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Our Town Study Guide

by Thornton Wilder

Our Town study guide contains a biography of Thornton Wilder, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Our Town opens with "no curtain, no scenery." The Stage Manager, who serves as a narrator and an intermediary between the audience and the characters, introduces the play and the production. He tells us that we will be considering the town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire: an ordinary town at the turn of the twentieth century with no particular claim to fame. The Stage Manager walks us through the opening of a day in 1901, and the morning rituals of the Webb and Gibbs families. Dr. Gibbs is on his way home from delivering twins. Both mothers come downstairs and prepare breakfast, while their children - Emily and Wally Webb, and George and Rebecca Gibbs - get ready for school. Once the children have left, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb talk…

Read the full Our Town Summary

• Our Town Summary
• About Our Town
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Summary and Analysis of Act I - "Daily Life"
• Summary and Analysis of Act II - "Love and Marriage"
• Summary and Analysis of Act III - "I guess you can reckon what that one's about"
• No curtain. No scenery.
• Related Links on Our Town
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Our Town: Major Themes
• Our Town: Essays
• Our Town: Questions
• Our Town: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Thornton Wilder: Biography