Brief Summary Of The Play Our Town

Our Town is a three-act play written by Thornton Wilder which guides the audience through a typical day in Grover’s Corners, a traditional American town in New Hampshire. In Act I, the Stage Manager introduces us to Dr. Gibbs who lives with his wife, his son George, and his daughter Rebecca in an archetypical American family household. They live next to the similar Webb family household where Mr. Webb lives with his wife, his daughter Emily, and his son Wally. In the mornings, both families send their children off to school after breakfast. At night, Emily, George, and Rebecca talk to one another through their windows while the choir sings in the background. In Act II, three years have passed and George and Emily are about to get married. George visits his mother-and-father-in-law and talks about his devotion towards Emily and his future.

George decides to sacrifice going to college and studying farm industry for his and Emily’s future. The scene is brought back to the couple’s doubts and insecurities of marriage and resolves when Emily walks down the aisle with her father and marries George. Act III takes place nine years after the wedding at Emily’s funeral, who died after giving birth to their second child. Characters that have died in the past wait at the cemetery in town. Emily cannot accept her death and decides to revisit her 12th birthday, which becomes unbearable and painful after she realizes that people should learn to treasure every moment of their life. Act III resolves when Emily returns to her grave and watches as George arrives and mourns over her