The Skin of Our Teeth Study Guide

The Skin of Our Teeth

The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder

The Skin of Our Teeth is a play in three acts. It follows the Antrobus family and their maid, Sabina, through a collection of scenes connected by characters and relationships rather than a consistent setting. While the characters are modern, the Antrobus family is heavily Biblical in nature and its dynamic revolves around son Henry's unseen murder of his brother, Abel. The play's driving drama involves father George's increasing antipathy toward Henry over the crime.

The Skin of Our Teeth Themes

Table of Contents
  • Sabina's stock-maid monologue begins and ends the play in the same way; this "stage-play" goes on and on.
  • In her role as resident pessimist, lacking vision, Sabina says, "That's all we do—always beginning again! Over and over again. Always beginning again." After each disaster, they just rebuild the world again. She also says: "Don't forget that a few years ago we came through the depression by the skin of our teeth! One more tight squeeze like that and where will we be?" And later she says,..."My nerves can't stand it. But if you have any ideas about improving this crazy old world, I'm really with you. I really am."
  • The Ice Age/The Great Flood/War; we are always plagued by the potential for disaster, both natural and man-made.
  • Art and literature are ways of advancing our humanity: enhancing empathy, tolerance, vision. Improvements in technology, though, don't necessarily advance human nature at all.

You'll need to sign up to view the entire study guide.

Sign Up Now, It's FREE
Source: Wikipedia, released under the Creative Commons Attributions/Share-Alike License
Filter Your Search Results: