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Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder was an American United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

 playwright and novelist Novel

A novel is an extended, generally fiction [i]al narrative [i] in prose [i]. ... 

.

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Timeline

1938   Thornton Wilder's play ''Our Town Our Town

Our Town is a three act play by Thornton Wilder [i] that is set in the fictional community of Grover ... 

'' opens (New York City New York City

[i] in the [[United States]... 

).


Quotations

A dramatist is one who believes that the pure event, an action involving human beings, is more arresting than any comment that can be made upon it.

Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.

I would love to be the poet laureate of Coney Island.

New York Journal-American (11 November 1955)

It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is rather a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves.

Love is an energy which exists of itself. It is its own value.

TIME magazine (3 February 1958)

Man is not an end but a beginning. We are at the beginning of the second week. We are children of the eighth day.

       More Quotes >>


Encyclopedia

Thornton Wilder was an American United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

 playwright and novelist Novel

A novel is an extended, generally fiction [i]al narrative [i] in prose [i]. ... 

.

Life


Family

Thornton Niven Wilder was born in Madison Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin [i], a state [i] in the United States of America [i] ... 

, Wisconsin Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a state [i] in the United States [i], located in the Midwest [i].... 

, he was the son of Amos Parker Wilder a U.S. diplomat Diplomacy


Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiation [i]s between representatives of groups or ... 

, and
Isabella Niven Wilder.
All of the Wilder children spent part of their childhood in China China

China is a cultural region [i] and ancient civilization [i] in East Asia [i]. ... 

 due to their father's work.

Wilder's older brother, Amos Niven Wilder was Hollis Professor of Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University [i], located in Cambridge, Massachusetts [i] ... 

 and a noted poet. His younger sister Isabel Wilder was an accomplished writer. Both of his other sisters, Charlotte Wilder  and Janet Wilder Dakin , attended Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College,, is a secular liberal arts [i] women's college [i] in South Hadley [i] ... 

 and were excellent students. Thornton Wilder also had a twin brother who died at birth.

Education

Wilder began writing plays while at The Thacher School The Thacher School

The Thacher School is a co-educational [i] independent boarding school [i] located on 420 acre [i]s in a... 

 in Ojai, California Ojai, California

Ojai is a city in Ventura County [i], California [i], United States [i]. ... 

, where he did not fit in and was teased by classmates as overly intellectual. According to a classmate, “We left him alone, just left him alone. And he would retire to the library, his hideaway, learning to distance himself from humiliation and indifference.” His family lived for a time in Berkeley, California Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay [i] in northern [i] California [i] ... 

 where his sister Janet was born in 1910. Thornton attended Emerson Elementary School in Berkeley, and graduated from Berkeley High School in 1915.

After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States [i] armed forces [i] ... 

 during World War I World War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and "The War to End All War... 

, he attended Oberlin College Oberlin College

Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college [i] in Oberlin, Ohio [i], in the United States [i]... 

 before earning his B.A. at Yale University Yale University

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut [i]. ... 

 in 1920, where he refined his writing skills as a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, a literary society. He earned his M.A. in French from Princeton University Princeton University

Princeton University is a coeducation [i]al private university [i] located in Princeton, New Jersey [i]. ... 

 in 1926.

Career

In 1926 Wilder's first novel The Cabala was published. In 1927, The Bridge of San Luis Rey brought him commercial success and his first Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is an American [i] award regarded as the highest honor in print journal ... 

 in 1928. From 1930 to 1937 he taught at the University of Chicago University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private university [i] located principally in the Hyde Park [i]... 

. In 1938 and 1943 he won the Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is an American [i] award regarded as the highest honor in print journal ... 

 for drama for his plays Our Town Our Town

Our Town is a three act play by Thornton Wilder [i] that is set in the fictional community of Grover ... 

and The Skin of Our Teeth The Skin of Our Teeth

The Skin of Our Teeth is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama [i]-winning play [i] by Thornton Wilder [i] ... 

. World War II World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide [i] conflict [i] fought betwe ... 

 saw him rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Force United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was a part of the U.S. Army [i] during World War II [i] ... 

 and receive several awards. He went on to be a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii University of Hawaii

The University of Hawaii, formally the University of Hawaii System and popularly known as UH'... 

 and to teach poetry at Harvard. Though he considered himself a teacher first and a writer second, he continued to write all his life, receiving the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1957 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian award [i] ... 

 in 1963. In 1967 he won the National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day. He died in his sleep, December 7, 1975 in Hamden, Connecticut Hamden, Connecticut

Hamden is a town in New Haven County [i], Connecticut [i], United States [i]... 

, where he had been living with his sister Isabel for many years.

Wilder had a wide circle of friends and enjoyed mingling with other famous people, including Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American [i] novelist [i], short-story writer [i] ... 

, Willa Cather Willa Cather

Wilella Sibert Cather is among the most eminent American [i] authors [i]. ... 

, Montgomery Clift Montgomery Clift

Edward Montgomery Clift was an American actor known by the stage name of Montgomery Clift.... 

 and Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein was an American [i] writer [i] and catalyst in the development of modern art [i] ... 

. Although he never discussed his homosexuality publicly or in his writings, his close friend Samuel M. Steward is generally acknowledged to have been his lover.

Works


Wilder authored numerous plays, novels, and a variety of shorter works including essays, one act plays, and scholarly articles. He also translated and wrote the libretti Libretto

A libretto is the complete study of words used in an extended musical [i] work such as an opera [i], operetta [i]... 

 to two opera Opera

Opera is a dramatic [i] art [i] form, originating in Italy [i], in which the emotional content or... 

s. Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE [i] was a highly influential director [i] ... 

, whom he admired, asked him to write the screenplay to his thriller, Shadow of a Doubt.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey tells the story of several unrelated people who happen to be on a bridge in Peru Peru

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America [i], bordering Ecuador [i]... 

 when it collapses, killing them. Philosophically, the book explores the problem of evil, or the question of why unfortunate events occur to people who seem "innocent" or "undeserving".

It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and in 1998 it was selected by the editorial board of the American Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century. The book was quoted by British Prime Minister Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [i] is in... 

 Tony Blair Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, known as Tony Blair, is the outgoing Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [i] ... 

 during the memorial service for victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Since then its popularity has grown enormously. The book is the progenitor of the modern disaster epic in literature and film-making, where a single disaster intertwines the victims, whose lives are then explored by means of flashbacks to events before the disaster.

Wilder was the author of Our Town Our Town

Our Town is a three act play by Thornton Wilder [i] that is set in the fictional community of Grover ... 

, a popular play set in fictional Grover's Corners, New Hampshire New Hampshire

The State of New Hampshire is a state [i] in the New England [i] region of the northeastern United States [i]... 

. It was inspired by his friend Gertrude Stein's novel The Making of Americans, and many elements of Stein's deconstructive style can be found throughout the work. Our Town employs a choric narrator called the "Stage Manager" and a minimalist Minimalism

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art [i] and music [i] ... 

 set to underscore the universality of human experience. The play won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize. Wilder suffered from severe writer's block while writing the final act.

His play The Skin of Our Teeth The Skin of Our Teeth

The Skin of Our Teeth is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama [i]-winning play [i] by Thornton Wilder [i] ... 

opened in New York on November 18, 1942 with Fredric March and Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an American [i] actress [i], talk-show host and bon... 

 in the lead roles. Again, the themes are familiar--the timeless human condition; history as progressive, cyclical, or entropic; literature, philosophy, and religion as the touchstones of civilization. Three acts dramatize the travails of the Antrobus family, allegorizing the history of mankind.

The Matchmaker The Matchmaker

The Matchmaker is a play [i] by Thornton Wilder [i] based on an 1842 [i] play by the Austrian [i] ... 

, a farcical play based on Austria Austria

Austria is a landlocked [i] country in central Europe [i]. ... 

n playwright Johann Nestroy Johann Nestroy

Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was an opera [i] singer, actor [i] and, primarily, a playwright [i] ... 

's Einen Jux will er sich machen , was adapted into the musical Hello, Dolly! by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman Jerry Herman

Jerry Herman is an American [i] composer [i]/lyricist [i] of the Broadway [i] ... 

.

His last novel, Theophilus North, was published in 1973.

Novels by Thornton Wilder

  • The Cabala
  • The Bridge of San Luis Rey
  • The Woman of Andros
  • Heaven's My Destination
  • Ides of March
  • The Eighth Day
  • Theophilus North

Plays

  • The Trumpet Shall Sound
  • An Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays
  • The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act which includes
    • The Long Christmas Dinner
    • Queens of France
    • Pullman Car Hiawatha
    • Love and How to Cure It
    • Such Things Only Happen in Books
    • The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden
  • Our Town Our Town

    Our Town is a three act play by Thornton Wilder [i] that is set in the fictional community of Grover ... 

  • The Merchant of Yonkers
  • The Skin of Our Teeth The Skin of Our Teeth

    The Skin of Our Teeth is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama [i]-winning play [i] by Thornton Wilder [i] ... 

  • The Matchmaker The Matchmaker

    The Matchmaker is a play [i] by Thornton Wilder [i] based on an 1842 [i] play by the Austrian [i] ... 

  • Childhood
  • Infancy
  • Plays for Bleecker Street
  • The Collected Short Plays of Thornton Wilder Volume I which includes
    • The Long Christmas Dinner
    • Qeens of France
    • Pullman Car Hiawatha
    • Love and How to Cure It
    • Such Things Only Happen in Books
    • The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden
    • The Drunken Sisters
    • Bernice
    • The Wreck on the Five-Twenty-Five
    • A Ringing of Doorbells
    • In Shakespeare and the Bible
    • Someone from Assisi
    • Cement Hands
    • Infancy Infant

      Infant is a formal term for the word baby, the youngest category of a child [i]. ... 

    • Childhood
    • Youth
    • The Rivers Under the Earth

References


External links



  • April 17