Our Town Analysis
Our Town is a play that takes place near the turn of the century in the small rural town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. The playwright, Thornton Wilder is trying to convey the importance of the little, often unnoticed things in life. Throughout the first two acts he builds a scenario, which allows the third act to show that we as humans often run through life oblivious to what is actually happening. Wilder attempts to show life as something that we take for granted. We do not realize the true value of living until we are dead and gone. The through-line of the action seems to be attention to the details of life. Wilder builds up a plot that pays attention to great details of living. In the first act when Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb are stringing beans and passing the time, the reader continues on, not thinking that importance lies in the scene. As the play comes to an end, the reason for that scene becomes evident: the most trivial occurrence can be the most meaningful moment. We as humans, however, do not realize the greatness of these little points until it is too lat
In the scene just before the wedding, George tries to see his bride-to-be. The Webb's explain to him the superstition behind not allowing the groom to see his bride until she walks down the isle. The action of this scene is anxiety. George wants to see Emily before the big event and is expressing a great desire to do so. The parents are intent on not allowing George to see their daughter. Mrs. Webb is also understandably worried about loosing a daughter to marriage. Emily is upstairs having reservations about the whole ordeal. Mr. Webb brings the two of them together before the wedding, breaking the superstition, and explains to them that they were meant to be together. He has George tell his bride that he will do the best he can to take care of her. Throughout the whole scene the reader can feel the tension and nervousness-anxiety that Wilder wants to portray. There are several subordinate actions that support the overall action of attention to detail, anxiety is just one of them. Some of these actions are: nervousness, sorrow, pain, happiness, true love, and hopeles
Some common words found in the essay are:
Grover's Corners, George Emily, Gibbs Webb, Thornton Wilder, Emily George, , Corners Hampshire, grover's corners, people grover's corners, attention details, actions support, action attention, through-line action, town play, sorrow pain, people grover's,
Approximate Word count = 732
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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