
WORKS
What he Wrote and What it meant...
Neck in neck with Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams is considered one of the 20th century’s leading playwrights. Williams has been writing since he was a child, and always had an overactive imagination. However, since he was so introverted, he let his words out on paper as opposed to verbally [27]. When miller was in high school and college, he loved writing poetry, and also worked a series of journalism jobs at local and school newspapers. He was involved in producing a few Living Newspapers throughout this time at college as well [28]. After college, with an English degree and a passion for theatre, Williams began writing more full-length plays. Although his early works did not receive much praise, he eventually signed a contract with an agent, and in 1940 Battle of Angels premiered in Boston. This show quickly failed and was closed almost immediately. Although his spirits were low, this did not stop Williams and he went on to write tens of plays, a couple novels, short stories, poems, and personal letters and anecdotes [29]. Although he wrote almost up to the time of his death, his most notable plays were written in his 30s and 40s such as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; the latter two were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948 and 1955, respectively.
The Glass Menagerie...
The Glass Menagerie was Tennessee Williams’ first Broadway hit, which opened in 1944. This play really set the stage for Williams’ future in theater, and it was the first time the public was exposed to his new poetic style [30]. This play is known as a memory play, because it revolves around the memories of the character Tom. The play highly reflects Williams’ life. Tom wants to be a poet, but he must work a laborious job to make ends meet, and his sister Laura, a crippled, quiet young girl, is the surrogate for Amanda’s life. Laura cannot make her own decisions for her life, bur rather everything she does is because her mother wants her to. After a series of failed love affairs and characters being unable to fulfill their dreams drives the family apart. This play was set during the Great Depression, which adds to the struggle of the family even further. The Glass Menagerie really highlighted Williams’s Memory Play aesthetics, and the poetic style of the staging, as well as the language, would mark Williams’ career and follow him through to his later plays [31].
