Wednesday, September 7, 2011

What sounds and sights indicate the start of a new day in the play Our Town?

Thornton Wilder's Our Town uses an
abundance of weather and birth imagery to reveal the themes of ritual, eternity, and
cycle of life:


In Act I, examples
are:


  • "The time is just before
    dawn."

  • "The sky is beginning to show streaks of
    light..."

  • "The morning star gets wonderful
    bright..."

  • "Mrs. Webb's
    garden..."

  • "...a lot of
    sunflowers..."

  • "Polish mother's just had
    twins..."

  • "...there've been lights on for some time, what
    with milkin's and so on...

  • Joe Crowell delivering the
    Sentinel (morning paper)

  • Bessie's
    cow bell

These elements will be repeated in Act
III to show the cycle of life and give continuity to the play.  Wilder begins with life
(the twins) and ends with death (Emily's), but in the end, life goes on, and the people
of Grover's Corners continue the same morning routines.

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