TEACHING GUIDE

HarperAcademic.com TEACHING GUIDE FOR THORNTON WILDER’S THE MATCHMAKER 2

About the Book

Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy old merchant from Yonkers, decides its time he marries and hires a matchmaker. But Dorothy Gallagher Levi is no ordinary matchmaker; she is a force of nature, with plans of her own. Dolly soon becomes invested in the lives and loves of all around her—from Vandergelder, to his niece, to his store clerks, even to the waiter at the restaurant in which the farce runs headlong into hilarious complication before everyone is united with their perfect match.

About the Author

Tornton Wilder (1897-1975) was a novelist and playwright whose works celebrate the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. He is the only writer to win Pulitzer Prizes for both fction, for his novel Te Bridge of San Luis Rey, and drama, for his plays Our Town and Te Skin of Our Teeth. Wilder’s many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Chevalier Légion d’Honneur. More information on Tornton Wilder can be found in Penelope Niven’s biography, Tornton Wilder: A Life, from Harper Perennial.

Discussion Questions

ACT I

• How would you describe the characters in Te Matchmaker? What do you think are their strengths and weaknesses? • Why is Horace Vandergelder’s distinction between “making a living” and a person having “expectations” about future income signifcant? How does it infuence how Vandergelder thinks about money? • Why does Vandergelder take issue with Ambrose wanting to marry Ermengarde? • What does the passage usually lef out of performances add to the act? If you were directing a production of Te Matchmaker, would you leave it in or take it out? • What does New York City signify to the characters in this act? How is it diferent from Yonkers for them? • Why does Dolly Levi think “Money should circulate like rain water”? How does her view of money diferent from that of Vandergelder’s?

ACT II

• How does Mrs. Molloy compare to Dolly Levi? In what ways are they similar? And how do they difer? • How do Dolly and Mrs. Molloy create confusion for Vandergelder around Cornelius Hackl? What does this confusion achieve? • What are the comedic elements at play in this act? Why do they evoke humor? Trough the use of comedy and humor, what do they reveal?

ACT III

• Do you think Malachi’s assertion that Vandergelder “…talks to everybody as though he were paying them” is true? • How does Malachi end up participating in “the redistribution of superfuities” with Vandergelder’s purse? • In this act, Malachi presents his own thoughts about money. How do they compare to the attitudes that other characters in the play (like Vandergelder and Dolly) have expressed so far? TEACHING GUIDE FOR THORNTON WILDER’S THE MATCHMAKER 3

• Why is Dolly manipulating Vandergelder? What do you think her end goal is? • What is Vandergelder’s opinion of Dolly near the end of the act? Why do his views change? • How is Ermengarde discovered by her uncle at the end of the act?

ACT IV

• How would you describe Miss Van Huysen? How does she compare to the other women in the play? • How does mistaken identity create comedy in this act? • Why do you think Miss Van Huysen is so unconcerned about the truth or fction of a person’s identity? • Dolly’s most famous line in Te Matchmaker is, “Money, I’ve always felt, money—pardon my expression—is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread about encouraging young things to grow.” Why is this description of money signifcant? • Do you agree with Barnaby that the moral of the play is adventure? Or do you think his answer contributes to the farce that is at work throughout Te Matchmaker?

Writing Prompts

• Many characters in the play talk about their ideas of money and whether it should be spent, or saved, lost, or found. How do attitudes about money infuence characters and their actions in Te Matchmaker? • How does farce contribute to the structure of the play? How does it help move the plot along? • Dolly’s initial role was to be a matchmaker for Horace Vandergelder, but she has her own ideas about matchmaking. What are the variety of ways in which Dolly fulflls her role? How does her involvement help, or hinder, other characters? • Troughout the play there is an emphasis on “encouraging young things to grow.” Why is it signifcant that Te Matchmaker is so invested in youth? • In his aferword, Tappan Wilder, Tornton’s nephew, takes readers through Te Matchmaker’s storied history. How does knowing the history of Te Matchmaker afect your reading of the play?

Links of Interest

Te Tornton Wilder Family Ofcial Website Te Tornton Wilder Society. Academic site devoted to Tornton Wilder Te Tornton Wilder Papers, Yale University An Interview with Tappan Wilder: Te Matchmaker An Interview with Tappan Wilder: Te Skin of Our Teeth

Books of Interest

The Selected Letters of Thornton Wilder, edited by Robin G. Wilder and Jackson R. Bryer Thornton Wilder: A Life by Penelope Niven Thornton Wilder and the Puritan Narrative Tradition by Lincoln Konkle TEACHING GUIDE FOR THORNTON WILDER’S THE MATCHMAKER 4

Teaching Guides for Works by Thornton Wilder

The Bridge of San Luis Rey The Ides of March The Matchmaker Our Town The Skin of Our Teeth Theophilus North

Novels by Thornton Wilder

The Bridge of San Luis Rey Foreword by Russell Banks The Calaba and The Woman of Andros: Two Novels Foreword by Penelope Niven The Eighth Day Foreword by John Updike Heaven’s My Destination Foreword by J. D. McClatchy The Ides of March Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Theophilus North Foreword by Christopher Buckley

Plays by Thornton Wilder

Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Foreword by Donald Margulies The Matchmaker Introduction by Ken Ludwig The Skin of Our Teeth Foreword by Paula Vogel Three Plays: Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Matchmaker Foreword by John Guare

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