Our TownBy Thornton Wilder

Background Information

• Born 1897

• An American novelist who wrote several plays

• Praised for his treatment of universal themes

• Won two Pulitzer Prizes (Our Town; Bridge of San Louis Rey)

Impact on Theatrical World

• Our Town is considered a classic; required text in many high schools.

• Wilder believed that TRUTH could only be discovered in the lives of ordinary people.

• Wilder used the “perpetual present tense.”

• Definition: All past, present, and future actions take place in the here and now on stage.

• Time is fluid.

• Wilder experimented with the absence of scenery.

• Focus is on the internal rather than the external.

• Allows the setting to be more universal.

• Was unhappy with the movie version due to “excessive” scenery and costuming.

Important Themes

•Repetition of the song “Blessed be the Tie that Binds.”

• 1. Choir practice when George and Emily talk.

• 2. Wedding

• 3. Funeral

Themes, cont.

• The importance of everyday things.

• 1. Mrs. Wells smells flowers after choir practice.

• 2. Emily’s farewell speech in Act III.

• 3. Wilder states so directly in the play; asks audience to think back on their past.

Themes, cont.

• Universally appreciable themes

• 1. Note use of Our Town rather than Grover’s Corners (everyone’s town).

• 2. Families, people, memories

• 3. Marriage and love

• 4. Death

Themes, cont.

• Alienation Effect

• Background: Realism is where artists/writers attempt to capture the real world in their art.

• Alienation Effect is the opposite of Realism.

• Playwright presents his play as a play, not as a part of real life.

• Effect is used to get people to think about what they are seeing instead of being lost in the play.

Themes, cont.

• Examples of Alienation Effect in Our Town:

• Stage Manager interrupts the plot to comment on the action.

• The audience comments on what is happening.

• Dead people talk at the end of the play.

• Not a realistic setting; few props.

• Characters are “types,” not individuals; focus on ideas.