Thorton Wilder was born in 1897. He was interested in the theater since his childhood. By the time he entered Oberlin College in 1915 he had already written three short plays, or "three minute plays." He completed his undergraduate studies at Yale and began a teaching job at the Lawrenceville School, near Princeton, New Jersey, in 1921. He earned his degree from Princeton University in 1926. Wilder first gained recognition as a novelist. He won his first Pulitzer Prize for The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which he wrote in 1927. In 1938 his famous play, Our Town, was performed. It was a huge success and earned Wilder a second Pulitzer Prize. In 1941 World War II began, and in 1942 Wilder enlisted in the Air Force. Later that year another of his plays, The Skin of Our Teeth was performed, and earned him his third Pulitzer Prize. In 1954 his revised version of Merchant of Yonkers, now called The Matchmaker,

The play, although meant to represent all time eras, begins on May 7, 1901, a time considered as "the good old days", before the national economy dominated all parts of the country; before World War I changed the world and the lives of so many people. This simply makes it possible for the events throughout the play to remain undisturbed by timely historical events that may have the ability to have an effect on the lives of human beings. The characters are also symbolic of human beings in general. Just about any human being can relate to the everyday occurrences and emotions that they experience. Wilder takes seemingly trivial elements of life and celebrates them; he takes cliche situations and develops them into distinctive, lively experiences of human life. His play emphasizes the wonder and beauty of ordinary elements daily life (Cohn 276-277).

In each act, as different as these underlying themes may be, there are everyday occurrences that repeat themselves like clockwork. Wilder certainly emphasizes the continuity of human life throughout the play.

Grover's Corners, however, is not an unrealistically perfect town; Wilder did not intend to demonstrate that rural life is quaint and completely happy (Cohn 277). The town does have a jail and a local drunkard who actually contemplates suicide. Death is also a theme in the work, and the characters are forced to deal with the difficulty of the loss of loved ones, as is exhibited in Act III.

Unlike romantic, adventurous, or other types of imaginative literature that may contain elements that cannot always be related to average human life, Our Town exhibits a great deal of realism.

The major theme of Our Town is universality, which is emphasized by a great deal of realism. The play is called Our Town, not A Town, because it is meant to symbolize everyone's town and the universality of human life, feelings, and emotions. This symbolic significance of the setting is emphasized by the stripping of the stage of numerous props and set materials, allowing the play to be representative of all times; it is not tagged as a specific era. The town of the play, Grover's Corners, is a sleepy, simple little town in New Hampshire, but is symbolic of the entire human world in the play. The characters are not in the state of mind that they exist in their own little protective world; there is evidence within their dialogue that they are aware of the larger world, as a whole, outside of Grover's Corners. For example, in Act I Rebecca Gibbs, in a discussion with her brother George, asks, "George, is the moon shining on South America, Canada, and half the whole world?" George replies that it "prob'ly is" (Wilder 43). Further into their discussion, Rebecca refers to a letter that was addressed to Jane Crofut; the Crofut Farm; Grover's Corners; Sutton County; New Hampshire; United States of America; Continent of North America; Wes

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Approximate Word count = 1959
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)