Daniel Sullivan
Professor Tomaino
THTR-105
December 14, 2016
Tennessee Williams
The Greatest Southern Playwright Tennessee Williams, born Thomas Lanier Williams III, was born on March 26th, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi. Williams suffered through a difficult and troubling childhood. His father, Cornelius Williams, was an alcoholic shoe salesman and frequently abused Thomas. Cornelius was critical of Thomas 's love of reading and writing poetry, and wished that his son was more robust and masculine. He became increasingly abusive as Thomas, his older sister Rose, and his younger brother Walter grew older. His mother, Edwina, was the daughter of a Southern Episcopal minister and had lived the life of a typical spoiled Southern belle. His mother …show more content…
Elia Kazan and quickly signed on to become the director of the play and the film adaptation hiring an almost unknown actor Marlon Brando in the role of Stanley Kowalski. The play became a smash hit, and even a Pulitzer prize-winner. This caused the critics and audience to demand more greatness from Williams just under 40 he was America 's most famous playwright he started to feel the weight of it all and started hitting the bottle. He dealt with alcoholism in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a play about a down-and-out football hero and his sex-starved wife, which earned him another Pulitzer Prize. The more he wrote, the more he would drink. Once the sixties came around, the critics started calling him a washed-up has-been, and he started taking sleeping pills. His brother Walter checked him into a hospital in attempt to help break his addiction, and it worked for the several months he was admitted, although it didn 't last. After struggling with more poor reviews, drugs, and alcohol consumption, he gave up. In 1983, at the age of 71, Tennessee Williams was found dead in the Hotel Elysee. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri, by his beloved sister …show more content…
A few of his plays stand out as well. He is known to write characters after himself such as Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the hard-drinking ex-football players having a hard time coping with the suicide of his true lover Skipper, another pro football player. Another example is the one-act Suddenly, Last Summer about Catherine Holly, who seems to have gone insane after her cousin Sebastian, also based on Williams was killed under mysterious circumstances. After taking a truth serum, Catherine recalls the incident of how Sebastian was killed. Williams use the imagery of cannibalism to represent consumption by the objects of his own sexual desire. Tennessee Williams showed the spirits of American humanity gone dry, some of his later work being more symbolic, of this which is possibly a reason why the critics started condemning him Tennessee Williams has left a legacy throughout the 20th century and beyond the vitality and innovation of his work has yet to be
Professor Tomaino
THTR-105
December 14, 2016
Tennessee Williams
The Greatest Southern Playwright Tennessee Williams, born Thomas Lanier Williams III, was born on March 26th, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi. Williams suffered through a difficult and troubling childhood. His father, Cornelius Williams, was an alcoholic shoe salesman and frequently abused Thomas. Cornelius was critical of Thomas 's love of reading and writing poetry, and wished that his son was more robust and masculine. He became increasingly abusive as Thomas, his older sister Rose, and his younger brother Walter grew older. His mother, Edwina, was the daughter of a Southern Episcopal minister and had lived the life of a typical spoiled Southern belle. His mother …show more content…
Elia Kazan and quickly signed on to become the director of the play and the film adaptation hiring an almost unknown actor Marlon Brando in the role of Stanley Kowalski. The play became a smash hit, and even a Pulitzer prize-winner. This caused the critics and audience to demand more greatness from Williams just under 40 he was America 's most famous playwright he started to feel the weight of it all and started hitting the bottle. He dealt with alcoholism in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a play about a down-and-out football hero and his sex-starved wife, which earned him another Pulitzer Prize. The more he wrote, the more he would drink. Once the sixties came around, the critics started calling him a washed-up has-been, and he started taking sleeping pills. His brother Walter checked him into a hospital in attempt to help break his addiction, and it worked for the several months he was admitted, although it didn 't last. After struggling with more poor reviews, drugs, and alcohol consumption, he gave up. In 1983, at the age of 71, Tennessee Williams was found dead in the Hotel Elysee. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri, by his beloved sister …show more content…
A few of his plays stand out as well. He is known to write characters after himself such as Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the hard-drinking ex-football players having a hard time coping with the suicide of his true lover Skipper, another pro football player. Another example is the one-act Suddenly, Last Summer about Catherine Holly, who seems to have gone insane after her cousin Sebastian, also based on Williams was killed under mysterious circumstances. After taking a truth serum, Catherine recalls the incident of how Sebastian was killed. Williams use the imagery of cannibalism to represent consumption by the objects of his own sexual desire. Tennessee Williams showed the spirits of American humanity gone dry, some of his later work being more symbolic, of this which is possibly a reason why the critics started condemning him Tennessee Williams has left a legacy throughout the 20th century and beyond the vitality and innovation of his work has yet to be