<P> Three years have passed, and George and Emily prepare to wed . The day is filled with stress . Howie Newsome is delivering milk in the pouring rain while Si Crowell, younger brother of Joe, laments how George's baseball talents will be squandered . George pays an awkward visit to his soon - to - be in - laws . Here, the Stage Manager interrupts the scene and takes the audience back a year, to the end of Emily and George's junior year . Emily confronts George about his pride, and over an ice cream soda, they discuss the future and their love for each other . George resolves not to go to college, as he had planned, but to work and eventually take over his uncle's farm . In the present, George and Emily say that they are not ready to marry--George to his mother, Emily to her father--but they both calm down and happily go through with the wedding . </P> <P> Nine years have passed . The Stage Manager opens the act with a lengthy monologue emphasizing eternity, bringing the audience's attention to the cemetery outside of town and the characters who have died since the wedding, including Mrs. Gibbs (pneumonia, while traveling), Wally Webb (burst appendix, while camping), Mrs. Soames, and Simon Stimson (suicide by hanging). Town undertaker Joe Stoddard is introduced, as is a young man named Sam Craig who has returned to Grover's Corners for his cousin's funeral . That cousin is Emily, who died giving birth to her and George's second child . Once the funeral ends, Emily emerges to join the dead; Mrs. Gibbs urges her to forget her life, but she refuses . Ignoring the warnings of Simon, Mrs. Soames, and Mrs. Gibbs, Emily returns to Earth to relive one day, her 12th birthday . The memory proves too painful for her, and she realizes that every moment of life should be treasured . When she asks the Stage Manager if anyone truly understands the value of life while they live it, he responds, "No . The saints and poets, maybe--they do some ." Emily returns to her grave next to Mrs. Gibbs and watches impassively as George kneels weeping over her . The Stage Manager concludes the play and wishes the audience a good night . </P> <Ul> <Li> Stage Manager--a narrator, commentator, and guide through Grover's Corners . He joins in the action of the play periodically, as the minister at the wedding, the soda shop owner, a local townsmen, etc., and speaks directly to Emily after her death . </Li> <Li> Emily Webb--one of the main characters; we follow her from a precocious young girl through her wedding to George Gibbs and her early death . </Li> <Li> George Gibbs--the other main character; the boy next door, a kind but irresponsible teenager who matures over time and becomes a responsible husband, father and farmer . </Li> <Li> Frank Gibbs--George's father, the town doctor </Li> <Li> Julia (Hersey) Gibbs--George's mother . She dreams of going to Paris but doesn't get there . She saved $350 for the trip from the sale of an antique furniture piece but willed it to George and Emily . Dies while visiting her daughter in Ohio . </Li> <Li> Charles Webb--Emily's father, Editor of the Grover's Corners Sentinel </Li> <Li> Myrtle Webb--Emily's mother </Li> </Ul> <Li> Stage Manager--a narrator, commentator, and guide through Grover's Corners . He joins in the action of the play periodically, as the minister at the wedding, the soda shop owner, a local townsmen, etc., and speaks directly to Emily after her death . </Li>

The play is set in grover's corners new hampshire may 7 1938