers and cries in memory of them.

Themes: Acceptance and Love

Motifs

The stages of life

Natural Cycles

Mornings

The manipulation of time

Allegory

a complete narrative that involves characters and events that stand for an abstract idea or event; has moral lessons

Monologue

a speech made by one person

Dialect

the language used by all the people in one area

Juxtaposition

two or more ideas, places, characters, and their actions are placed side by side for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts

Foil

a character shown in contrast to the protagonist that highlights certain characteristics of the protagonist

Allusion

a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event, person, or object in order to make a comparison in the readers' minds

Symbols

Hymns- love

Simon Stimson- someone who wasted his life

Stars- eternity

Mrs. Soames- stereotype of the "busy-body" or gossip

Flashback

an interruption of the chronological sequence of an event of earlier occurence

Climax

after dying in childbirth and joining the dead souls of the cemetery, Emily returns to relive a day from her Earthly life, which makes her realize how little the living appreciate the value of life

Falling Action

Emily returns to the world of the dead souls in the cemetery

Resolution

the final section of a story's plot, in which loose ends are tied up, lingering questions are answered, and a sense of resolution is achieved