Theme Of Our Town Play

Thornton Wilder’s, Our Town is no ordinary play. This play goes through a human being’s ordinary life, learning to cherish the present moment. The play begins with no scenery nor curtain, which gives the audience confusion for the stage manager setting up tables and chairs. However, Wilder displays what is given to them in the present moment. His central theme of this play is understanding and cherishing the beauty of God’s existence in the present world. Thornton Wilder clarifies the importance of appreciating the present moment in Our Town. Act One, which Wilder calls "Daily Life" is an interpretation of ordinary daily activities. The act opens with the appearance of the stage manager speaking directly to the audience. He explains where the main …show more content…
The play continues with the daily lives of the Webbs and Gibbs’. As the stage manager begins Act Two, he explains the nature of existence as a daily routine. “Three years have gone by. Yes, the sun’s come up over a thousand times. Summer and winters have cracked the mountains a little bit more and the rains have brought down some of the dirt”. The author describes existence as a routine. Wilder encourages his readers to be aware of their present existence for “all things came to be through him, and without him, nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race” (John 1:3-4). Every existence on earth is the light of the human race. Wilder teaches the audience that daily lives are usually repetitive, but worth existing. However, others fail to appreciate the gift of existence. Upon her death in Act Three, Emily Webb revisits the earth as a spirit, realizing that the human beings in the play fail to appreciate the beauty of existence.