1. Tennessee Williams and The Glass Menagerie A Brief Introduction

2. Objectives Students will be informed and educated readers by understanding the author’s purpose for writing and the historical context of the play. Students will be strong readers of drama by understanding the CADS acronym for reading and writing about drama: context, action, dialogue, and staging.

3. His Life March 26, 1911- February 25, 1983 His father took a desk job in St. Louis and the family moved from a lavish home in the South to a back alley apartment in St. Louis ◦An expulsion from the a Southern Eden became a motif in his plays Died from choking from drug-related activity

4. His Legacy Received all the top theatrical awards for works of drama ◦New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award ◦Tony Award ◦Pulitzer Prize for Drama Honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom One of the most accomplished playwrights in the history of English speaking theatre Much of his recognition didn’t come until later in his career because of homophobia

5. His Plays The Glass Menagerie (1944) A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) Summer and Smoke (1948) The Rose Tattoo (1951) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) Suddenly, Last Summer (1958)

6. The Glass Menagerie Autobiographical play Reflects life during the Great Depression “…Menagerie reveals the story of family members whose lives form a triangle of quiet desperation, each struggling with an individual version of hell, while simultaneously seeking an escape from the gravity of each other’s pathologies.” (Robert Bray)

7. The Memory Play Reflection play Character experiences something profound ◦Character must relive the profound experience to make sense of it Main character also serves as the narrator The play is set during an indefinite point in the future reflecting on 1937 St Louis ◦“Dreamy” and soft lighting ◦Music playing at significant times ◦Screen shows certain images which coincide with the dialogue

8. American Nightmare Focuses on the unattainable American Dream due to socioeconomic circumstances Dreams of wealth, success, and happiness are crushed by the grim realities of the lower class existence Attempt to recapture the graceful old South cannot remain in tact in this shabby urban setting

9. Expressionism An art movement in the late 19th and early 20th century advocating that art should be a direct expression of the inner feelings of heightened emotions of an individual through distortion or exaggerated obtrusion into the “outside” reality rather than building art that tries to objectively recreate the external “real”

10. Historical Context The main events of The Glass Menagerie take place in 1937: Political Climate Franklin D. Roosevelt is the president of the U.S. Neville Chamberlain becomes the British Prime Minister. Japan invades the China (the attack that some would mark as the beginning of World War II). At Francisco Franco’s request, Adolph Hitler bombs Guernica.

11. Historical Context Social Climate Movies were a very popular form of entertainment. By 1930, 90,000,000 people attended movies weekly. Billie Holiday gains popularity for her “cool” jazz. Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture gets noticed. Worker’s unions are on the rise. New York Yankees win the World Series. Howard Johnson starts the trend of franchised restaurants. FDR states, “I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill- clad, ill-nourished.” Business activity suffers a sharp drop. The Miller-Tyding’s Act allows manufacturers to fix the resale prices of brand name merchandise.

12. Historical Context New in 1937 Supermarket shopping carts Drive-in banking Spam (the edible kind—not the irritating emails!) U.S. blood bank Antihistamines Golden Gate Bridge Nylon is patented

13. As we study the play... Pay attention to (and take good notes on) the following features of the text: Context play structure, purpose of scene Action physical movement of actors Dialogue speech of characters Staging set design, props, lighting, sound effects

14. Context How is the play organized overall? How many acts and/or scenes? Is there a natural place for an intermission or break? Do act/scene transitions indicate changes in time, place, or something else? Where in the play does this scene take place? How is it important to the play’s development? What has happened in the play before or after this scene? How does this scene develop the audience’s understanding of the characters? How does this scene develop the audience’s understanding of the theme?

15. Action What do the stage directions indicate about setting, character position, and movement? Which characters dominate the scene through their actions or position? How? How is position and movement linked to dialogue? How would an audience respond to actors’ movement in this scene?

16. Dialogue What does a character’s vocabulary or sentence construction reveal about him/her? How does the playwright differentiate between each character’s speech? Which characters dominate the scene through their speech? Are any characters mostly silent? What does this indicate? How is dialogue constructed? Is it a sequence of long speeches or short exchanges? Are there any stage directions indicating how speeches should be delivered? What are the alternative interpretations of how a line might be read? How could it change how we see a character or scene?

17. Staging What do the stage directions indicate about setting, character position, and movement? What props and set pieces are indicated by the text? Are any specific sound effects or lighting choices indicated in the scene? How do these elements contribute to the tone or mood of the scene?

18. Unit Assessment Throughout the play, there will be checks for understanding and opportunities for discussion and analysis. At the culmination, you will write an in- class essay about a passage from the play using CADS as a guide to how to read and write about drama.