Context

Context - A Streetcar Named Desire

Who is Tennessee Williams

·      Won the Pulitzer Price + Critics’ Circle Prize

·      Fame + money

·      “Best modern playwright”

·      He hated being a celebrity and was depressed

    o   Emptiness of fame

    o   Praise bothered him

·      Found relief from the public in a hospital

·      After an eye operation he escaped to Mexico

    o   Be himself again

His Childhood

·      Thomas Lanier Williams

    o   Columbus, Mississippi 1911

    o   Lived in St. Louis

    o   Became city children

·      Dad was aggressive/violent

    o   Beat Tom

·      Thomas isolated himself

·      To avoid conflicts he would escape in writing stories

Rose’s Influence

·      Rose (sister) developed insanity

    o   Force friends on her

    o   Led to greater isolation

    o   Schizophrenic

·      Tom blamed himself for Rose’s madness

·      He began to feel irresistible urges of homosexuality

    o   Blamed Rose’s craziness on his homosexuality

Influence on his writing

·      He shaped the story from his own experience

·      Considered dream-like and unreal

    o   Like magic, gives the illusion of reality

·      Relive the past

    o   “The play is memory”

Why the name Tennessee?

·      Distinctive

·      College Nickname

·      Break away from the crowd

Streetcar

·      Private experience into public drama

·      War-torn years of the 40s

    o   Historical events were not directly portrayed

Characters in Streetcar

·      Most of Williams’ characters are based on real people in his life

·      Combination of Williams mother (genteel and prudish Southern lady) with Rose (fragile sister) = Blanche

·      Williams dad = Stanley Kowalski

Williams Downfall

·      He couldn’t live up to his earlier success

·      Turned to drink and drugs

·      New plays received terrible notices

·      He died in a New York hotel room in 1983

    o   Pills were found under his body

Role of Women

·      Solid but romantic southern background

·      Aristocratic lifestyle fades around them

·      Women chase dreams of the past