Student Question
What are two central themes of "Our Town" and how does the author develop them? Why are these themes still relevant to modern readers?
Quick answer:
The Stage Manager is a voice that speaks to the universality of being in the world. The questions of "eternity" and "the moment" are universal concerns that apply to readers, even if they may not have considered them before.
Although Our Town can be shown to have a lot more than just "two central ideas," that's a good place to start. First, not to sound so much like Disney's The Lion King, but probably the main (and most important theme) in Our Town is "the circle of life." This life circle is universal and is experienced by everyone. Even though it sounds like such a simple concept, it actually has many layers. Our Town is a brilliant play to discuss these layers of the life cycle of humans.
The setting is the very first real example. Wilder purposefully makes an incredibly plain set with no real props or details. Why does Wilder do this? In this way, the watcher (or the reader) can place himself/herself into that general setting of Grover's Corners. [It's the same reason why Meyers made the character of Bella in Twilight have very little real...
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personality. Meyers wanted all females to fit in that character in order to fall in love with the hero: Edward.] Further, the play is called "Our Town" and is supposed to representative of ANYONE'S town. Note the following quote by the stage manager:
Our Town is concerned with the great and continuing cycle of life; out of life comes death and from death comes life. This cycle is man's closest understanding of eternity, his finest artistic expression of what he senses to be a mission and a purpose.
Note how specifically the "cycle of life" is mentioned. Even marriage is considered one of the "universal" happenings of this life cycle. Only "once in a thousand times it's interesting."
This brings me to the second, somehow interior, theme to discuss here: love and marriage. Why do I consider this to be an interior theme? It is found within the circle of life, simple as that. Marriage, as stated above, is simply one of those events that happens in many lives. This is especially apparent in Act II, where love and marriage becomes the theme. We could go into the different types of live here. For example, in Act I, it is love in the family that is the theme, and in Act III the selfless "agape" type love is the theme. The marital love of Act II counters these two types of love.The major characters all love one another, and throughout the play the audience is given examples of different types of love. In Act One, family love and friendship predominate. Parents and children love each other, and neighbors love one another as well. In Act Two, romantic love blossoms into marriage. In Act Three, spiritual, selfless love, the love that expects nothing in return, is shown.
What are two central themes in Our Town, and how does the author develop them? Why are these themes still relevant today?
I think that one of the most central ideas to Wilder's work is the universality of the human experience. Our Town strives to show the universal condition of life. It is one whereby individuals find more in common than those forces which are different. At the start of Act III, the Stage Manager articulates this condition of being in the world:
...everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you'd be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There's something way down deep that's eternal about every human being.
One of the central ideas that serve as a critical theme in Our Town is understanding this eternal applicability to being in the world. The voice of the Stage Manager is one technique that conveys this universal condition. The Stage Manager is a voice that has seen the passage of time and the universality which is a part of the human condition within it. The fact that the Stage Manager speaks to the "eternal" condition within all human beings is a part of the thematic development in Wilder's drama.
I think another critical theme is the appreciation of "the moment." When Emily wishes to relive life, she comes to understand that nothing can take the place of reveling in the instant of life. "The moment" and being able to appreciate it are some of the most powerful elements in the drama. When she asks the Stage Manager if "anyone ever realize life while they live it...every, every minute," it is an instant where the human condition is illuminated. This is another aspect of the drama's universality, speaking to an aspect of human existence that applies to many. Emily's question is asked to the Stage Manager, but Thornton's technique is to ensure that she asks it in a way that almost demands that we, the audience, ponder its nature in our own lives. Throughout the drama, Emily's desire becomes something that we, ourselves, would ponder if in the same situation. In asking a question that we have to confront and upon which our reflection becomes critical, Wilder is forging the universal nature of the themes in the drama. This nature helps to clearly establish the thematic meaning and purpose of both what is presented on stage and what we consider in our own hearts and minds.
The questions of what is eternal and how to relish "the moment" are two thematic concerns of the drama. They also serve to explain how the work is relevant to modern readers. There has been no clearer explanation of such items then as there is now. What Wilder offers is a universal prism, a kaleidoscope through which being in the world is established. This prism is not a rocket ship that answers questions quickly from point A to point B. Rather, it goes around in a circle, seeking to get us to ask more questions than we answer. As a result, Wilder's play is as applicable then as it is now because we find we are still in search of such answers and wrestling with challenges that were present seventy years ago. This is the embodiment of the very "eternal" nature that is embedded in Wilder's work.