our town 1(英文簡介).

1、LOGO Our Town The content of the drama The character of the drama Introduce of the author LOGO Introduce of the author The son of an American diplomat, spent part of his childhood in Yantai, at the Protestant Mission School there. Earned Masters Degree of Arts in French at Princeton University（普林斯頓大

2、學） in 1928. The first novel The Cabala was published in 1926; the second one The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1927, which won him his first Pulitzer Prize（普利策獎 ） in 1928. Won Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Our Town in 1938 and won the prize again for The Skin of Our Teeth in 1942. LOGO Worked for the US

3、Air Force Intelligence during the WWII. Went on to teach poetry at the universities. Won several prizes: Peace Prize of German Book Trade in 1957, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963; the National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day in 1967 LOGO The content of the drama Our Town is nar

4、rated by the Stage Manager. The Stage Manager is the only character completely aware of the audience. The other main characters are the Webb and Gibbs families. It is through the Webb family and the Gibbs family that Wilder tells a story of young love, family, and death in three acts: everyday life,

5、 marriage, and death. Wilder illustrates the universality of human life; we all have it and it changes from day to day and person to person. Ultimately, Wilder illustrates the importance of recognizing life for what it is while living it. Our town George Gibbs Mrs. Gibbs - Emily Webb Dr. Gibbs Mrs.

6、Webb Mr. Webb Wally Webb Rebecca Gibbs husband husband daughter wife mother sister father mother brother fatherfather father son daughter Act1 everyday life After the Stage Managers introduction, the activities of a typical day begin. Howie Newsome, the milkman, and Joe Crowell, ., the paperboy, mak

7、e their delivery rounds. Dr. Gibbs returns from delivering a set of twins at one of the homes in town. Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb make breakfast, send their children off to school, and meet in their gardens to gossip. The two women also discuss their modest ambitions, and Mrs. Gibbs reveals that she w

8、ants to visit Paris. Afternoon arrives, school lets out, and George Gibbs meets his neighbor Emily Webb outside the gate of her house. We see the first inkling of George and Emilys romantic affection for one another during this scene and during Emilys subsequent conversation with her mother. Now eve

9、ning, a choir in the orchestra pit begins to sing “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds.” The choir, directed by the bitter yet comical choirmaster Simon Stimson, continues to sing as George and Emily talk to each other through their open windows. Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Gibbs, and their gossipy friend Mrs. Soames

10、 return home from choir practice and chat about the choirmasters alcoholism. The women return to their respective homes. George and his sister Rebecca sit at a window and look outside. Act II love and marriage Takes place three years later, on George and Emilys wedding day. George tries to visit his

11、 fiance, but he is shooed away by Mr. and Mrs. Webb, who insist that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride-to-be on the wedding day anytime before the ceremony. Mrs. Webb goes upstairs to make sure Emily does not come downstairs. George is left alone with Mr. Webb. The young man and his futu

12、re father-in-law awkwardly discuss marriage and how to be a virtuous husband. The Stage Manager interjects and introduces a flashback to the previous year. George and Emily are on their way home from school. George has just been elected class president and Emily has just been elected secretary and t

13、reasurer. George has also become something of a local baseball star. Emily tells George that his popularity has made him “conceited and stuck-up.” George, though hurt, thanks Emily for her honesty, but Emily becomes mortified by her own words and asks George to forget them. The two stop at Mr. Morga

14、ns drugstore for ice-cream , over the course of their drink, admit their mutual affection. George decides to scrap his plan of attending agriculture school in favor of staying in Grovers Corners with Emily. We return to the day of the wedding in 1904. Both the bride and groom feel jittery, but their

15、 parents calm them down and the ceremony goes ahead as planned. The Stage Manager acts as the clergyman. The newlyweds run out through the audience, and the second act ends with the Stage Managers announcement that it is time for another intermission. Act III Death Takes place nine years later, in a

16、 cemetery on a hilltop overlooking the town. Emily has died in childbirth and is about to be buried. The funeral party occupies the back of the stage. The most prominent characters in this act, the dead souls who already inhabit the cemetery, sit in chairs at the front of the stage. Among the dead a

17、re Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Soames, Wally Webb, and Simon Stimson. As the funeral takes place, the dead speak, serving as detached witnesses. Death has rendered them largely indifferent to earthly events. Emily joins the dead, but she misses her previous life and decides to go back and relive part of it. Th

18、e other souls disapprove and advise Emily to stay in the cemetery. With the aid of the Stage Manager, Emily steps into the past, revisiting the morning of her twelfth birthday. Howie Newsome and Joe Crowell, Jr. make their deliveries as usual. Mrs. Webb gives her daughter some presents and calls to

19、Mr. Webb. As Emily participates, she also watches the scene as an observer, noting her parents youth and beauty. Emily now has a nostalgic appreciation for everyday life that her parents and the other living characters do not share. She becomes agonized by the beauty and transience of everyday life

20、and demands to be taken back to the cemetery. As Emily settles in among the dead souls, George lays prostrate by her tomb. “They dont understand,” she says of the living. The stars come out over Grovers Corners, and the play ends. LOGO Stage Manager - The host of the play and the dramatic equivalent

21、 of an omniscient narrator. The Stage Manager exercises control over the action of the play, cueing the other characters, interrupting their scenes with his own interjections, and informing the audience of events and objects that we cannot see. Although referred to only as Stage Manager and not by a

22、 name, he occasionally assumes other roles, such as an old woman, a druggist, and a minister. Interacting with both the world of the audience and the world of the plays characters, he occupies a godlike position of authority. The character of the drama George Gibbs - Dr. and Mrs. Gibbss son. A decen

23、t, upstanding young man, George is a high school baseball star who plans to attend the State Agricultural School after high school. His courtship of Emily Webb and eventual marriage to her is central to the plays limited narrative action. Wilder uses George and Emilys relationship to ponder the ques

24、tions of love and marriage in general. Emily Webb - Mr. and Mrs. Webbs daughter and Wallys older sister. Emily is Georges schoolmate and next-door neighbor, then his fiance, and later his wife. She is an excellent student and a conscientious daughter. After dying in childbirth, Emily joins the group

25、 of dead souls in the local cemetery and attempts to return to the world of the living. Her realization that human life is precious because it is fleeting is perhaps the central message of the play. Dr. Gibbs - Georges father and the town doctor. Dr. Gibbs is also a Civil War expert. His delivery of

26、 twins just before the play opens establishes the themes of birth, life, and daily activity. He and his family are neighbors to the Webbs. Mrs. Gibbs - Georges mother and Dr. Gibbss wife. Mrs. Gibbss desire to visit Parisa wish that is never fulfilledsuggests the importance of seizing the opportunit

27、ies life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen. At the same time, Mrs. Gibbss wish for the luxurious trip ultimately proves unnecessary in her quest to appreciate life. Mr. Webb - Emilys father and the publisher and editor of the Grovers Corners Sentinel. Mr. Webbs report to the audienc

28、e in Act I is both informative and interactive, as his question-and-answer session draws the audience physically into the action of the play. Mrs. Webb - Emilys mother and Mr. Webbs wife. At first a no-nonsense woman who does not cry on the morning of her daughters marriage, Mrs. Webb later shows he

29、r innocent and caring nature, worrying during the wedding that she has not taught her daughter enough about marriage. Rebecca Gibbs - Georges younger sister. Rebeccas role is minor, but she does have one very significant scene with her brother. Her remarks in Act Iabout the location of Grovers Corners in the universearticulate an important theme in the play: if the town is a microcosm, representative of the broader human community and the shared human experience, then this