Tennessee Williams

1911-1983

Life

Homes

Columbus, Mississippi
St. Louis, Missouri
New Orleans, Louisiana
Key West, Florida
New York, New York

Occupation

playwright

Chronology

1911: born in Columbus, Mississippi
1939: American Blues
1944: The Glass Menagerie
1947: A Streetcar Named Desire
1948: Summer and Smoke
1950: The Rose Tattoo
1955: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1969: experiences a breakdown

Issues and themes

Along with his contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams brought American drama to its pinnacle of artistic success in the early and middle decades of the 20th century. Williams masterfully used dramatic devices, particularly lighting, to convey meaning in his plays. Also known for his characterization, Williams gave America two of its most memorable characters, Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois, as well as one of its best-known plays, A Streetcar Named Desire.

In this play, as well as The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams drew on his experience living in the South to explore several Southern themes, including family, the past, art, and romance. Indeed, Williams--along with William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and others--helped to bring recognition to Southern literature in the 20th century. Williams could be autobiographical in other ways, as well. He recalled his youth and family in The Glass Menagerie and explored his homosexuality in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Work

The Glass Menagerie

Performance: 1945
Identify a dramatic element--for example, the set, lighting, blocking, or costumes--that Williams uses and analyze its contribution to the play's themes.
Analyze each of the four characters. How does Williams convey their personalities?
What is the importance of "the gentleman caller"?
When and where is the play set? Why is the setting important in the play?
What Amanda Wingfield's language reveal about her character?
What is a menagerie? How does the glass menagerie operate as a symbol?
What is the DAR? What does Amanda's membership in it reveal about her personality?
Is this play an example of romance or realism? Defend your answer.
Where does Tom go at night? Why?
Analyze the role of the past in the lives of these characters.
Jim says that he and Amanda both belong to the "Old South." What does he mean? What is "Southern" about this play?

A Streetcar Named Desire

Where is the play set? What does this setting contribute to the play's meaning?
Analyze the four main characters: Stanley, Stella, Blanche, and Mitch. Consider their names and their relationships with one another. How do we learn about their personalities? Do any of them serve as character foils?
What is a "Southern belle"? How does this description fit Blanche?
Analyze this play as a piece of Southern literature. What Southern themes and issues do you find in it?
Consider the production we watched in class. What dramatic devices--such as lighting, casting, gestures, sound, and blocking--contribute to the play's meaning or effect?

Bibliography

"Tennessee Williams." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Fourth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. 2154-2157.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. University of North Carolina at Pembroke. October 31, 1997.
---. A Streetcar Named Desire.

Quoting any of the phrases or paraphrasing any of the ideas on this site without citing this site is plagiarism, a serious form of academic misconduct that can result in failure of a course, dismissal from a university, or both.

If you use the citation style suggested by Janice R. Walker, co-author of the Columbia Guide to Online Style and author of "MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources" on the World Wide Web, a reference to this site on a "Works Cited" page would appear as follows:: Canada, Mark, ed. "Tennessee Williams." Canada's America. 1997. http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/canam/williams.htm (*).

*Inside the parentheses, type the date on which you are viewing this site.