Our Town
(Thornton Wilder)

Life

The main theme of “Our Town” is to live life to its fullest because you never know when it will be taken from you. Emily does not learn until she is dead the importance of truly appreciating and making use of every single second of life.

There is a sharp emphasis on how quickly life passes us by, as the play quickly jumps from George and Emily’s wedding day to her death, nine years later, as though no time has passed between the two occasions at all. The monotony of everyday life for the people of Grover’s Corners is illustrated by the reliability of a daily routine that never seems to change.

Marriage

Marriage is seen as the ultimate step for a person to take in Grover’s Corners; it signifies a step into adulthood and something that should be welcomed. Both George and Emily are scared to get married because they are scared to grow up, alluding that the two ideas go hand in hand.

The Webb’s and the Gibbs’ are both happily married couples who encourage their children to marry one another and are happy at the idea of the union, offering sound advice to both George and Emily when they seem to have the jitters. The parents show that it is natural to be scared but worth the worry in the end.

Relationships

All relationships are important in the confines of this play, even if they are not romantic relationships though those are obviously important, as well. In Grover’s Corners, no one is ever alone; Howie Newsome, Joe, and the Constable chat with one another every morning, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb are always communicating between their gardens, and the children are always walking to school in pairs.

Each family has only two children, a perfect couple; the Gibbs’, the Webbs, and even George and Emily. The stage manager even makes sure to develop a relationship and a repertoire with the audience, engaging them in his words and the activities happening on stage.

The Vision of America

The town of Grover’s Corners offers a very specific view of what small-town America is like. Families are happy, parents stay married, the townspeople all know and like one another, the children are all friends, there is a soda shop that the teenagers go to on dates, milk is delivered fresh every single morning, and the mothers are housewives while the fathers support the family financially, including doling out allowances. In Grover’s Corners there is no drinking, except for the few socially inacceptable people in town, like Simon, and no one ever has sex before they are married.

The Power of Choices

Within the play, there are two major choices that are made that will affect the lives of the characters. The first choice comes when George decides he will forego college to stay in Grover’s Corners to be with Emily. Had George made the opposite decision perhaps Emily would not have died so young, but also perhaps he and Emily would never experience love as they had.

The second choice is Emily’s to return to a point in her life when she was the happiest. When Emily returns home she realizes that none of the living truly embrace life and simply let it fly by, which both saddens and angers her. She realizes the importance of death and the eternal journey she will now embark on.

The Old South

Blanche is a stereotypical Southern belle, and her mentality and upbringing on an old white-owned plantation are representative of the old South. Blanche’s sister Stella, on the other hand, left Belle Reve to marry a New Orleans man Blanche finds “common.” Stanley, who is much more direct and brusque than Blanche, represents a more industrial and modern mentality in the South. Blanche’s and Stanley’s various confrontations are indicative of the changing cultural landscape of the South and the shaky relationship between old school southerners and newer transplants.

Dependence on Men

Stella and Blanche are decidedly different people, but both rely on their male counterparts and look to men for validation and support. Stella is madly in love with Stanley, despite the fact that he beats her and disrespects her. And Blanche frequently refers to her need to be accepted and appreciated through intimate relations with men. She also ultimately desires to marry again in order to reach a new level of security. Neither woman feels confident enough in herself to be independent in the world; as such, both are examples of the existing gender imbalance between men and women.

Addiction

There are subtle but significant references to addiction and substance abuse throughout A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche takes secret shots from Stanley’s liquor cabinet and then lies about her tolerance and how much she wants or has had. Her dependence on alcohol is made more pronounced by her anxiety and the way in which alcohol seems to calm her nerves. Stanley too has his own vices, especially when it comes to poker playing and gambling. Through them as well as the other characters, Williams comments on the role of substances and addiction on the human psyche: people act differently and more extremely under the influence of alcohol.

Death

Even though all the characters are relatively young and none of the main characters die in the play, death is still a constant undertone in A Streetcar Named Desire. According to Blanche, the reason she lost Belle Reve was due to the funeral expenses the family incurred when many family members of her parents’ generation passed around the same time. She is also still scarred by the death of her young husband, who committed suicide after Blanche discovered he was homosexual. Blanche’s fear of death manifests itself through her fear of aging and constant lying about her real age.

Fantasy vs. Reality

As the play progresses, Blanche’s grasp on reality becomes more skewed. She lies about her life in Mississippi in the two years prior to visiting Stella in New Orleans. Blanche also believes a former suitor named Shep is coming to rescue her and bring her out of poverty. As Blanche’s condition declines, it is harder for the viewer to determine what happens and what she has made up. Although reality ultimately triumphs when the doctor and matron come to take Blanche away, Blanche’s fantasies allow her to deal with the sorrows life has dealt her.

Sex and Power

Sex is inextricably tied to power relations in A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche sees her sexuality as one of her only means of gaining control. She utilizes this sexuality through seducing young men such as a 17-year-old student at her school and the man who comes to the door to collect for the Evening Star. In the play, it is eventually revealed that Blanche has been selling her body at the Hotel Flamingo for the past two years. However, the tables turn in scene ten when Stanley rapes Blanche. This dramatic moment signifies a power change and Blanche’s ultimate decline into madness.

Vanity

Blanche is obsessed with her physical appearance. She takes long baths, fishes for compliments and is always wearing perfume and powdering her face. Blanche’s physical vanity and fixation on making herself look good masks her greater insecurities about her age, fading beauty, and low self esteem. In A Streetcar Named Desire, vanity is a vehicle through which more serious issues such as anxiety and loneliness are revealed and explored.