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Joe Crowell
Mrs. Gibbs is a loving wife and mother, who works tirelessly to raise her two children, keep the house clean, prepare meals, do laundry, and carry out other household tasks. She seems happy in her life, but there are hints that she desires something more out of life. She tells Mrs. Webb that she dreams of going to Paris and traveling somewhere where people don’t speak English, but she never gets to go on this kind of trip. Nonetheless, Mrs. Gibbs lives a happy life in Grover’s Corners with her family and community. At the end of the play, when she is dead, she helps Emily adjust to her new existence after death.
Mrs. Gibbs Quotes in Our Town
The Our Town quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Gibbs or refer to Mrs. Gibbs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1 Quotes
Only it seems to me that once in your life before you die you ought to see a country where they don’t talk in English and don’t even want to.
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Act 2 Quotes
And how do you think I felt!—Frank, weddings are perfectly awful things. Farces,—that’s what they are!
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Yes... people are meant to go through life two by two. ’Tain’t natural to be lonesome.
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Ma, I don’t want to grow old. Why’s everybody pushing me so?
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Act 3 Quotes
No!—At least, choose an unimportant day. Choose the least important day in your life. It will be important enough.
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Mrs. Gibbs Character Timeline in Our Town
The timeline below shows where the character Mrs. Gibbs appears in Our Town. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...in one building), schools, grocery store, and drugstore. He points out Dr. Gibbs’ house and Mrs. Gibbs’ garden, as well as the house of Mr. Webb, the editor of Grover’s Corners’ local...
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...house after helping a mother in the Polish neighborhood of town give birth to twins. Mrs. Gibbs walks into her kitchen and begins preparing breakfast. The stage manager tells the audience that...
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...milk to various houses. He talks to Dr. Gibbs and then delivers some milk to Mrs. Gibbs . Mrs. Gibbs calls for her kids to get up and come to breakfast, as...
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In their separate houses, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb continue to call for their children to come to breakfast. Mrs. Gibbs...
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...in the two households, Mrs. Webb tells her children not to eat too quickly, while Mrs. Gibbs tells George she’ll speak to Dr. Gibbs about possibly raising his allowance. The kids finish...
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Mrs. Gibbs tells Mrs. Webb that a secondhand furniture dealer from Boston came to her house and...
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...travels to Civil War battlefields and thinks “that’s enough treat for anybody.” Mrs. Webb encourages Mrs. Gibbs to keep dropping hints about Paris. Mrs. Gibbs comments that she thinks, “once in your...
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...the farm, since he has not been doing chores at home. He tells him that Mrs. Gibbs had to chop wood because he hadn’t done it, even though she already spends so...
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George goes back upstairs as Mrs. Gibbs , Mrs. Webb, and Mrs. Soames come on-stage, returning from choir practice. Mrs. Soames gossips...
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Dr. Gibbs is upset that Mrs. Gibbs is arriving home so late (though she tells him it isn’t any later than usual)...
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Mrs. Gibbs says that she is worried about her husband and wants him to make plans to...
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Once they are inside, Mrs. Gibbs mentions that people in Grover’s Corners have begun to lock their doors at night. Dr....
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Act 2
...Marriage.” It is the morning of July 7, just after the local high school graduation. Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb enter their respective kitchens to make breakfast. The stage manager emphasizes that...
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Howie delivers some milk to Mrs. Gibbs and offers his best wishes for George’s wedding. He delivers milk to the Webb household...
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Dr. Gibbs recalls Mrs. Gibbs’ and his wedding, saying that he was scared and nervous. Mrs. Gibbs says she was...
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...play the minister at the wedding. He speaks about the importance of marriage, agreeing with Mrs. Gibbs that “people were made to live two-by-two.” The wedding ceremony begins and Mrs. Webb speaks...
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...group of baseball players from his team whistles and teases him, calling him “old geezer.” Mrs. Gibbs notices that George looks troubled up at the altar and goes to talk to him....
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Act 3
...intermission between acts, stagehands set up rows of chairs to represent graves in a cemetery. Mrs. Gibbs , Simon Stimson, Mrs. Soames, and Wally Webb, all dead, go on-stage before the act...
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The dead Mrs. Gibbs points out Sam, her nephew, to Simon Stimson. Sam sees Simon’s grave and recalls his...
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...have remembered that “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” was her favorite hymn. She tells Mrs. Gibbs about her home with George.
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Emily comments that “live people don’t understand,” and Mrs. Gibbs agrees. Emily describes living people as “shut up in little boxes.” The funeral ends and...
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Emily asks if she can go back and relive her life. Mrs. Gibbs says she can, but advises her not to. The stage manager tells her that it...
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But Emily is determined relive some of her earlier life. Mrs. Gibbs tells her to at least choose an ordinary, unimportant day. Emily chooses her twelfth birthday...
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...the disapproval of some of the dead. Emily comments that the living don’t understand, and Mrs. Gibbs agrees.
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