Tennessee Williams

by Philip Kolin

• ISBN13: 9780313303067
• ISBN10: 0313303061
• Format: Bound Book
• Copyright: 1998-10-28
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

The plays of Tennessee Williams are some of the greatest triumphs of the American theatre. If Williams is not the most important American playwright, he surely is one of the two or three most celebrated, rivaled only by Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. In a career that spanned almost five decades, he created an extensive canon of more than 70 plays. His contributions to the American theatre are inestimable and revolutionary. The Glass Menagerie (1945) introduced poetic realism to the American stage; A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) explored sexual and psychological issues that had never before been portrayed in American culture; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) dared to challenge the political and sexual mores of the Eisenhower era; and his plays of the 1970s are among the most innovative works produced on the American stage. But Williams was far more than a gifted and prolific playwright. He created two collections of poetry, two novels, four collections of stories, memoirs, and scores of essays. Because of his towering presence in American drama, Williams has attracted the attention of some of the most insightful scholars and critics of the twentieth century. The 1990s in particular ushered in a renaissance of Williams research, including a definitive biography, a descriptive bibliography, and numerous books and scholarly articles. This reference book synthesizes the vast body of research on Tennessee Williams and offers a performance history of his works. Under the guidance of one of the leading authorities on Williams, expert contributors have written chapters on each of Williams' works or clusters of works. Each chapter includes a discussion of the biographical context of a work or group of writings; a survey of the bibliographic history; an analysis of major critical approaches, which looks at themes, characters, symbols, and plots; a consideration of the major critical problems posed by the work; an overview of chief productions and film and television versions; a concluding interpretation; and a bibliography of secondary sources. The volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography and a comprehensive index.

Author Biography

PHILIP C. KOLIN is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His many books include Confronting Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (Greenwood, 1993), Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance (Greenwood, 1998) and The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2003).

Table of Contents

Preface	ix	(6)
PHILIP C. KOLIN
Acknowledgments	xv
PHILIP C. KOLIN
27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other One-Act Plays	1	(12)
NEAL A. LESTER
American Blues	13	(9)
NEAL A. LESTER
Battle of Angels and Orpheus Descending	22	(12)
ROBERT BRAY
The Glass Menagerie	34	(17)
THOMAS P. ADLER
A Streetcar Named Desire	51	(29)
PHILIP C. KOLIN
Summer and Smoke and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale	80	(10)
RICHARD E. KRAMER
The Rose Tattoo	90	(10)
LESLIE ATKINS DURHAM
JOHN GRONBECK-TEDESCO
Camino Real	100	(9)
JAMES FISHER
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	109	(17)
GEORGE W. CRANDELL
Suddenly Last Summer	126	(11)
MARILYN CLAIRE FORD
Sweet Bird of Youth	137	(11)
ROBERT BRAY
The Night of the Iguana	148	(10)
GEORGE W. CRANDELL
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore	158	(8)
FRANCESCA OGLESBY HITCHCOCK
Kingdom of Earth/The Seven Descents of Myrtle	166	(10)
PHILIP C. KOLIN
The Two-Character Play and Out Cry	176	(7)
LANELLE DANIEL
Small Craft Warnings, Vieux Carre, and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur	183	(11)
MARK W. ROCHA
The Red Devil Battery Sign	194	(10)
COLBY H. KULLMAN
Period of Adjustment: High Point over a Cavern: A Serious Comedy	204	(7)
CASSIE CARTER
I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoenix	211	(9)
CATHY HENDERSON
Tennessee Williams's Fiction	220	(12)
JURGEN C. WOLTER
Tennessee Williams's Poetry	232	(10)
PATRICIA GRIERSON
Tennessee Williams's Films	242	(13)
DAVID H. GOFF
Bibliography	255	(4)
Indexes	259	(20)
About the Editor and Contributors	279