Task 8: Response to a critical piece

The reason why I chose a review by Oscar E Moore from Talk Entertainment is that I enjoy that Mr. Moore finds the beauty of Our Town in the very true philosophic ideas. Even though what he reviews is not only the original play, but mainly a theatre performance, he concentrates on the best passages of the work that should be appreciated.

The first thing I enjoyed was the phrase “Thornton Wilder must be chatting up a storm with his cemetery friends about this [performance]“, which refers to the Third Act of Our Town that partly takes place in cemetery and the dead characters are having a conversation.

The author of the review masters in summarizing the plot and gently foreshadows the main theme as “in order to love life we have to have life and to have life we have to love life and we should not be blind to what is important. To really look at each other to really listen to one another and to love one another before it is no longer possible to do that.” This might not be very understandable for the first reading but when understood, it carries a great intellectual value.

Only great writers can comment on the universality of this play as following “A thousand years from now this play will still resonate with its real and heartfelt sentiments. This is the way they were, living and dying. This is what is really important. Being happy with your loved ones. How life should be valued. It all passes too quickly.” Using such cogent phrases, he perfectly describes and reveals the power and beauty of this drama.

I identify with Mr. Moore’s opinion on Our Town in spite of my previous comments on the dullness of the book.

The review and the source of my quotes can be displayed by opening this link:  http://talkentertainment.com/c-9346-Thornton-Wilder%E2%80%99s-Our-Town-%E2%80%93-Timeless-Classic-Off-B%E2%80%99way.aspx

Protagonist and Antagonist

The next task should be about protagonist and antagonist. Well, there really are no good or bad guys in Our Town. The only division of people is in the third Act where there are two camps; the dead and alive. Still, they don't fight. 

Nevertheless, the main idea of the play is that LIFE holds us down and we cannot appreciate living our lives. Thus, we can say that LIFE limits our chances to be happy and fulfilled by every single moment. LIFE is the enemy of all people wishing to enjoy every day.

Does it make sense? I might have over-complicated it :D

The Author

Thornton Wilder, the author of Our Town, was born in 1897 and comes from a well-educated family. His father was a US Consul General in Hong Kong and Shanghai. 'Wilder's mother was a cultured, educated woman who instilled a love of literature, drama, and languages in her children" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/ourtown/ei_wilder.html).
Thornton studied Greek and Roman classics, then archeology, and French literature. He became a professor of French and taught poetry at Harvard.
While living in Chicago, Thornton got inspired by a work of his friend Gertrude Stein called The Making of Americans. Grover's Corners is a fictional town. However, it is based on a town called Peterborough in New Hampshire where Thornton used to spend his summers. He was a great philosopher and that is why he decided to write Our Town, a story of ordinary life together with (what I think) great philosophical ideas on life.
And one more interesting fact: Thornton Wilder is the author of The Matchmaker, a play that was transformed into musical Hello, Dolly!