Preview

The Significance of Marriage and Friendship in Our Town

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
350 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Significance of Marriage and Friendship in Our Town
The Significance of Marriage and Friendship in Our Town

Companionship is arguably one of the most important things in the world. Without companionship, it has been scientifically proven that a person becomes depressed, lonely, and in extreme circumstances, insane. Two forms of companionship are marriage and friendship. Most people spend their entire lives seeking new friends, waiting until they find someone special enough to be their spouse. People need companionship and it is considered a natural event in one’s life. In the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder, the author expresses the importance of human connections, such as marriage and friendship, and even goes as far as interacting the audience with the characters. Several examples are evident in the play that supports the significance of companionship, specifically marriage. Probably one of the quotes that best corroborates this is when Mrs. Gibbs says to Emily at her and George’s wedding in Act II, “People are meant to go through life two by two. ‘Tain’t natural to be lonesome,” (Wilder 68). This quote displays both Mrs. Gibbs’ and Wilder’s belief in the sacredness of human interaction. Mrs. Gibbs is suggesting that marriage is natural and eliminates loneliness. Even the characters in the play without a companion, such as Simon Stimson, rely on general human interaction and still are not alone. Another example that exemplifies the significance of companionship is when George says to Emily, “I think that once you’ve found a person that you’re very fond of… I mean a person who’s fond of you, too, and likes you enough to be interested in your character… Well, I think that's just as important as college is, and even more so. That’s what I think,” (Wilder 71-72). George says this to Emily in Mr. Morgan’s drugstore. This is the first time that they demonstrate feelings toward one another. With this statement, George decides love is more important than college, which ultimately leads to his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, tells the story of the lives of everyday citizens of Grover’s Corners. The story is broken up into three acts pertaining to the human condition. These conditions are Daily Life, Marriage, and Death. This essay will describe the character, Emily, and her personality.…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. Caring- Love includes caring, or wanting to help the other person by providing aid and emotional support.…

    • 821 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    <br>In terms of emotional stability, there is only one thing in life that is really needed and that is friends. Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness and solitude. Loneliness leads to low self-esteem and deprivation. In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men' the characters, Crooks, Candy and Curley's Wife all exhibit some form of loneliness. They are driven towards the curiosity of George and Lennie's friendship because they do not have that support in their life. Through his novel, ‘Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck demonstrates that often times, a victim of isolation will have a never-ending search to fulfil a friendship.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Companionship is a necessity for those seeking happiness and peace of mind within their lives. Without any faith in others, people will suffer from loneliness and sorrow. This idea is presented in the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. The text delineates the lives of multiple characters who have experienced pain as a result of their alienation from others. These characters include a black man, named Crook’s, who is separated from society because of his skin color, Curley’s wife who, in the time period, was treated with disrespect because of her gender, and two itinerant farm laborers, George and Lennie, once the best of friends, who have lost each other in a world of fear and misfortune. This concept of isolation is developed through…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Our Town is a classic American play, known for its innovative approach to theatre. Wilder, the playwright contradicts expectations from begging to end. In the classic American play, "Our Town", Wilder, contradicts expectations from begging to end. He follows characters, such as my favorite, Emily Webb through life, love, and the after life. She and her husband both expect perfection from one another. His cast is not limited to the citizens of the small town, he includes an omnipotent narrator. He even dares to venture his tale into the after life to show the change of human perspective.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An individual’s attempt to live freely is based on self-respect and interest. To disrupt the ideal and significance of living under a conventional life style, one must step outside their daily routines. We are often resistant to change due to the consequences of our actions but for many, having a routine becomes everything. It is a comfortable customary way of living that guarantees safety and for things to stay the exact same. When a routine has become stagnant and unbendable we have become prisoners within the cells of our own making. By looking at “Behind the Headlines” by Vidyut Aklujkar one can see the theme the author demonstrates betwwen tradition and change*change can bring liberty…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Coquette Novel

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages

    (Schweitzer 14). Schweitzer notes that during this time period women forfeited the emotional support that friendship provided once they were married. The main protagonist criticizes marriage in a letter she writes to her friend Lucy Freeman, “Marriage is the tomb of friendship. It appears to me a very selfish state” (Foster 24). It can be noted from Eliza’ view of marriage that Foster is critical of marriage because it kills friendships. Eliza writes to Mrs. Richmond, “Though not less interested in the felicity of my friend than the rest, yet the idea of a separation; perhaps, of an alienation of affection by, means of her entire devotion to another, cast an involuntary gloom over my mind” (Foster 70). Eliza’s view of her friend becoming part of a patriarchal marriage and her husband becoming her sole purpose further demonstrates what Foster thought of marriage and how unfair it was for women to give up the love and devotion she had for her friends. Schweitzer explains, “Even the eminently unromantic Lucy admits ruefully that marriage has removed her from her "native home" and its special joys” (Schweitzer 21). Schweitzer notes that even Lucy who is a character that embodies the social norm, admits that marriage takes away the freedom that a woman…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage is something that is sometimes hard to keep and brings struggles to people’s lives. “The Painted Door”, a short story written by Sinclair Ross, involves a married couple who goes through multiple conflicts and endeavor to live with each other on a distant farmland. Ann, John’s solitary wife, has fallen into an unusual attraction to John’s friend Steven. Although John is partly responsible for his tragic end, Ann should also take the blame for John’s death.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marriage is the contract made by a man and woman to live as husband and wife. It is also a legal contract binding two individuals from different families, ensuring that their wealth and land is passed on to the descendants with no disputes. However the concept of marriage has not changed through the ages. Regardless of how people enter into a matrimony. Marriage will always be a bond between two individuals involving, responsibility, commitment and trust. Marriage is essential to both texts, whilst Hardy and Shakespeare were writing; marriage was still a very expected convention. It was still treated like the necessary and normal thing to do. Both texts are dealing with the social attitudes towards marriage.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Even though love and marriage was a major ideal in Shakespearean England, we can get views from Much Ado about Nothing which oppose this idea. From the two main ‘couples' in this play we can understand their different views on commitment throughout and because of this we as readers and viewers can learn about each relationship separately and watch the thoughts and ideas change throughout the play.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marriage in the 1800s

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Marriage has been portrayed as many things throughout the years. In the short stories, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell both portray marriage, and how it does not always bring happiness. Each story was written by a married woman in the 1800s, this could reveal and interrupt how the lives of a married woman were in their time period. In each story, the main character is woman being overpowered by her husband, then when they find out they could be ‘free’ a sudden sigh of relief comes to mind. Only to be either be mislead or to feel trapped again. The authors Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell illustrate how marriage was in the 1800s and how it was not the source of happiness everyone in today’s society thinks of it to be.…

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Love: This is a theme in the novel that is inaccurately portrayed by members of New York’s upper class. Characters in the play frequent operas which are filled with romantic passion, which in their own lives they seldom experience. The true love seen on stage does not exist to them in real life. For society, love and marriage go hand in hand with each other. Despite a man and a woman caring about one another and liking each other as individuals, it is rare for actual love to be present. Couples are matched based on their equal family status and the wealth that they equally share. When Newland thinks about May Welland, his fiancé at the time and a woman from a well-to-do family, he does not…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This is clearly demonstrated in the prescribed text, The Simple Gift by Stephen Herrick as we see the unlikely friendship and bond develop between the characters, Billy and Old Bill and the passionate relationship that forms between Billy and Caitlin. In this text, Herrick uses extensive amounts of literary techniques to describe feelings, ideas and representations to illustrate the complexity of belonging and how adversity and circumstances can bring individuals together “And he tells me about his Jessie/ and his wife/ and the house he visits…and how he’s afraid to forget…”. The formation of unlikely friendships and bonds is well evidenced by the relationship between Anna and Campbell Alexander in my selected text, My Sisters Keeper. The complexity and fragility of relationships and how changes in the environment or random events affect an individual’s sense of belonging can be easily found in both texts.…

    • 1729 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marriage and Individuals

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “No matter what language people speak-from Arabic to Yiddish, from Chinook to Chinese-marriage is what we use to describe a specific relationship of love and dedication to another person” (Wolfson 90). In the essay “What Is Marriage” by Evan Wolfson, he argues that marriage is a very important custom to our society from both social and spiritual aspects of life. Wolfson believes that as long as two people are in love whether if it is same-sex or opposite sex, couples have the right to be married. The government should permit and support same-sex couples to be married and become financially and socially stable. Likewise, Author Andrew Sullivan of “My Big Fat Straight Wedding” writes about his perspectives that everyone should acknowledge and treat the gay and lesbian people with respect as a human being.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Why Marriage Matters

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Marriage matters. If marriage did not matter, would it even be considered when growing up? The common child at some point thinks about getting married and having children. Our society has gone through monumental shifts throughout its history. A theme that has not changed however, marriage, has survived through it all due to its importance. Our children and our health are two of the most important aspects of life. Marriage will help in both of those categories. Children have better relationships with their parents because of marriage. Watching their parents, they grow up having better relationships themselves. Increased success in school has been noted. Families are more financially stable, leading to a better environment for a child. And of course, we need our health to maintain anything, and that too is affected by marriage. Marriage is recognized everywhere in the world. It has been around for centuries and is a cornerstone to the foundation of modern day society.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics