In this section, Wilder demonstrates the difference between the living and the dead. Obviously, the presence of the living makes the spirits uncomfortable. They purposely try to forget the living and prepare themselves for something that is to occur in the future.
In the first two acts, Wilder employs several techniques to familiarize the audience with background material, most frequently by having the Stage Manager supply data. By Act III, however, Wilder expresses larger, more significant ideas through the Stage Manager and saves exposition for minor actors. He uses a traditional device: He has a citizen of the town talk to a man who has been away for twelve years. As the returnee asks questions and catches up with his family and the town, the audience learns pertinent facts.
By having Emily appear as one of the newly dead, Wilder can express her newly formed thoughts about metamorphosis from farm wife and mother to spirit. Without a new arrival as a stimulus, the older spirits would not have reason to discuss their thoughts on being dead. Another reason for Emily's importance is that she has been a key player in the drama all along. Therefore, to place her among the dead gives the drama a tighter structure by holding the focus on her.
Because Emily wears a white dress and a youthful hairstyle, she evokes her joyous departure from Act II as George's bride. Thus, Wilder blends the two acts, thereby emphasizing the innocence and femininity of his main character.
