Tennessee Williams - A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams

* one of those playwrights who exploited his personal experience and feelings in his dramas
* proper name: Thomas Lanier Williams III
- friends in college called him Tennessee because of his Southern accent and father?s home state
* born Mar 26, 1911, died Feb 25, 1983

* he had a difficult childhood
- his father C.C. Williams, shoe salesman, was emotionally absent parent, tended to be vulgar and violent
- mother Edwina, was a Mississippi clergyman?s daughter prone to hysterical attacks ? quiet and rather delicate
- as Tennessee grew older, thanks, to him, the family moved 16 times in 10 years
* 1918 ? moved to Saint Louis, his family started to deteriorate
- father took up drinking and became abusive towards his children (thanks to him Tennessee?s sister, Rose went insane)

* he discovered his love for writing in 1929, when his essay won a national writing award in 1929 and was published in Smart Set magazine
* he studied journalism at the University of Missouri, but dropped in order to help his father by working in shoe factory
* 1938 ? entered University of Iowa, meanwhile he took many different part-time jobs in New Orleans, Jacksonville, Florida, and New York City (clerk, waiter, hotel elevator operator, teletype operator, and theatre usher)

* 1940 ? his first play staged in Boston, entitled Battle of Angels
- quickly withdrawn to harsh critical reception
* 1944 ? The Glass Menagerie in Chicago, then it was performed about 500 times in NYC
- this play established Williams? reputation of promising playwright
* 1947 ? A Streetcar named Desire, which won Pulitzer Prize
- 1951 ? film adaptation, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter and Vivien Leigh (who had the same role in first performance in 1947)
- it began the most prolific period of Tennessee?s writing

* his other major plays were:
- The Rose Tattoo (1950)
- Camino Real (1953)
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) ? also won Pulitzer Prize
- Garden District (1957) - later became Suddenly Last Summer (1964)
- Orpheus Descending (1957) ? revised version of Battle of Angels, the first play
- The Night of the Iguana (1961)

* Williams fell in love with a man named Frank Merlo
* 1961 ? Merlo died from lung cancer, putting Williams in great depression
* he took up prescription drugs and alcohol

* after 10 years Tennessee recovered and produced more plays
- Small Craft Warnings (1972)
- Summer Hotel (1980)
* those plays revived his reputation, which declined to the depression and changes in the American theater

* died in February 24, 1983
- choked to death on the lid of a medicine bottle at the New York City hotel

A Streetcar named Desire

* tragedy, its premiere took place in 1947
* set in poor but lively, racially mixed area of New Orleans, Louisiana, where streetcars do not have numbers but names (e.g. Desire, Cemeteries)
- evening of early May,1940s

* At first we meet Stanley Kowalski
- whose name may suggest Polish nationality, but in fact he?s American
- The name was real, derived from the man whom Williams met at the Uni
* And his pregnant wife Stella, who loves him very much ? at least it seems so

* Their life, somewhat calm and peaceful as it may appear, is disturbed by the arrival of Stella?s sister Blanche DuBois, who arrives in Streetcar named Desire
- We learn that she?s an English teacher from Mississippi, but her superintendent gave her a leave
- She stays at Stella and Stanley?s house for unspecified period of time
- She reveals to Stella that she lost Belle Reve ? the DuBois family home and tries to put the blame on Stella for her ignorance.
- She also discovers that Stanley, as hard poker-player, abuses his wife, tells her what to do and even beats her up
- Blanche tries to make Stella end with Stanley, but with no success

* For Stanley, Blanche?s story appears to be not true, and soon he discovers that:
- She lost her job for having an affair with teenage student
- She has irreputable past (even she was kicked out of the local motel for her sexual affairs, drinking), and that?s why she arrived for New Orleans
- Meanwhile, Blanche dates with Mitch, Stanley?s friend
- Who learns from Stanley that she tried to seduce him with her lies
- Mitch tries to have sex with her, but she forces him to leave by yelling ?Fire?
- On Blanche?s birthday, Stanley buys a bus ticket for her to leave

* Fater on, Blanche offends Stanley once again (not the first time), who is so angry that he rapes her
- Finally, she leaves with the doctor without any goodbye

Metaphors:

* MUSIC
- It is present almost in the whole play and indicates different moods:
- ?Blue piano? music ? reflects dynamic of life in the city, it is accompanied with brass, drums and clarinet
- opposite: polka music aka Varsouviana ? represents death, as it usually appears when Blanche remembers her dead husband
- ?It?s only a Paper Moon? ? sung by Blanche while bathing, which describes how love influences the perception of the world. It reflects Blanche?s approach to reality.

* LIGHT
- Other recurring motive
- Metaphor of truth opposed to illusion
- Blanche asks Mitch to cover the light bulb with paper lantern
- Which literally is a symbol of Blanche living in the world of illusion and desire

* A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
- Can be treated literally
- The streetcar which took Blanche to Elysian Fields
- And metaphorically
- Representing the theme of sex and death which are present throughout the play (as the streetcars are named Desire and Cemetery)

* THE NAME ?ELYSIAN FIELDS?
- The name of the land where Greeks believed to go in their afterlife
- Indicates that Stella and Stanley live in the paradise, which is hard to understand by Blanche, mainly in terms of eroticism and sexuality
- Surprisingly enough, the sexuality is hidden behind the scene where Stanley throws a meat to Stella, which makes Eunice and the Negro woman laugh

* ALCOHOL
- It is overpresent in both Stanley and Blanche?s life
- Stanley does it socially, especially during poker plays with friends
- Blanche does it antisocially, as she tries to keep it in secret
- It enables her to free her imagination
- Both of them suffer from that:
- Drunken, Stanley is a violent person, beats his wife
- Blanche deceives herself and puts herself in the world of illusion

Script based on the resources found on Antistudy.com. Images in the presentation taken from:

1. http://imdb.com/
2. http://www.freefoto.com/preview/1215-03-9?ffid=1215-03-9
3. http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lg86383-4%2Ba-streetcar-named-desire-tennessee-williams-poster.jpg
3. http://icanhascheezburger.com/