Our Town
By Thornton Wilder
Name ________________________________
English 10 – Mr. McGuire
Our Town
Act I – Daily Life
Vocabulary
proscenium – front area of the stage, located between the curtain and the orchestra
heliotrope – plant with aromatic purple flowers
burdock – bristly, weedy plant with purplish flowers
highboy – tall chest of drawers with high legs
savant – educated or learned person
anthropological – relating to the study of humankind
diligent – hard-working
careen – to move rapidly and erratically
tenor – male singer
legacy – money or property given to someone through a will
1. What sounds and sights indicate the start of a new day?
2. The set is obviously not the traditional set, and the narrator is not your average person.
What remarkable qualities does the narrator possess?
3. Cite some of the things the narrator tells us are going to happen after 1901.
4. The narrator is not telling us this in flashback, yet he uses the past tense to tell us of an
event that will take place in the future. What does this indicate about the narrator?
5. As this day begins, what gives us a sense that this day is beginning just as thousands of
others days have begun?
6. The newspaper boy throws an imaginary newspaper, and the Gibbses live in an
imaginary house. Why do you suppose the playwright chooses not to use sets and props?
7. What facts of life do Dr. Gibbs and Joe Crowell discuss?
8. In what way is the milkman’s horse locked into a routine she cannot break?
9. As they do every weekday, the factory whistle blows and the school bell rings. What
other instances of daily routine do we see?
10. Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb have what appears to be their regular, routine conversation
about putting up vegetables. However, what one event has taken place that is out of the
routine?
11. The two families have been introduced. Identify each member.
12. In his speech, Professor Willard gives specific information about Grover’s Corners. He
gives its exact geographic location and its exact population. In what way, though, does he
give the town a universal quality that transcends this specific day (May 7, 1901) and this
specific place?
13. How do Editor Webb’s comments serve to reinforce the universal aspect of Grover’s
Corners?
14. How old are George and Emily? Why is Emily concerned about being pretty?
15. Thornton Wilder had done some anthropological work himself, and he was struck by
the fact that people in past ages were people just like us. How does the Stage Manager make
this point in his speech about the time capsule and Babylon?
16. In that same speech, what is it that the Stage Manager wants future generations to
know about Grover’s Corners?
17. How does the song by the choir and the scene between Emily and George illustrate the
Stage Manager’s comment?
18. Who is Simon Stimson, and what is his problem?
19. What is Dr. Gibbs suggesting as a reason for Simon Stimson’s drinking?
20. In the last part of Act I, the moon and moonlight are mentioned a number of times. In
fact, it seems to tie all the characters together. How does Rebecca’s question about the
moon and South America serve to illustrate this point?
21. Obviously, the address on Jane Crofut’s letter has some significance. What would you
guess is its significance?
22. Jane and Rebecca see the letter as exciting because it links Jane to God and the cosmos.
In what way, though, does the address also make Jane (and the rest of us) insignificant?
Act II – Love and Marriage
Vocabulary
spry – active and nimble
farce – a mockery
pantomime – to express something through gesture and expression, without words
alacrity – cheerful enthusiasm
crestfallen – dejected; disappointed and sad
affront – to insult or offend
musingly – pondering or considering
catcall – scoffing shout or cry
unobtrusive – not easily noticed; inconspicuous
tableau – a silent, motionless scene resembling a picture
rheumatism – disease of the muscles, joints or bones causing pain
cynicism – state of thinking negatively; pessimism
1. As Act II opens, what does the Stage Manager tell us has taken place in the last three
years regarding nature?
2. In an allusion to an Edgar Lee Masters’ poem, “Lucinda Matlock,” the Stage Manager says,
“You’ve got to love life to have life, and you’ve got to have life to love life.” What does he
mean?
3. As the action begins, Si, Howie, and Constable Warren emphasize the routine aspect of
the day. For the Gibbses and the Webbs, in what way is it a special day?
4. What comment by Doc Gibbs suggests the uniqueness of each marriage?
5. What is the point of Mrs. Gibbs’ comment that follows the line above?
6. How does the scene between Mr. Webb and George illustrate the point that marriage is
both a personal and a public affair?
7. The Stage Manager presents in flashback the scene of Emily and George falling in love
after we are made aware of their wedding. Why does he not present it in chronological
order?
8. In Act I, the Stage Manager plays Mrs. Forrest. In Act II, he plays Mr. Morgan and later, in
Act III, he will be the minister. Why are these minor characters not played by individual
actors?
9. As they sit down, Mr. Morgan asks why Emily has been crying and George makes up
some story. Why has Emily really been crying?
10. In his speech as the minister, the Stage Manager says, “The real hero of this scene isn’t
on the stage at all, and you know who that is.” Of course, at this point we have no idea
whom he means. In the following sentences, however, he says the real hero is the object of
the pushing and contriving by nature. What is nature’s interest in all the pushing and
contriving?
11. What aspect of marriage are both Mrs. Webb and the baseball players referring to?
12. George asks, “Why’s everybody pushing me so?” What is he reacting to?
13. Mrs. Soames says, “The important thing is to be happy.” Since she is the one who says
this, we are inclined to think that this is not really the important thing. Nor is it important
that weddings be interesting. What is the important thing?
Act III – Death and Eternity
Vocabulary
lugubriousness – sadness to an extreme degree
genealogist – one who studies ancestry
bereaved – those who mourn the loss of a loved one
epitaph – words on a tombstone in memory of the dead
livery – place for the care and keeping of horses
1. It is nine years later, and the act opens at the cemetery. Who are among the dead?
2. According to the Stage Manager, how long do the souls of the dead stay on Earth?
3. What is the Stage Manager referring to when he speaks of “something eternal?”
4. In what way do Sam Craig and Joe Stoddard replace the minor characters who appear at
the opening of Acts I and II?
5. Emily is waiting for what feeling to go away?
6. Why does the Stage Manager say it is painful for the dead to go back and relive any
experience?
7. Emily chooses to relive her twelfth birthday, but she is unable to stay there very long.
Why?
8. Explain the meaning of Emily’s quote: “Oh, Earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to
realize you . . . Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every
minute?”
9. Simon Stimson gives his view of life. What is his view, and what does Mrs. Gibbs say to
him?
10. In the last few minutes of the play, the dead go from a conversation about life to a
discussion of the stars. What is the point of bringing in the stars now?
11. In her last line in the play Emily says, “They don’t understand, do they?” The “they”
refers to living people and, specifically, to George, who has thrown himself on Emily’s
grave. What is it that George and the rest of the living people do not understand?
12. What mood does the Stage Manager evoke in his last speech?