Tennessee Williams

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Tennessee Williams is recognized as one of the world's greatest playwrights and how his plays are known throughout the world and are continually sought after by some of the most renowned directors, producers, and actors of our time. It looks at how his achievement as a writer and playwright is impressive and how, during his life,he published more than 30 plays, numerous short stories, and two volumes of poetry. It also discusses his personal life and attempts to show how the difficulties of his life and his relationship with his family provided the impetus for his artistic achievements.

From the Paper:

"Williams was born to Cornelius and Edwina Dakin Williams on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi. His full name was Thomas Lanier Williams. His mother was said to have an aggressive temperament and manner and to be overly concerned with "her fantasies of genteel Southern living". (ibid) This reference to ideas of the "genteel South" is often reflected in Williams' plays and other written work. An example of this aspect is the famous play "A Streetcar Named Desire". In this play one of the central characters has fantasies about a life of luxury and gentility in the South, which she had had to leave."

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