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Thornton Wilder

             Thornton Wilder creates a very interesting and different approach in his play "Our Town". He makes use of a stage manager and very little setting by effectively drawing the initial attention of his audience. He also uses a very low-action and day-to-day plot to appeal to a wide variety of readers by providing scenes and occasions which the majority of people experience. .
             Wilder's unusual and original idea of presenting a play with a plain and simple plot becomes a fascinating story with a valuable lesson. He informs the audience of the families and the family relations to begin with so that the reader will acquire some preliminary information, which will become important in the latter parts of the play. He shows how the ordinary life of an individual and one's experiences with her family should not be taken for granted. She realizes how much meaning those little interactions with her relatives really had only after she is dead and has an opportunity to look back. The audience, usually having family of their own, can see these character's situations and can compare them with their own. .
             Furthermore, the author creates occasions with which much of the audience can relate. The weddings and funerals, which are in the play are easily understood and are also appealing to many readers. The struggles and worries of the characters during these times are very normal, but the author includes them in the ultimate plot, and makes the reader appreciate them by giving these details significance. He shows that they are important in the end, and they also cannot be taken for granted. .
             Finally, the use of the stage manager in this play is very important. His role is a very "down to earth" character, which gives information and insight on the other characters. He actually acts as other people with small parts from time to time. This is a different idea which Wilder uses, but is effective in maintaining simplicity and not introducing too many characters.


Essays Related to Thornton Wilder

1. Our Town by Thorton Wilder

... , Thornton Wilder uses a unique structure in comparison to other plays. He keeps the setting to a minimum, only including the crucial pieces of scenery. He does not introduce complex characters, which would lead themselves to be analyzed for the understanding of his points. Instead, simple characters are used to make Wilder's ... piece of literature that can be related to his or her own life. The person will understand and appreciate the work on a deeper level. Wilder's basic theme is made up of three interlocking acts, which signify the major stages of human life. In the first act, he d...

  • Word Count: 527
  • Approx Pages: 2

2. Our Town

"Our Town- By Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin on April 17, 1897. He was brought up under deep moral and religious values. He received education in Hong ... is having an argument about chores. Later on, George and Mr. Gibb have a long talk about the issue of growing up. Within these small and meaningless happenings, Wilder foreshadows the love between George and Emily through their conversations. Dr. Gibbs also makes the comment pertaining to future plans for the two of them "George needing a ... a housewife and caring mother. Mr. Webb is editor and publish...

  • Word Count: 1092
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Shadow Of A Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt 1943 USA 105 mins Source: NL Prod Co: Universal Pro: Jack H Skirball Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Scr: Thornton Wilder, Alma Reville, Sally Benson Phot: Joseph Valentine Mus: Dimitri Tiomkin Cast: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Patricia Collinge, MacDonald Carey, Henry Travers, Hume Cronyn, Wallace Ford "... if you ripped the front ... is a curious, knowing and prescient film, far from the grand-standing, detached, episodic set-piece spectacle of the North by Northwest-like Saboteur (1942) that immediately preceded it. By enlisting Thornton Wilder, the playwright of the Americana-s...

  • Word Count: 958
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Nostalgia

... in a planned community such as Celebration, Florida described in The Celebration Chronicles by Andrew Ross or participating in the PTA and community activities explained in Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. Thornton Wilder brings back a nostalgic view on neighborly contact and friendly interactions through Our Town and reminds us of a Golden Age we cannot let go of. Perhaps it's not only reliving our ... own past, but trying to rediscover a past we never experienced. For Thornton Wilder, writing Our Town during the great depression helped escape the social reality and pain everyone felt. ...

  • Word Count: 1486
  • Approx Pages: 6

5. Our Town: The value of Life

... not seem to understand the true concept of how valuable time and life really are. The setting of "Our Town- is crucial to the meaning of Wilder's play, as indicated by the title. "Our- town really refers to Grover's Corners, an imaginary small town located in New Hampshire, just across ... the Massachusetts line. By referring to the setting as our town, Wilder is indicating that the place has universal appeal as an ordinary small town. It is filled with ordinary places, such as the post office, the church, ... the train station, and the school, the inhabitants are just average human bei...

  • Word Count: 1231
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Our Town

Our Town In the play Our Town, Thornton Wilder uses the commentary about certain social issues to further exemplify the point that the people of Grover's Corner are really quite conservative and rather passive while they let life pass ... show the people's attitudes. A couple specific situations of a few people symbolize the perspective that the entire town has on the situations. Religious faith is one of the issues used by Wilder. Most everyone in Grover's Corner is religious, and a member of one of the churches in town, all being Christian in one form or another. They are also very conserv...

  • Word Count: 697
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Our Town

Our Town, by Thornton Wilder is a play that takes place in a small fictional town of Grover's Corner, New Hampshire. The play takes the audience through the cycles of life, with the purpose of getting a universal message stating that life shouldn't be taken for granted. Emily Webb, one of the most important characters in the play, is Wilder's character in which he uses to show ... concluded that the living is ignorant and doesn't appreciate the small things that are in their lives every day. The character Emily is perfect just the way she is. If Wilder changed Emily, the universal message mi...

  • Word Count: 470
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Monotony in Synthetic Drama - Our Town

... do's and don't's. Even though the modern man isn't conscious that his actions maintain the balance of the society, this play is actually about him. There isn't any doubt that Thornton Wilder's play is a synthetic one, because all the significant events happen in front of the audience, showing reality as it is. No looking back in the past, no secrets; the characters ... ...

  • Word Count: 568
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Tremendous Sinner in The Scarlett Letter

... ;Never support two weaknesses at the same time. It's your combination sinners - your lecherous liars and your miserly drunkards - who dishonor the vices and bring them into bad repute." ― Thornton Wilder. This quote clearly reminds a reader of a main character in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This quote talks about one sinner and it emphasis Roger Chillingworth. Even ... ...

  • Word Count: 794
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

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