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II. The Playwright and the Play
2.1 The Playwright
Tennessee Williams (Tennessee Williams, 1911 ~ 1983) is one of the universally acknowledged America's most outstanding dramatists. He also became American shining star in the drama sphere at the early postwar period and theatre heavy hitter in the 20th century.
Tennessee Williams was born in a messy and cluttered home. The environment in such home inspired him to put pen to paper and create a great work of literature. His father was a running shoe salesman, who abused the children increasingly when the children were growing up. His mother was a descendant of the American south upper-class family. His brother Dakin was cared more by his father.
Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus (his grandfather's home). The whole family moved to Clark Dell in Mississippi when he was three years old. He was diagnosed with diphtheria at the age of seven, which made him almost can do nothing after two years. However, his mother did not allow him to waste time but encourage him to use his imagination and gave him a typewriter when he was thirteen years old. The whole family moved to Saint Louis in Missouri in 1918. Williams won the third in prose literary and $5 dollars in the Smart Set magazines at the age of 16. Williams gained the nickname Tennessee from other members because he spoke southern accent when he joined ATO fraternity in college in the early 30s. Williams wrote his first public performed play called Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay! In 1937, he moved to the city New Orleans France and worked in the organization named Work Progress Administration (WPA, an institution creating job for unemployed at that time). A Streetcar Named Desire was finished in1947 when he was living in 632 at a street named Saint Peter.
Williams’ sister Rose was closed with him and he also influenced deeply by her. Rose was a thin and beautiful woman who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent most of her time in psychiatric nursing homes. She became more and more paranoid after her therapies were not successful several times. Her parents finally agreed to the surgery named Prefrontal lobotomy. But the situation worse after the surgeon performed the operation in Washington D.C. in 1942. Rose had to spend the rest of her life under the condition of disabilities, which is a great blow to Williams so that he would never forgive his parents for agreeing to the operation. It could also be one of the factors made him drinking in the future. Many female characters appeared paranoid were affected by Rose in Williams' plays. What’s more, Tennessee Williams himself was a gay, which gave him motive to create the play A Streetcar Named Desire. He admired Chekhov when he was young and liked poetry very much so that his plays were often full of poetic, and used the expressionism. He often used the stage design like scenery, lighting, music and clothing to enhance the artistic effect.
2.2 The Play
The play A Streetcar Named Desire was one of the representative works of American playwright Tennessee Williams. This play is one of the most famous works in the United States as well as in the world and won a Pulitzer Prize. The film version is more popular in the world and made a great actor Marlon Brando and a great actress Vivien Leigh. This drama also won many prizes including the best Oscar actress prize in the United States after it being adapted into a film.
Tennessee Williams’ representative work A Streetcar Named Desire is about a story of a lady Blanche who took a streetcar to the southeastern New Orleans of the USA to sought refuge with her sister Stella and stayed in her sister's domicile in the early 50's. She couldn’t burden the past experience, and eventually was sent to an asylum under the blow of Stanley. The author used Blanche’s staying and leaving for axis to protrude an inevitable tragedy.
This drama told a southern belle Blanche was relieved her post of a teacher because of her inappropriate behavior. She came to New Orleans and sought refuge with her sister Stella and stayed in her sister's domicile. Her Younger sister's house was in a dirty apartment and her sister’s husband Stanley was a white immigrant who was rude and reckless, drinking and gambling. Because Blanche was spoiled as a child and educated by the old south culture, so she was somewhat neurotic and didn't think that Stanley was an educated person. However, Stanley didn’t like Blanche’s delicate and sensitive characters but thought she would bring down his own wife and even threat his status as a home owner, which made him always insult Blanche. The tragedy of Blanche unfolded gradually in such an environment. Blanche and Stanley had no affection to each other at the first meeting. Stanley thought Blanche was untrustworthy and devoured his wife’s property. Blanche says Stanley was a rude boy without any education. Stanley’s colleague Mickey was kind and friendly because he liked Blanche When Blanche and Mickey met for the first time. But Stanley discovered the secrets that Blanche was not so pure and told the secret to Mickey who had fallen in love with Blanche. Mickey abandoned Blanche because he felt he was deceived by Blanche. Stanley raped Blanche under the stimulation of alcohol when Blanche’s Sister Stella was pregnant and was sent to the hospital. Blanche was mad and finally was sent to the asylum.