[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Wilder s conceptions of playwritingare most vividly expressed in his own essay,  Some Thoughts on Playwriting,but many critics, including Paul Lifton in  Vast Encyclopedia : The Theatre ofThornton Wilder, comment on his ideas.In writing of his stagecraft, Wilder hasmade it clear that that he was mocking realism throughout Our Town for whathe regarded as its  superficial smugness, especially the notion that realism is theonly theatrical approach to equate with  seriousness. Wilder aimed to shatterthe  ossified conventions of the realistic tradition in order to reveal not onlyemotional depth but also the fullness of his characters experiences.Consider theintimate interactions of characters, as, for example, when Mr.Gibbs moves anadolescent George to tears with a fatherly lecture or the scene in which Georgeand Emily realize the depth of their mutual feelings.Are these characters fullyrealized? Are these brief scenes emotionally satisfying?3.The characters in Our Town experience the mysteries of life, love, and death,without ever fully understanding the meaning of their lives a circumstancethat is the subject of conversation for the deceased Grover s Corners citizenryin the third act of the play.Both Lincoln Konkle in Thornton Wilder and thePuritan Narrative Tradition and Paul Lifton in  Vast Encyclopedia : The Theatreof Thornton Wilder explore the critical debate on the significance and influ-ence of Wilder s personal religious journey on his work.Wilder also addressesthis topic frequently in his interviews, collected by Jackson R.Bryer in Con-versations with Thornton Wilder.In coming to terms with Wilder s view ofspirituality, students might grapple with his observation in the essay  Goetheand World Literature :  The mind of modern man has become a hold-all offlying leaves torn from some vast encyclopedia; but these leaves are not merelyitems of information.Each one is variously vibrant with emotion. What doesthis quotation suggest about the nature of human experience? Is it relevant inunderstanding Our Town?4.The major essay collections edited by Martin Blank, Harold Bloom, and Don-ald Haberman each include works that examine Wilder s view of small-townAmerica.Look closely at Wilder s depiction of the values of Grover s Corner.What are the traditional values that the play seems to endorse? What is nega-tive in the depiction of small-town life? Would you want to live in Grover sCorner? Would Wilder?5.The struggle to comprehend the meaning of life and death and the unendingstriving for answers to questions of existence are the wellspring of Our Townand much scholarship on this quintessentially American play.Many criticspresume that Emily in death speaks for Wilder  Oh, earth, you re too won-derful for anybody to realize you  but, as critics such as Malcolm Goldsteinin the Harold Bloom collection point out, her insight is hard-won as she iscompelled to face the arbitrary forces of life, the randomness of experience, andthe inevitable losses and suffering of existence.What do you make of Emily sinsight? Is it a life-affirming comment? Is it a tacit acknowledgement that thedeepest individual longings for understanding and belonging go unfulfilled?Thornton Wilder 251RESOURCESPrimary Works Goethe and World Literature, in  American Characteristics and Other Essays,edited by Donald Gallup (New York: Harper & Row, 1979).An essay that reflects Wilder s lifelong admiration of Johann Wolfgang vonGoethe. Some Thoughts on Playwriting, in Thornton Wilder: Collected Plays & Writ-ings on Theater, edited by J.D.McClatchy (New York: Library of America,2007).An essential essay that describes Wilder s thinking about the process of playwrit-ing and the purpose of drama.BiographyEdward M.Burns and Ulla E.Dydo with William Rice, eds., The Letters of Ger-trude Stein & Thornton Wilder (New Haven, Conn.& London: Yale Univer-sity Press, 1996).Wilder s correspondence with Stein, a close friend.The letters include his com-ments on his writing process, productions of his plays, and his personal life.Donald Gallup, ed., The Journals of Thornton Wilder, 1939 1961 (New Haven,Conn.& London: Yale University Press, 1985).A font of information on Wilder s writing process and the issues that concernedhim.Although the journals begin after the successful Broadway production ofOur Town, there are many references to the play and its subsequent revivals.Richard H.Goldstone, Thornton Wilder: An Intimate Portrait (New York: Satur-day Review Press/Dutton, 1975).A biography, published shortly after Wilder s death, that emphasizes the rela-tionship of his life to his work and reveals personal material not previouslypublished.Gilbert A.Harrison, The Enthusiast: A Life of Thornton Wilder (New Haven,Conn.: Ticknor & Fields, 1983).An engaging biography that emphasizes the playwright s fundamental optimismas reflected in all of his literary works, most particularly Our Town and The Skinof Our Teeth.Linda Simon, Thornton Wilder: His World (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1979).A serviceable biography of Wilder emphasizing the cultural influences on hisdevelopment as a writer, with attention paid to his dramatic work and the centralsignificance of Our Town.Robin G.Wilder and Jackson R.Bryer, eds., The Selected Letters of ThorntonWilder (New York: HarperCollins, 2008).Offers glimpses of Wilder s intellectual and artistic concerns, his friendships, hisprocess of writing, the publication and theatrical presentation of his works, andhis personal life.252 American Modernism, 1914 1945BibliographyRichard H.Goldstone, Thornton Wilder, An Annotated Bibliography of Works by andAbout Thornton Wilder (New York: AMS Press, 1982).Covers Wilder s achievement in all literary forms, but with an emphasis on hisdramatic writing.Among Wilder s plays, Our Town has inspired the most schol-arly and critical interest.Claudette Walsh, Thornton Wilder: A Reference Guide, 1926 1990 (New York:G.K.Hall, 1993).Extends Goldstone s earlier bibliographic work.CriticismMartin Blank, ed., Critical Essays on Thornton Wilder (New York: G.K.Hall,1996).A collection in which Our Town receives particular attention in MalcolmCowley s essay  The Man Who Abolished Time, Barnard Hewitt s  Thorn-ton Wilder Says  Yes,  and Paul Lifton s  Symbolist Dimensions of ThorntonWilder s Dramaturgy.Harold Bloom, ed., Thornton Wilder (Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2003).An essay collection that puts particular emphasis on Our Town and The Skin ofOur Teeth.The essays on Our Town include explorations of deceased characters(Mary McCarthy), expressionistic elements (A.R.Fulton), family themes (ArthurMiller), simplicity (Winfield Townley Scott), avoiding clichés and sentimentality(Travis Bogard), Emily s  Good-by, World speech (Malcolm Goldstein), time(Donald Haberman), the function of the stage manager (M.C.Kuner), criticalreaction (Linda Simon), film versions (Gilbert A.Harrison), and contemporaryobstacles to appreciating the play (David Castronovo).Dalma Hunyadi Brunauer and David Garrett Izzo, eds., Thornton Wilder: NewEssays (West Cornwall, Conn.: Locust Hill Press, 1999) [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]