A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Tenessee Williams

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams College nickname Tennessee Abusive father,mentally ill sister Ibsen’s influence International Shoe Co.-Stanley Kowalski Born 3-26-11 in Columbus , Mississippi. College nickname – state of his father’s birth Father was a drinker and gambler and was physically abusive to the family. He managed a shoe warehouse and made life miserable. His older sister Rose, is said to be model for Laura in GLASS MENAGERIE, while his overbearing mother is said to be model for Laura in same play. In 1931 – saw a production of Ibsen’s play Ghosts at University of Missouri and decided to become a playwright. Father forced him to drop out of school and work at International shoe company, where he met a friend named Stanley Kowalski.

ART MIRRORS LIFE Depression, anxiety Tragic death 1983 Williams was a known homosexual and suffered from anxiety and depression throughout this life. He lived with constant fear that he’d go insane like his sister did. He moved to New Orleans and launched his writing career. 1947 – met and fell in love with Frank Merlo –14 years as a couple until Merlo died in 1961 of lung cancer. 1983 – choked on the plastic top of his eye medication which he mistook for a sleeping pill. Depression, anxiety Tragic death 1983

STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Written in 1947 1920-1948 New Orleans streetcar line from Bourbon Street to Royal Street to Desire Street. Williams wrote play from balcony, listening to streetcars below.

BOURBON STREET Located in French Quarter Mardi Gras –Bead tradition, parades, parties. Located in French Quarter Magnet for nightlife- bars, restaurants, adult clubs.

French Quarter Buildings Squeezed together, close to curb. Spanish Building regulations-firewall Made of brick, outlawed wooden roofs. Mandated water buckets – fire Realistic setting

REALISM Lower/ middle class Normative behavior Protagonist within normal societal institutions Socially oriented- not loners Economic, social, political orientation Familiar, documentable settings Continuously integrated plot-unfolds naturally. Emphasis on daily life. Everyday speech- vernacular.

Williams’s Stage Craft Stage directions Props – support character development and themes. Lighting – Illusion vs. reality Music

Main Characters Stanley Kowalski Blanche DuBois Stella Kowalski Stanley – Common working man, travels for job at factory, depicted as animalistic brute, raw human nature Blanche – Stella’s sister, fading southern belle, lost in fantasy world of illusion, cannot face reality. Stella – Stanley’s wife – sexually obsessed with Stanley and tolerates his abuse despite her aristocratic upbringing. Mitch – Stanley’s best friend, falls for Blanche until he finds out truth about her. Steve and Eunice – foils for Stanley and Stella, constantly fighting and making up. Landlords located above Stanley and Stella’s apartment. Production code insisted that Stanley be punished for the rape by having his Stella leave him. Others: Harold “Mitch” Richmond Steve & Eunice Hubbel 1951 Film -forced to change ending

THEMES TO PONDER LONELINESS SEXUALITY CLASH OF CULTURES ILLUSION VS. REALITY DEPENDENCE ON MEN