Williams, Tennessee

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[[Image:Tennessee Williams NYWTS.jpg|thumb|Tennessee Williams (1965)]]
 
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'''Thomas Lanier Williams III''' (March 26, 1911–February 25, 1983), better known by the pen name '''Tennessee Williams''', was a major [[United States|American]] [[playwright]] and one of the prominent playwrights of the twentieth century. The name "Tennessee" was a name given to him by college friends because of his southern accent and his father's background in Tennessee. He won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]] for ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' in 1948 and for ''Cat On a Hot Tin Roof'' in 1955. In addition to those two plays, ''The Glass Menagerie'' in 1945 and ''The Night of the Iguana'' in 1961 received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards. His 1952 play ''The Rose Tattoo'' (dedicated to his partner, Frank Merlo), received the [[Tony Award]] for best play. Genre critics maintain that Williams writes in the [[Southern Gothic]] style. 
 
  
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==Biography==
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{{Infobox Writer
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| name = Tennessee Williams
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| image = Tennessee Williams NYWTS.jpg
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| caption = Williams in 1965.
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|3|26|mf=y}}
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| birth_place = [[Columbus, Mississippi|Columbus]], [[Mississippi]]
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| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|2|25|1911|3|26|mf=y}}
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| death_place = [[New York City|New York]], [[New York]]
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| occupation = Playwright
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| genre = [[Southern Gothic]]
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| movement =
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| period = 1930-1983
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| influences =[[Anton Chekhov]], [[D. H. Lawrence]], [[August Strindberg]]
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| influenced =
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| signature = TennWillsig.jpg
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| website =
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| footnotes =
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}}
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'''Thomas Lanier Williams III''' (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), better known by the [[pseudonym]] '''Tennessee Williams''', was a major [[United States|American]] [[playwright]] and one of the prominent playwrights of the twentieth century. The name "Tennessee" was a name given to him by college friends because of his southern accent and his father's background in Tennessee. He won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]] for ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' in 1948 and for ''[[Cat on a Hot Tin Roof]]'' in 1955. In addition to those two plays, ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' in 1945 and ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' in 1961 received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards. His 1952 play ''[[The Rose Tattoo]]'' (dedicated to his lover, [[Frank Merlo]]), received the [[Tony Award]] for best play. Genre critics maintain that Williams wrote in the [[Southern Gothic]] style.<ref name=oprah>[http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/thlh/gothic/thlh_gothic_main.jhtml Your Guide to Understanding Southern Gothic]. Oprah.com. Retrieved November 26, 2007.</ref>
  
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Tennessee Williams's family was a very troubled one that provided inspiration for much of his writings. He was born in Columbus, Mississippi in the home of his maternal grandfather, the local [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] rector. (The home is now the Mississippi Welcome Center and tourist office for the city.) His family moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi by the time he was three. At seven, Tennessee was diagnosed with [[diphtheria]]. For two years he could do almost nothing. His mother wasn't going to allow him to waste his time, so she encouraged him to use his imagination. When he was thirteen, his mother gave him a typewriter.
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Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the [[Gothic novel|Gothic]] writing style, unique to [[American literature]]. Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot. Unlike its predecessor, it uses these tools not for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the [[Southern United States|American South]].
  
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In 1918, the family moved again to St. Louis, Missouri. His father, Cornelius Williams, was a travelling shoe salesman who became increasingly abusive as his children grew older. His mother, Edwina Williams, was a descendant of genteel southern life, and was somewhat smothering. Dakin Williams, his brother, was often favored over him by their father. In the early 1930s Williams attended the University of Missouri-Columbia where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. It was there that his fraternity brothers dubbed him Tennessee for his rich southern drawl. By 1935, Williams wrote his first publicly performed play, "Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay!" at 1917 Snowden in Memphis, Tennessee. It was first performed in 1935 at 1780 Glenview, also in Memphis.  
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The Southern Gothic author usually avoids perpetuating [[Antebellum]] [[stereotype]]s like the ''contented [[slavery|slave]]'', the ''demure [[Southern belle]]'', the ''chivalrous gentleman'', or the ''righteous Christian preacher''. Instead, the writer takes classic Gothic [[archetypes]], such as the [[damsel in distress]] or the heroic [[knight]], and portrays them in a more modern and realistic manner—transforming them into, for example, a spiteful and reclusive [[spinster]], or a white-suited, fan-brandishing lawyer with ulterior motives.
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One of the most notable features of the Southern Gothic is "[[Grotesque|The Grotesque]]"—this includes situations, places, or [[stock character]]s that often possess some cringe-inducing qualities, typically [[Racism|racial bigotry]] and [[egotism|egotistical]] self-righteousness—but enough good traits that readers find themselves interested nevertheless. While often disturbing, Southern Gothic authors commonly use deeply flawed, grotesque characters for greater narrative range and more opportunities to highlight unpleasant aspects of [[Culture of the Southern United States|Southern culture]], without being too literal or appearing to be overly [[morality|moralistic]]. Williams described Southern Gothic as a style that captured "an intuition, of an underlying dreadfulness in modern experience."
  
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Williams lived in the [[French Quarter]] of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]. He first moved there in 1939 to write for the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] and lived first at 722 Toulouse Street, which was the setting of his 1977 play, Vieux Carré (now a bed and breakfast). He wrote ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1947) while living at 632 St. Peter Street.
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==Biography==
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His troubled family provided inspiration for much of Tennessee Williams' writing. He was born in [[Columbus, Mississippi]], in the home of his maternal grandfather, the local [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] rector (the home is now the Mississippi Welcome Center and tourist office for the city). His father, Cornelius Williams, was a traveling salesman who became increasingly abusive as his children grew older. Dakin Williams, his brother, was often favored over him by their father. His mother, Edwina Dakin Williams, was a descendant of a genteel southern family, and was somewhat smothering. She may have had a mood disorder.
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Tennessee was close to his sister, Rose, who had perhaps the greatest influence on him. She was a slim beauty who was diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]], and spent most of her adult life in mental hospitals. After various unsuccessful attempts at therapy, she became paranoid. Her parents eventually allowed a [[lobotomy|prefrontal lobotomy]] in an effort to treat her. The operation, performed in 1943, in [[Washington, D.C.]], went badly, and Rose remained incapacitated for the rest of her life.
 
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Rose's failed lobotomy was a hard blow to Williams, who never forgave their parents for allowing the operation. It may have been one of the factors that drove him to [[alcoholism]]. The common "mad heroine" theme that appears in many of his plays may have been influenced by his sister. 
 
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Characters in his plays are often seen to be direct representations of his family members. Laura Wingfield in ''The Glass Menagerie'' is understood to be modelled on Rose. Some biographers say that the character of Blanche DuBois in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is based on her as well. The [[Motif (literature)|motif]] of lobotomy also arises in ''Suddenly, Last Summer''. Amanda Wingfield in ''The Glass Menagerie'' can easily be seen to represent Williams's mother. Many of his characters are considered autobiographical, including Tom Wingfield in ''The Glass Menagerie'' and Sebastian in ''Suddenly, Last Summer''. Actress Anne Meacham was a close personal friend of Tennessee Williams and played the lead in many of his plays including ''Suddenly, Last Summer''.
 
  
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In his memoirs, he claims he became sexually active as a teenager. His biographer, Lyle Leverich, maintained this actually occurred later, in his late 20s. Williams' play, "The Parade or Approaching the End of Summer," written when he was 29 and worked on throughout his life is an autobiographical depiction of an early romance in Provincetown, MA. This play was only recently produced for the first time on October 1, 2006 in Provincetown, Massachusetts by the Shakespeare on the Cape production company, as part of the First Annual Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival. His relationship with his secretary, Frank Merlo, lasted from 1947 until Merlo's death from cancer in 1963, and provided stability when Williams produced his most enduring works. Merlo provided balance to many of Williams's frequent bouts with [[depression (mood)|depression]]<ref>Jeste ND, Palmer BW, Jeste DV. Tennessee Williams. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2004 Jul-Aug;12(4):370-5. PMID: 15249274 [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=search&term=15249274]</ref>, especially the fear that like his sister, Rose, he would go insane. The death of his lover drove Williams into a deep, decade-long episode of depression.
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By the time Thomas was three, the family had moved to [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]]. At five, he was diagnosed with [[diphtheria]], which caused his legs to be paralyzed for nearly two years. He could do almost nothing during this time, but then his mother decided she wouldn't allow him to continue wasting his time. She encouraged him to use his imagination and gave him a typewriter when he was thirteen.
  
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Williams was the victim of a gay-bashing in January 1979 in Key West, Florida. He was beaten by five teenage boys, but was not seriously injured. The episode was part of a spate of anti-gay violence that had occurred after a local [[Baptist]] minister ran an anti-homosexuality newspaper ad. Some of his literary critics spoke ill of the "excesses" present in his work, but some believe that these were attacks on Williams's [[homosexuality|sexuality]].  
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In 1918, the family moved again, this time to [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. In 1927, at the age of 16, Williams won third prize (five dollars) for an essay published in ''[[Smart Set]]'' entitled, "Can a Good Wife Be a Good Sport?" A year later, he published "The Vengeance of [[Nitocris]]" in ''Weird Tales''.
  
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Tennessee Williams died at the age of 71 after he choked on a bottle cap. However, some (among them his brother, Dakin) believe he was murdered. Alternately, the police report from his death seems to indicate that drugs were involved; many prescription drugs were found in the room, and the lack of an adequate gag response that would have released the bottle cap from his throat is often due to drug and alcohol influence.
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In the early 1930s, Williams attended the [[University of Missouri–Columbia]] where he was a member of the [[Alpha Tau Omega]] fraternity. It was there that his fraternity brothers dubbed him Tennessee for his rich southern drawl. In the late 1930s Williams transferred to [[Washington University]] for a year, eventually taking a degree from the University of Iowa in 1938. By that time, Williams had written what would be his first publicly performed play, ''Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay!'' at 1917 Snowden in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. This work was first performed in 1935 at 1780 Glenview, also in Memphis.  
  
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Williams was interred in the Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, despite his stated desire to be buried at sea at approximately the same place as the poet [[Hart Crane]], whom he considered one of his most significant influences. He left his literary rights to Sewanee, The University of the South in honor of his grandfather, Walter Dakin, an alumnus of the university located in Sewanee, Tennessee.  The funds today support a creative writing program.
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Williams lived for a time in the [[French Quarter]] of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]. He first moved there in 1939 to write for the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] and lived first at 722 Toulouse Street, which was the setting of his 1977 play ''Vieux Carré'' and is now a part of<ref>[http://www.hnoc.org/visit/buildings_louisadams.php The Historic New Orleans Collection], The Historic New Orleans Collection. Retrieved March 17, 2008.</ref>. He began writing ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1947) while living at 632 St. Peter Street, and finished it in [[Key West, Florida]], where he moved in the 1940s, at a downtown hotel. ("He lived in a separate building at the home of a family named Black. Mr. Black was an Episcopal minister. George Black, the son, became one of his sexual partners, and they were close for many years, even after George and his family moved to Miami.")
  
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In 1989 Williams was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
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Tennessee was close to his sister Rose, who had perhaps the greatest influence on him. She was a slim beauty who was diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]] and spent most of her adult life in mental hospitals. After various unsuccessful attempts at therapy, she became paranoid. Her parents eventually allowed a [[lobotomy|pre-frontal lobotomy]] in an effort to treat her. The operation—performed in 1937 in [[Washington, D.C.]]—went badly and Rose remained incapacitated for the rest of her life. Rose's failed lobotomy was a hard blow to Williams, who never forgave their parents for allowing the operation. It may have been one of the factors that drove him to [[alcoholism]]. The common "mad heroine" theme that appears in many of his plays may have been influenced by his sister.
  
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[[Image:Vivien Leigh in Streetcar Named Desire trailer 2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Vivien Leigh]] as [[Blanche DuBois]] in ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1951)]]
  
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{{Broadway-show|
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Characters in his plays are often seen to be direct representations of his family members. Laura Wingfield in ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' is understood to be modeled on Rose. Some biographers say that the character of [[Blanche DuBois]] in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is based on her as well and a small part on Williams himself. At the time Williams wrote ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' he believed he was going to die and that this play would be his [[swan song]]. The [[Motif (literature)|motif]] of lobotomy also arises in ''[[Suddenly, Last Summer]]''. Amanda Wingfield in ''The Glass Menagerie'' can easily be seen to represent Williams' mother. Many of his characters are considered autobiographical, including Tom Wingfield in ''The Glass Menagerie'' and Sebastian in ''Suddenly, Last Summer''. Actress [[Anne Meacham]] was a close personal friend of Tennessee Williams and played the lead in many of his plays including ''Suddenly, Last Summer''.
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image=|
 
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name=A Streetcar Named Desire|
 
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theatre=[[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]]|
 
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opening=[[December 3]] [[1947]]|
 
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closing=[[December 17]] [[1949]]|
 
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tony nominations=2|
 
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tony awards=2|
 
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author(s)=[[Tennessee Williams]]|
 
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director=[[Elia Kazan]]|
 
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stars=[[Marlon Brando]], [[Jessica Tandy]]
 
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}}
 
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'''''A Streetcar Named Desire''''' is a famous American [[play]] written by [[Tennessee Williams]] for which he was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]] in [[1948 in literature|1948]].  
 
  
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The play is considered in modern society as an icon of its era, as it deals with a culture clash between two symbolic characters, [[Blanche DuBois]]&mdash;a pretentious, fading relic of the [[Old South]]&mdash;and [[Stanley Kowalski]], a rising member of the industrial, inner-city immigrant class.  
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In his memoirs, he claims he became sexually active as a teenager. His biographer, Lyle Leverich, maintained this actually occurred later, in his late 20s. Williams' play, ''[[Something Cloudy, Something Clear|The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer]]'', written when he was 29 and worked on throughout his life, is an autobiographical depiction of an early romance in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]]. This play was only recently produced for the first time on October 1, 2006 in Provincetown by the [[Shakespeare on the Cape]] production company, as part of the First Annual Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival. ''The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer'' will be published by New Directions in the spring of 2008, in a collection of previously unpublished plays titled ''The Traveling Companion and Other Plays'', edited by Williams scholar Annette J. Saddik.  Williams's relationship with Frank Merlo, a second generation Sicilian American who had served in the U.S. Navy in [[World War II]], lasted from 1947 until Merlo's death from cancer in 1963, and provided stability when Williams produced his most enduring works. Merlo provided balance to many of Williams' frequent bouts with [[depression (mood)|depression]]<ref>N.D. Jeste, B.W. Palmer, and D.V. Jeste, 2004, [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=search&term=15249274 Tennessee Williams], ''Am J Geriatr Psychiatry''. 12:4:370-5. PMID: 15249274. Retrieved November 26, 2007.</ref>, especially the fear that like his sister, Rose, he would go insane. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Williams faced harsh criticism from a number of theater critics. Due to [[McCarthyism]], the country was steeped in conservatism and many attacked Williams because of his [[homosexuality]]. As Williams matured, his writing became more experimental in works such as "[[Out Cry]]," further alienating him from the critics. The death of his partner drove Williams into a deep, decade-long episode of depression.
  
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''Streetcar'' came shortly after Williams's first big success, ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' of 1945.  While Williams kept writing plays and fiction into the [[1980s]], none of his later works lived up to the critical reputation of his first hits.  
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Tennessee Williams died at the age of 71 after he choked on a pill-bottle cap in his room at the [[Hotel Elysee]] in New York. Some, including his brother Dakin, believe he was murdered. In contrast, the police report from his death seems to indicate that drugs were involved; many prescription drugs were found in the room, and the lack of an adequate gag response that would have released the bottle cap from his throat may have been due to drug and [[alcohol]] influence.
  
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In [[1951 in film|1951]], a movie of the play, directed by [[Elia Kazan]], won several awards, including an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Vivien Leigh]] as Best Actress in the role of Blanche. In [[1995]], it was made into an [[A Streetcar Named Desire (opera)|opera]] with music by [[Andre Previn]] and presented by the [[San Francisco Opera]].
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Williams' funeral took place on Saturday March 3, 1983 at St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in NYC.  Williams' body was interred in the [[Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri]], despite his stated desire to be buried at sea at approximately the same place as the poet [[Hart Crane]], whom he considered one of his most significant influences. He left his literary rights to [[Sewanee, The University of the South]] in honor of his grandfather, Walter Dakin, an alumnus of the university located in [[Sewanee, Tennessee]]. The funds today support a creative writing program. When his sister Rose died after many years in a mental institution, she bequeathed over 50 million dollars from her part of the Williams estate to Sewanee, The University of the South as well.
  
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==Plot==
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The various experiences of Williams' eventful life often find manifestations within his work. For example, ''Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'' contains references to, among others, homosexuality, mental instability and [[alcoholism]].
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{{spoiler}}
 
  
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The play presents [[Blanche DuBois]], a fading Southern belle whose pretensions to virtue and culture only thinly mask her [[nymphomania]] and [[alcoholism]]. Her chastity and poise are an illusion which she presents, to shield others - and herself - from her reality. Blanche arrives at the house of her sister [[Stella Kowalski]] in the [[French Quarter]] of [[New Orleans]], where the seamy, multicultural ambience is a shock to Blanche's nerves.  Explaining that her ancestral southern plantation Belle Reve (translated from French as "Beautiful Dream") has been "lost" due to the "epic fornications" of her ancestors, Blanche is welcomed to stay by a trepidatious Stella, who fears the reaction of her husband Stanley.  Blanche explains to them how her supervisor told her she could take time off from her job as an English teacher because of her upset nerves.
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==Legacy==
  
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In contrast to both the self-effacing Stella and the charming refinement of Blanche, Stella's husband, [[Stanley Kowalski]], is a force of nature; primal, rough-hewn, brutish and sensual. He dominates Stella in every way, and she tolerates his offensive crudeness and lack of gentility largely because of her self-deceptive love for him.
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*[[Gore Vidal]] refers to Williams as the "Glorious Bird" when he met him in Rome after World War II. He noted the image of "the bird is everywhere in his work"<ref>Vidal, Gore. 1995. ''Palimpsest''. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 0679440380.</ref>
  
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The interjection of Blanche upsets her sister and brother-in-law's system of mutual dependence.  Stella is swept aside as the magnetic attraction between the oppositely-charged Stanley and Blanche overwhelms the household.  Stanley's friend and Blanche's would-be suitor [[Harold Mitchell (A Streetcar Named Desire character)|Mitch]] is similarly trampled along Blanche and Stanley's collision course.  Their final, inevitable confrontation results in Blanche's nervous breakdown.
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*In 1989, Williams was inducted into the [[St. Louis Walk of Fame]].
  
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Blanche and Stanley, together with [[Arthur Miller]]'s [[Willy Loman]], are among the most recognizable characters in American drama.
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==Bibliography==
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===Plays===
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The reference to the [[streetcar]] ([[tram]]) called ''Desire'' is symbolic, as well as an accurate piece of New Orleans geography.  Blanche has to travel on a streetcar named "Desire" to reach Stella's home in [[Elysian Fields]], presenting an abiding theme in the play that desire and death are mutual aspects of the same pathos. Blanche's sorrow is that the pleasure brought from desire is only short-lived and ultimately doomed, much like her streetcar journey.
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====Apprentice plays====
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==Themes and motifs==
 
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===Illusion versus reality===
 
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A recurring theme found in ''Streetcar Named Desire'' is an ever-present conflict between reality and fantasy, actual and ideal.  Blanche does not want, "...what's real, but what's magic."  This recurring theme is read most strongly in Williams' characterization of Blanche DuBois and the physical tropes that she employs in her pursuit of what is magical and idealized:  the purple shade she employs to cover the harsh white light bulb in the living room, her chronically deceptive recounting of her last years in Belle Reve, the misleading letters she presumes to write to Shep Huntleigh, and a pronounced excess to alcohol consumption.
 
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Notably, Blanche's deception of others and herself is not characterized by malicious intent, but rather a heart-broken and saddened retreat to a romantic time and happier moments before disaster struck her life  (her previous loved one Allan Gray committed suicide during a [[Varsouviana Polka]]).  In many ways, Blanche is understood to be a sympathetic and tragic figure in the play despite her deep character flaws.
 
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There is also a strong presence of sexism within the play. Throughout the play, women are portrayed as the "weaker sex" while men are shown to be in control. The gender struggle is apparent when Stella submits to Stanley's authority rather than come to the aid of her sister. The tragedy of Blanche is representative of the struggle of women in the South.
 
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===Abandonment of chivalric codes===
 
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In most fairy tale stories, the ailing princess or the damsel in distress is often rescued by a heroic white knight.  ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is characterized by the conspicuous absence of the male protagonist imbued with heroic qualities.  Indeed, the polar opposite of what a literary chivalric hero might be is represented in the leading male character of the play, Stanley Kowalski.  Stanley is described by Blanche as a "survivor of the [[Stone Age#The Stone Age in popular culture|Stone Age]]" and is further depicted in this primitive light by numerous traits that he exhibits: uncivilized manners, demanding and forceful behavior, lack of empathy, crass selfishness, and a chauvinistic attitude towards women.  The replacement of the heroic white knight by a character such as Stanley Kowalski further heightens Williams' theme of the demise of the romantic Old South in ''A Streetcar Named Desire''.  Stanley, it should be noted, is not a villain in the literary sense of the word.  His actions do not reflect a motivation to actively pursue the destruction of an individual as the primary goal, but rather the callousness and destructiveness of his actions bear a direct result from his incapacity to empathize and his instinctive, primitive desire to own or dominate.  Stanley, as a result, is a symbol for the rising new values and attributes of industrial, capitalist America that has come to replace the chivalric codes of the dashing gentleman caller of the Old South.
 
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==Plays (chronological order)==  
 
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* ''Beauty Is the Word'' (1930)
 
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* ''Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay!'' (1935)
 
 
* ''Candles to the Sun'' (1936)
 
* ''Candles to the Sun'' (1936)
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* ''The Magic Tower'' (1936)
 
 
* ''Fugitive Kind'' (1937)
 
* ''Fugitive Kind'' (1937)
 
* ''Spring Storm'' (1937)
 
* ''Spring Storm'' (1937)
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* ''Summer at the Lake'' (1937)
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* ''[[Not about Nightingales]]'' (1938)
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* ''The Palooka'' (1937)
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* ''[[Orpheus Descending|Battle of Angels]]'' (1940, rewritten in 1957 as ''Orpheus Descending'')
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* ''The Fat Man's Wife'' (1938)
 
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* ''Not about Nightingales'' (1938)
 
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* ''Adam and Eve on a Ferry'' (1939)
 
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* ''Battle of Angels'' (1940)
 
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* ''The Parade or Approaching the End of Summer''  (1940)
 
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* ''The Long Goodbye'' (1940)
 
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* ''Auto Da Fé'' (1941)
 
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* ''The Lady of Larkspur Lotion'' (1941)
 
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* ''At Liberty'' (1942)
 
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* ''The Pink Room'' (1943)
 
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* ''The Gentleman Callers'' (1944)
 
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* ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' (1944)
 
 
* ''You Touched Me'' (1945)
 
* ''You Touched Me'' (1945)
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* ''Moony's Kid Don't Cry'' (1946)
 
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* ''[[This Property is Condemned]]''  (1946)
 
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* ''Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton'' (1946)
 
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* ''Portait of a Madonna'' (1946)
 
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* ''The Last of My Solid Gold Watches'' (1947)
 
 
* ''[[Stairs to the Roof]]'' (1947)
 
* ''[[Stairs to the Roof]]'' (1947)
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* ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1947)
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* ''[[Summer and Smoke]]'' (1948)
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====Major plays====
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* ''I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoenix'' (1951)
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* ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' (1944)
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* ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1947)
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* ''[[Summer and Smoke]]'' (1948, reworked in 1964 as ''The Eccentricities of a Nightingale'')
 
* ''[[The Rose Tattoo]]'' (1951)
 
* ''[[The Rose Tattoo]]'' (1951)
 
* ''[[Camino Real (play)|Camino Real]]'' (1953)
 
* ''[[Camino Real (play)|Camino Real]]'' (1953)
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* ''[[Hello from Bertha]]'' (1954)
 
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* ''[[Lord Byron's Love Letter]]'' (1955) - libretto
 
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* ''Three Players of a Summer Game'' (1955)
 
 
* ''[[Cat On a Hot Tin Roof]]'' (1955)
 
* ''[[Cat On a Hot Tin Roof]]'' (1955)
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* ''The Dark Room'' (1956)
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* ''[[Suddenly, Last Summer]]'' (1958)
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* ''The Case of the Crushed Petunias'' (1956)
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* ''[[Sweet Bird of Youth]]'' (1959)
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* ''[[Baby Doll]]'' (1956) - original screenplay
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* ''[[Period of Adjustment]]'' (1960)
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* ''[[Orpheus Descending]]'' (1957)
 
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* ''[[Suddenly, Last Summer]]'' (1958)
 
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* ''A Perfect Anaysis Given by a Parrot'' (1958)
 
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* ''Garden District'' (1958)
 
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* ''Something Unspoken'' (1958)
 
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* ''[[Sweet Bird of Youth]]'' (1959)  
 
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* ''The Purification'' (1959)
 
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* ''And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens'' (1959)
 
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* ''Period of Adjustment'' (1960)
 
 
* ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' (1961)
 
* ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' (1961)
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====Later plays====
 
* ''[[The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore]]'' (1963)
 
* ''[[The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore]]'' (1963)
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* ''The Eccentricities of a Nightingale'' (1964)
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* ''The Slapstick Tragedy: The Gnadiges Fraulein and The Mutilated'' (1966)
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* ''Grand'' (1964)
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* ''[[The Seven Descents of Myrtle]]'' (1968)
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* ''Slapstick Tragedy (The Mutilated and The Gnädiges Fräulein)'' (1966)
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* ''In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel'' (1969)
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* ''The Mutilated'' (1967)
 
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* ''Kingdom of Earth / Seven Descents of Myrtle'' (1968)
 
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* ''Now the Cats with Jewelled Claws'' (1969)
 
−
* ''In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel'' (1969)  
 
 
* ''Will Mr. Merriweather Return from Memphis?'' (1969)
 
* ''Will Mr. Merriweather Return from Memphis?'' (1969)
−
* ''I Can't Imagine Tomorrow'' (1970)
+
* ''[[Small Craft Warnings]]'' (1972)
−
* ''The Frosted Glass Coffin'' (1970)
+
* ''The Two-Character Play'' (1973, also called ''Out Cry'')
−
* ''Small Craft Warnings'' (1972)
 
−
* ''Out Cry'' (1973)
 
−
* ''The Two-Character Play'' (1973)
 
 
* ''[[The Red Devil Battery Sign]]'' (1975)
 
* ''[[The Red Devil Battery Sign]]'' (1975)
−
* ''Demolition Downtown'' (1976)
 
 
* ''This Is (An Entertainment)'' (1976)
 
* ''This Is (An Entertainment)'' (1976)
 
* ''Vieux Carré'' (1977)
 
* ''Vieux Carré'' (1977)
−
* ''Tiger Tail'' (1978)
+
* ''Tiger Tail (1978)
−
* ''Kirche, Kŭche und Kinder'' (1979)
+
* ''A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur'' (1979)
−
* ''Creve Coeur'' (1979)
 
−
* ''Lifeboat Drill'' (1979)
 
 
* ''[[Clothes for a Summer Hotel]]'' (1980)
 
* ''[[Clothes for a Summer Hotel]]'' (1980)
−
* ''The Chalky White Substance'' (1980)
+
* ''[[The Notebook of Trigorin]]'' (1980 adaptation of [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s ''[[The Seagull]]'')
−
* ''This Is Peaceable Kingdom / Good Luck God'' (1980)
+
* ''[[Something Cloudy, Something Clear]]'' (1981)
−
* ''Steps Must be Gentle'' (1980)
 
−
* ''[[The Notebook of Trigorin]]'' (1980)
 
−
* ''Something Cloudy, Something Clear'' (1981)
 
 
* ''A House Not Meant to Stand'' (1982)
 
* ''A House Not Meant to Stand'' (1982)
−
* ''The One Exception'' (1983)
 
  
−
==Novels==  
+
===Short stories===
−
* ''[[The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone]]'' (1950)
+
* ''The Vengeance of Nitocris'' (1928)
−
* ''[[Moise and the World of Reason]]'' (1975)
+
* ''The Field of Blue Children'' (1939)
−
* ''[[The Bag People]]''
+
* ''[[Hard Candy: a Book of Stories]]'' (1954)
 +
* ''Three Players of a Summer Game and Other Stories'' (1960)
 +
* ''The Knightly Quest: a Novella and Four Short Stories'' (1966)
 +
* ''One Arm and Other Stories'' (1967)
 +
* ''Eight Mortal Ladies Possessed: a Book of Stories'' (1974)
 +
* ''Tent Worms'' (1980)
 +
* ''It Happened the day the Sun Rose, and Other Stories'' (1981)
  
−
==Short stories==  
+
===Other Works===
−
* ''[[Hard Candy: a Book of Stories]]'' (1959)
+
* [[One act plays by Tennessee Williams]]
−
* ''[[Three Players of a Summer Game and Other Stories]]'' (1960)
+
* ''[[Baby Doll]]'' (1956, screenplay; adapted for the stage in 1978 as ''Tiger Tail'')
−
* ''[[The Knightly Quest: a Novella and Four Short Stories]]'' (1966)
+
* ''In the Winter of Cities'' (1956, poetry)
−
* ''[[One Arm and Other Stories]]'' (1967)
+
* ''Memoirs'' (1975, autobiography)
−
* ''[[Eight Mortal Ladies Possessed: a Book of Stories]]'' (1974)
+
* ''[[Androgyne, Mon Amour: Poems|Androgyne, Mon Amour]]'' (1977, poetry)
−
* ''[[It Happened the day the Sun Rose, and Other Stories]]'' (1981)
+
* ''[[The Catastrophe of Success]]''
  
−
==Poetry==  
+
===Collected Works===
−
* ''[[In the Winter of Cities: Poems]]'' (1956)
+
* Gussow, Mel and Kenneth Holditch (eds.). ''Tennessee Williams, Plays 1937-1955'' ([[Library of America]], 2000) ISBN 9781883011864.
−
* ''[[Androgyne, Mon Amour: Poems]]'' (1977)
+
* Gussow, Mel and Kenneth Holditch (eds.). ''Tennessee Williams, Plays 1957-1980'' ([[Library of America]], 2000) ISBN 9781883011871.
  
−
==Footnotes==
+
==Notes==
−
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags—>
+
<references/>
−
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
{{wikiquote}}
+
 
−
*Gross, Robert F., ed. ''Tennessee Williams: A Casebook.'' Routledge (2002). ISBN 0-8153-3174-6.
+
*Gross, Robert F., (ed.). 2002. ''Tennessee Williams: A Casebook.'' New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 0815331746.
−
* Leverich, Lyle. ''Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams''. W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (1997). ISBN 0-393-31663-7.
+
* Leverich, Lyle. 1997. ''Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams''. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0517702258.
−
* Spoto, Donald. ''The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams''. Da Capo Press (1997). ISBN 0-306-80805-6.
+
*Saddik, Annette. 1999. ''The Politics of Reputation: The Critical Reception of Tennessee Williams' Later Plays''. London, UK: Associated University Presses. ISBN 9780838637722.
−
* Williams, Tennessee. ''Memoirs''. Doubleday (1975). ISBN 0-385-00573-3.
+
* Spoto, Donald. 1997. ''The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams''. New York, NY: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306808056.
−
* Williams, Dakin. ''His Brother's Keeper: The Life and Murder of Tennessee Williams''.
+
* Williams, Tennessee. 1975. ''Memoirs''. New York, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0385005733.
 +
* Williams, Dakin. 1983. ''His Brother's Keeper: The Life and Murder of Tennessee Williams''. Collinsville, IL: Dakin's Corner Press. ISBN 9780877954880.
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 +
All links retrieved February 26, 2023.
 
*[http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Streetcar.html#streetcar  A Streetcar Named Desire: Study Guide]
 
*[http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Streetcar.html#streetcar  A Streetcar Named Desire: Study Guide]
−
*[http://www.blogcharm.com/geekygirllit/ Biography, summaries, and quotes from important works like Glass Menagerie and Streetcar]
 
−
*[http://www.booksfactory.com/writers/williams.htm Booksfactory] article.
 
−
* [http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/KarshShmith/Detail.cfm?IRN=49399 A photograph of Tennessee Williams] by [[Yousuf Karsh]] on the website of the [[National Gallery of Australia]].
 
−
*[http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/tenessee-williams.html Williams' Entry] on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
 
−
*[http://wiredforbooks.org/dotsonraider/ 1985 audio interview with Dotson Raider, friend and biographer of Tennessee Williams. Interview by Don Swaim of CBS Radio - RealAudio]
 
−
*[http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/ Tennesse Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival]
 
−
*[http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215102/tennesseewilliams.htm Tennessee Williams biography]
 
−
*[http://www.berkeleyrep.org/HTML/Season0203/SLS_programnotes.html]
 
−
*[http://www.americantheatrewing.org/seminars/detail/interpreting_tennessee_williams_04_05/ Interpreting Tennessee Williams] [http://www.americantheatrewing.org/seminars/ Working in the Theatre Seminar] video at [http://www.americantheatrewing.org/ American Theatre Wing], April 2005
 
  
−
{{Tennesseew}}
+
{{credits|Tennessee Williams|169437940|Southern_Gothic|169596679}}
  
−
[[category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
+
[[Category:Biography]]
−
[[category:History and Biography]]
+
[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
−
{{credit1|Tennessee Williams|85125633|A Streetcar Named Desire|84842531}}
+
[[Category:Literature]]
 +
[[Category:Writers and poets]]

Latest revision as of 06:10, 27 February 2023


Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams NYWTS.jpg
Williams in 1965.
Born: March 26 1911(1911-03-26)
Columbus, Mississippi
Died: February 25 1983 (aged 71)
New York, New York
Occupation(s): Playwright
Writing period: 1930-1983
Literary genre: Southern Gothic
Influences: Anton Chekhov, D. H. Lawrence, August Strindberg

Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), better known by the pseudonym Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright and one of the prominent playwrights of the twentieth century. The name "Tennessee" was a name given to him by college friends because of his southern accent and his father's background in Tennessee. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. In addition to those two plays, The Glass Menagerie in 1945 and The Night of the Iguana in 1961 received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards. His 1952 play The Rose Tattoo (dedicated to his lover, Frank Merlo), received the Tony Award for best play. Genre critics maintain that Williams wrote in the Southern Gothic style.[1]

Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the Gothic writing style, unique to American literature. Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot. Unlike its predecessor, it uses these tools not for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South.

The Southern Gothic author usually avoids perpetuating Antebellum stereotypes like the contented slave, the demure Southern belle, the chivalrous gentleman, or the righteous Christian preacher. Instead, the writer takes classic Gothic archetypes, such as the damsel in distress or the heroic knight, and portrays them in a more modern and realistic manner—transforming them into, for example, a spiteful and reclusive spinster, or a white-suited, fan-brandishing lawyer with ulterior motives.

One of the most notable features of the Southern Gothic is "The Grotesque"—this includes situations, places, or stock characters that often possess some cringe-inducing qualities, typically racial bigotry and egotistical self-righteousness—but enough good traits that readers find themselves interested nevertheless. While often disturbing, Southern Gothic authors commonly use deeply flawed, grotesque characters for greater narrative range and more opportunities to highlight unpleasant aspects of Southern culture, without being too literal or appearing to be overly moralistic. Williams described Southern Gothic as a style that captured "an intuition, of an underlying dreadfulness in modern experience."

Biography

His troubled family provided inspiration for much of Tennessee Williams' writing. He was born in Columbus, Mississippi, in the home of his maternal grandfather, the local Episcopal rector (the home is now the Mississippi Welcome Center and tourist office for the city). His father, Cornelius Williams, was a traveling salesman who became increasingly abusive as his children grew older. Dakin Williams, his brother, was often favored over him by their father. His mother, Edwina Dakin Williams, was a descendant of a genteel southern family, and was somewhat smothering. She may have had a mood disorder.

By the time Thomas was three, the family had moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi. At five, he was diagnosed with diphtheria, which caused his legs to be paralyzed for nearly two years. He could do almost nothing during this time, but then his mother decided she wouldn't allow him to continue wasting his time. She encouraged him to use his imagination and gave him a typewriter when he was thirteen.

In 1918, the family moved again, this time to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1927, at the age of 16, Williams won third prize (five dollars) for an essay published in Smart Set entitled, "Can a Good Wife Be a Good Sport?" A year later, he published "The Vengeance of Nitocris" in Weird Tales.

In the early 1930s, Williams attended the University of Missouri–Columbia where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. It was there that his fraternity brothers dubbed him Tennessee for his rich southern drawl. In the late 1930s Williams transferred to Washington University for a year, eventually taking a degree from the University of Iowa in 1938. By that time, Williams had written what would be his first publicly performed play, Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay! at 1917 Snowden in Memphis, Tennessee. This work was first performed in 1935 at 1780 Glenview, also in Memphis.

Williams lived for a time in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. He first moved there in 1939 to write for the WPA and lived first at 722 Toulouse Street, which was the setting of his 1977 play Vieux Carré and is now a part of[2]. He began writing A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) while living at 632 St. Peter Street, and finished it in Key West, Florida, where he moved in the 1940s, at a downtown hotel. ("He lived in a separate building at the home of a family named Black. Mr. Black was an Episcopal minister. George Black, the son, became one of his sexual partners, and they were close for many years, even after George and his family moved to Miami.")

Tennessee was close to his sister Rose, who had perhaps the greatest influence on him. She was a slim beauty who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent most of her adult life in mental hospitals. After various unsuccessful attempts at therapy, she became paranoid. Her parents eventually allowed a pre-frontal lobotomy in an effort to treat her. The operation—performed in 1937 in Washington, D.C.—went badly and Rose remained incapacitated for the rest of her life. Rose's failed lobotomy was a hard blow to Williams, who never forgave their parents for allowing the operation. It may have been one of the factors that drove him to alcoholism. The common "mad heroine" theme that appears in many of his plays may have been influenced by his sister.

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Characters in his plays are often seen to be direct representations of his family members. Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie is understood to be modeled on Rose. Some biographers say that the character of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire is based on her as well and a small part on Williams himself. At the time Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire he believed he was going to die and that this play would be his swan song. The motif of lobotomy also arises in Suddenly, Last Summer. Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie can easily be seen to represent Williams' mother. Many of his characters are considered autobiographical, including Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and Sebastian in Suddenly, Last Summer. Actress Anne Meacham was a close personal friend of Tennessee Williams and played the lead in many of his plays including Suddenly, Last Summer.

In his memoirs, he claims he became sexually active as a teenager. His biographer, Lyle Leverich, maintained this actually occurred later, in his late 20s. Williams' play, The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer, written when he was 29 and worked on throughout his life, is an autobiographical depiction of an early romance in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This play was only recently produced for the first time on October 1, 2006 in Provincetown by the Shakespeare on the Cape production company, as part of the First Annual Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival. The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer will be published by New Directions in the spring of 2008, in a collection of previously unpublished plays titled The Traveling Companion and Other Plays, edited by Williams scholar Annette J. Saddik. Williams's relationship with Frank Merlo, a second generation Sicilian American who had served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, lasted from 1947 until Merlo's death from cancer in 1963, and provided stability when Williams produced his most enduring works. Merlo provided balance to many of Williams' frequent bouts with depression[3], especially the fear that like his sister, Rose, he would go insane. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Williams faced harsh criticism from a number of theater critics. Due to McCarthyism, the country was steeped in conservatism and many attacked Williams because of his homosexuality. As Williams matured, his writing became more experimental in works such as "Out Cry," further alienating him from the critics. The death of his partner drove Williams into a deep, decade-long episode of depression.

Tennessee Williams died at the age of 71 after he choked on a pill-bottle cap in his room at the Hotel Elysee in New York. Some, including his brother Dakin, believe he was murdered. In contrast, the police report from his death seems to indicate that drugs were involved; many prescription drugs were found in the room, and the lack of an adequate gag response that would have released the bottle cap from his throat may have been due to drug and alcohol influence.

Williams' funeral took place on Saturday March 3, 1983 at St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in NYC. Williams' body was interred in the Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, despite his stated desire to be buried at sea at approximately the same place as the poet Hart Crane, whom he considered one of his most significant influences. He left his literary rights to Sewanee, The University of the South in honor of his grandfather, Walter Dakin, an alumnus of the university located in Sewanee, Tennessee. The funds today support a creative writing program. When his sister Rose died after many years in a mental institution, she bequeathed over 50 million dollars from her part of the Williams estate to Sewanee, The University of the South as well.

The various experiences of Williams' eventful life often find manifestations within his work. For example, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof contains references to, among others, homosexuality, mental instability and alcoholism.

Legacy

  • Gore Vidal refers to Williams as the "Glorious Bird" when he met him in Rome after World War II. He noted the image of "the bird is everywhere in his work"[4]
  • In 1989, Williams was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Bibliography

Plays

Apprentice plays

  • Candles to the Sun (1936)
  • Fugitive Kind (1937)
  • Spring Storm (1937)
  • Not about Nightingales (1938)
  • Battle of Angels (1940, rewritten in 1957 as Orpheus Descending)
  • You Touched Me (1945)
  • Stairs to the Roof (1947)

Major plays

  • The Glass Menagerie (1944)
  • A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
  • Summer and Smoke (1948, reworked in 1964 as The Eccentricities of a Nightingale)
  • The Rose Tattoo (1951)
  • Camino Real (1953)
  • Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (1955)
  • Suddenly, Last Summer (1958)
  • Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)
  • Period of Adjustment (1960)
  • The Night of the Iguana (1961)

Later plays

  • The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963)
  • The Slapstick Tragedy: The Gnadiges Fraulein and The Mutilated (1966)
  • The Seven Descents of Myrtle (1968)
  • In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969)
  • Will Mr. Merriweather Return from Memphis? (1969)
  • Small Craft Warnings (1972)
  • The Two-Character Play (1973, also called Out Cry)
  • The Red Devil Battery Sign (1975)
  • This Is (An Entertainment) (1976)
  • Vieux Carré (1977)
  • Tiger Tail (1978)
  • A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1979)
  • Clothes for a Summer Hotel (1980)
  • The Notebook of Trigorin (1980 adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull)
  • Something Cloudy, Something Clear (1981)
  • A House Not Meant to Stand (1982)

Short stories

  • The Vengeance of Nitocris (1928)
  • The Field of Blue Children (1939)
  • Hard Candy: a Book of Stories (1954)
  • Three Players of a Summer Game and Other Stories (1960)
  • The Knightly Quest: a Novella and Four Short Stories (1966)
  • One Arm and Other Stories (1967)
  • Eight Mortal Ladies Possessed: a Book of Stories (1974)
  • Tent Worms (1980)
  • It Happened the day the Sun Rose, and Other Stories (1981)

Other Works

  • One act plays by Tennessee Williams
  • Baby Doll (1956, screenplay; adapted for the stage in 1978 as Tiger Tail)
  • In the Winter of Cities (1956, poetry)
  • Memoirs (1975, autobiography)
  • Androgyne, Mon Amour (1977, poetry)
  • The Catastrophe of Success

Collected Works

  • Gussow, Mel and Kenneth Holditch (eds.). Tennessee Williams, Plays 1937-1955 (Library of America, 2000) ISBN 9781883011864.
  • Gussow, Mel and Kenneth Holditch (eds.). Tennessee Williams, Plays 1957-1980 (Library of America, 2000) ISBN 9781883011871.

Notes

  1. ↑ Your Guide to Understanding Southern Gothic. Oprah.com. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  2. ↑ The Historic New Orleans Collection, The Historic New Orleans Collection. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  3. ↑ N.D. Jeste, B.W. Palmer, and D.V. Jeste, 2004, Tennessee Williams, Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 12:4:370-5. PMID: 15249274. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  4. ↑ Vidal, Gore. 1995. Palimpsest. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 0679440380.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Gross, Robert F., (ed.). 2002. Tennessee Williams: A Casebook. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 0815331746.
  • Leverich, Lyle. 1997. Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0517702258.
  • Saddik, Annette. 1999. The Politics of Reputation: The Critical Reception of Tennessee Williams' Later Plays. London, UK: Associated University Presses. ISBN 9780838637722.
  • Spoto, Donald. 1997. The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. New York, NY: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306808056.
  • Williams, Tennessee. 1975. Memoirs. New York, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0385005733.
  • Williams, Dakin. 1983. His Brother's Keeper: The Life and Murder of Tennessee Williams. Collinsville, IL: Dakin's Corner Press. ISBN 9780877954880.

External links

All links retrieved February 26, 2023.

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