Why is "Our Town" a classic?

"Our Town" is a classic for many different reasons. I believe that it is a classic because this play has lived the test of time. Also, it is a very famous playwright that shows every aspect of life. Many people recognize this play and also perform this play. Not only do people perform the play, but a movie was created based on it. Wilder also brought a very strong theme to this story. The theme is "appreciate life before it is over", and this is recognized by many people. This play is also very realistic, besides going back in time.

I also believe that this play is a classic because every person can relate to the story, and many people agree with everything Wilder brings up. He makes people realize that even bad things will be missed, and nothing should go unappreciated.

couldnt find infrotrac document

i was not able to find a document on infrotrac. There was not any articles available.

Short Summary

The play "Our Town" begins on a very normal day; they eat breakfast, the kids go to school, the men go to work, and the women talk outside in the garden. This first act is called the Daily Life and the Stage Manager introduces all the characters in this act. After this act it jumps forward six years, where two of the children from the first act are now getting married. The small town all attends the wedding and the Stage Manager goes through discussing what the people say about their wedding. After this act it jumps forward another nine years where the bride is now having her second child and dies during child birth. After this happens it shows everyone attending her funeral and shows her in the after life with other people from the town. The Stage Manager goes through explaining how all the people died and then the bride, Emily, decideds she wants to go back for just one day. She wasn't allowed to pick a normal day so she just picked her 12th birthday.
During her birthday, she had a normal morning with her parents and brother, but as the day goes on she realizes that the time is going by too fast. She decides to go back to the afterlife because it was too hard to sit there and know it was her last day with them. She began to realize that even the boring, daily life is important and should be appreciated. She decided that living people will never be able to appreciate life for what it is worth and will never understand how much they will miss it when it is gone. She explains this to her husband's mother and then realizes that her husband is walking towards her.

both sides of the story

"Our Town" recieves negative criticism for many different reasons. Wilder doesn't create complex characters, no plot, no suspence, he discriminates against women, and he doesn't deal with real life issues. He puts minorites in the background and only mentions that they live across the tracks but doesn't discuss their hardships or lifestyles. He also shows that the men in the families have power over their wives' decisions and actions. The conversation between Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb reveals this, but on the other hand in that certain time period were lower than men and men ran the families. Wilder showed revealed two sides of men ran households when he wrote the conversation between George and Mr. Webb. Mr. Webb explained how his dad once told him to make his wife obedient and to not let her get out of line but George and Mr. Webb disagreed with this. Also Wilder shows that he does not discriminate against women when he gives the most meaningful part to Emily. When Emily realizes that no living person will ever be able to appreciate all the things in life like she now does, she reveals the whole plays meaning. She shows that life is something we can never get back after it is gone so we should appreciate every little thing.

Thorton Wilder does not only make people believe he discriminates against women, but makes people also believe that Wilder does not deal with the controversial side of life. The part of life that Wilder tends to ignore is the drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, and depression. Wilder shows that people don't appreciate life but he also does not show the bad part that life can hold. He does mention the "town drunk" that commits suicide but he does not go in detail about this, it as if Wilder ignores what the reason may be. Critics believe that Wilder should have shown how life can sometimes be upsetting and hard to live, not just the parts that should be appreciate. Wilder uses the "town drunk" as a symbolism of all people that do not appreciate life, but he should have used the drunk as a symbolism of the hard ships that people should overcome,also.

Overall, critics believe Wilder did a nice job in proving his point that life should be appreciated. Wilder gives the play a nice and distinct, transformation that is easy for the audience to recognize. He also portrays the town and people very well. Wilder's play may have had some errors but it was very well played out.













http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Our-Town-Critical-Essays-Our-Town-from-the-Current-Perspective.id-186,pageNum-36.html