Tennessee Williams and Southern Gothic Literature

Tennessee Williams was a part of many different movements including the Realist movement and the Southern Gothic movement. Perhaps the quality that made his writing unique was his relationship to the Southern Gothic Literary movement. Williams writes in Southern Gothic style through the eyes of a realist. This movement was first started in 18^th century England and then later the genre carried to authors writing about the American South. Authors from this movement tended to downplay the super natural and wrote about characters that were delusional or damaged. The southern Gothic style sought to change the typical stories from the south and focused more on the negative attitudes rather than the positive ones. Southern Gothic literature also dealt with oppression of minorities including black, women and homosexuals. Examples of this influence on Williams writing can be seen in “The Glass Menagerie”, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.

            Although the “The Glass Menagerie” was inspired by William’s sister, Rose; much of the thoughts and ideas were taken from the southern Gothic Movement. In the play, the character Laura is an example of a character that was damaged. Not only was Laura crippled but Williams hints that she had some mental conditions as well. Laura has no friends and no mate. She drops out of business school perhaps because it is too hard but maybe because she does not fit in socially. Laura collects glass animals and is involved more with the glass animals than her dreams, desires or other people. Williams doesn’t end his play like typical southern plays. The girl doesn’t fall in love with the guy at the end. There is no happy ending. Laura is left with her mother alone after her brother abandons them. Williams writes more from a realist perspective than one where there are always happy endings.

            “A Streetcar Named Desire” carried similar elements of the Southern Gothic Movement. Blanche is a proper southern Belle from Mississippi. She is a typical southern girl but she is obsessed with her upper class upbringing. Blanche doesn’t like her sister’s new husband because he is from a lower social class. Stanley, (Blanche’s brother in law) is always butting heads with Blanche. Their arguments get to the point of violence and Stanley hit his wife because he is upset over Blanche’s behavior. Stanley’s actions show the oppression that women were facing at the time. Williams also brings up homosexuality in the story. Blanche’s husband kills himself after Blanche finds out that he is gay.  Although homosexuality is accepted today, it was not decades ago. It was an embarrassment to the person and to the family. Williams uses his realist perspective to show what would happen in a situation like Blanche’s. Blanche also shatters the image of the perfect southern belle. Blanche reveals that she had a shady past with multiple men and she has a drinking problem. Toward the end, Blanche tries to stab him with a broken bottle top. Although he probably had it coming, this shows how emotionally unstable she is and follows Williams pattern of creating emotionally unstable characters.

            Williams attempts to shatter some of the stereotypes of the south with his story “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. Brothers Brick and Gooper are competing to try to get  each other cut out of their dying father’s will. Brick was always the favored son but he does not love his wife Maggie.  Gooper and his wife Mae think that they should get the whole inheritance and try desperately to win “Daddy’s” favor. Brick doesn’t love his wife, he is a homosexual, he lies and he is an alcoholic. Although Gopper is none of these things, Daddy still favors Brick and plans to give the majority of the estate to him. Maggie lies that she and Brick are pregnant. This action makes Daddy further favor Brick and his wife. Again, Williams uses the idea of the oppression of women and brings the element of homosexuality into the play.  The story is presented how it actually happened rather than how the audience would have liked the story to end.

Many literary movements define William’s writing. His realist perspective also helped him to write a fresh style of southern gothic literature. William’s writing allowed him to combine two styles of writing, which worked to his benefit. Williams is recognized as having unique style, amazing characterization and realistic plots. 

"The Glass Menagerie"

Perhaps one of Williams’ greatest works was the play “The Glass Menagerie”. Released in 1944, The Glass Menagerie became a hit almost over night. The play was released in Chicago in 1944 and then made its debut on Broadway the following year. The text for the play was also published in 1945. The play also won Williams his first New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

One reason that “The Glass Menagerie” was such a success was that is allowed the audience to see deeper into the life of Tennessee Williams. Laura, Tom and Mrs. Wingfield represented people in Williams’ own life. Although this was typical of Williams’ stories, this time it was different. The character of Tom represented Williams and Laura represented his sister, while Amanda represented his mom. Characterization is crucial to the story line of this work as well as the theme. Tom narrates the story as well as plays a character in it. He feels like he is trapped living at home and caring and providing for his sister and mother. He writes poetry and reads book on European history to provide some intellectual escape from his dead end job and depressing life. Tom feels like he has to live with his mother and his sister but he longs to leave the apartment, get a real job and start a life of his own. Laura lives with her mother still because she is crippled and she has not yet found a man to take care of her. She is supposed to be studying at Rubicam’s Business College but she has dropped out unbeknownst to her mother.

Another reason for the plays success is that Williams creates uniqueness to the play by calling it a memory play. The entire play is a recollection of Tom’s past. Because Tom is so closely identified with Williams himself the play is almost a memory directly from the mind of Williams. Not only is the entire play based off a memory but parts in the play as well. Amanda lives on the memory of her past. Recalling her days in Blue Mountain often. Laura lives of the memory of high school and the boy she had a crush on who called her Blue Roses. Memory plays a crucial role in the play as the plot unfolds.

One of the main themes of this story is the idea of escape. Everyone in life has a way to escape. It’s not always a negative escape, but all people have some way to physically or at least mentally escape from the life they live. The characters in Williams play cannot deal with reality and have to have an escape. Tom has a couple escapes. One is he goes to the movies. Tom goes to the movies almost every night just to get away from the house. He goes alone and the movies provide him an outlet for the emotional stress of living with his family. Tom also smokes and secretly thinks about the consequences of him leaving his family and creating a better life for himself. Laura’s escape is her glass menagerie of little animals. She polishes them and arranges them; they are her pride and joy in life.  Laura dropped out of college so the menagerie is really the only thing that she has left. She is living with her mother and doesn’t really have a chance for anything better in life. Amanda’s escape is her past. She is constantly talking about Blue Mountain and the day they she had 17 gentleman callers. Amanda is so upset that Laura is not as popular as she was and so she refers to her past often to escape the heartbreak. Amanda is trying to live vicariously though her daughter. Amanda is so concentrated on Laura finding a man that she retells stories of her past unrelentingly hoping that Laura will meet a man and make a life for herself. The theme of escape is ultimately shown in the end when Tom abandons his mom and sister and chases after his own dreams. Although the idea of an escape seems to be an inevitable part of life, escapes are only temporary. It will get you away from the moment for a while but eventually you have to come to terms with reality. Tom chose to run way from his reality but it was only another method of escape.

Symbolism also plays a big role in the play as well. The glass menagerie itself represents Laura. Much like the glass animals that are delicate and need to be cared for, Laura has a fragile personality and needs to have someone provide for her. More specifically, the unicorn in the glass menagerie represents Laura.  The unicorn, like Laura, is unique. Although the unicorn looks a lot like the other horses, it has a very distinct feature. Although Laura is a lot like other girls, she has characteristics that give her a unique personality. When Jim breaks the unicorn, it becomes just like all the other horses. Laura begins to feel like she is like other girls because she has a gentleman caller. Jim however, reveals that he is in love with another girl back home. Much like the glass of the unicorn, Laura’s heart is shattered when she hears this news. The fire escape is also symbolic. Tom frequently steps out on the fire escape to smoke and plot how he will eventually abandon his family. Laura also utilizes the fire escape when she realizes that she cannot escape her situation and her life. 

Williams’ main idea of the play that everyone needs an escape weather physical or mental was on that almost every person could relate to. Some people, like Laura, withdraw from their environment and enter a world that only they understand. Some people, like Amanda, dwell only on the past as an attempt to escape the reality of the present. Finally there are people like Tom. They run from reality in hopes that they can forget the life they came from even if only for a short time. Although there seems to be inevitability to escapes in life they are only temporary and a person will always have to eventually face reality. 

Tennessee Williams: Then and Now

Tennessee Williams Publications:



Williams, Tennessee. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, and Other One Act Plays. Norfolk:  New Directions, 1945.

Williams, Tennessee. Androgyne, Mon Amour. New York: New Directions, 1977.

Williams, Tennessee. American Blues. New York: New York Dramatists Play Service, 1948.

Williams, Tennessee. Baby Doll: The Script for the Film. New American Library, 1956.

Williams, Tennessee. Blue Mountain Ballads. New York: Schlimer, 1946.

Williams, Tennessee. Camino Real. Norfolk: New Directions, 1953.

Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. New American Library, 1955.

Williams, Tennessee. Clothes for a Summer Hotel: A Ghost Play. New York: New Directions, 1983.

Williams, Tennessee. Battle of Ages. Murray, Utah: 1945.

Williams, Tennessee. Dragon Counting, A Book of Plays. New York: New Directions,1970.

Williams, Tennessee. The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. New York: New Directions,1964.

Williams, Tennessee. Eight Moral Ladies Possessed. New York: New Directions, 1974.

Williams, Tennessee. Five O' Clock Angel: Letters of Tennessee Williams to Maria St. Just, 1948-1982. New York: Knopf, 1990

Williams, Tennessee. Five Plays. London: Secker & Warburg, 1962.

Williams, Tennessee. Five Young American Poets. Norfolk: New Directions, 1944.

Williams, Tennessee. The Fugitive Kind. New York: American Library, 1960.

Williams, Tennessee. Garden District. London: Secker & Warburg, 1959.

Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: New Directions, 1945.

Williams, Tennessee. Grand. New York: House of Books, 1964.

Williams, Tennessee. Hard Candy. New York: New Directions, 1959.

Williams, Tennessee. I Rise a Flame, Cried the Phoenix. Norfolk: J. Laughlin, 1951.

Williams, Tennessee. In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1969.

Williams, Tennessee. In the Winter of Cities. Norfolk: New Directions, 1956.

Williams, Tennessee. It Happened the Day the Sun Rose. Los Angeles: Sylvester and Orphanos, 1981

Williams, Tennessee. Kingdom of the Earth. New York: New Directions, 1968.

Williams, Tennessee. The Knightly Quest. New York: New Directions, 1966.

Williams, Tennessee. Letters to Donald Windham. New York: Holt, Rinehart, 1977.

Williams, Tennessee. Lord Byron's Love Letter. New York: Ricodi, 1955. (Libretto by TW).

Williams, Tennessee. A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coer. New York: New Directions, 1980.

Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Garden City: Doubleday, 1975

Williams, Tennessee. The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. New York: New Directions, 1964.

Williams, Tennessee. Moise and the World of Reason. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975.

Williams, Tennessee. The Mutilated. New York: New York Dramatists Play Service, 1967.

Williams, Tennessee. The Night of the Iguana. New York: New Directions, 1961.

Williams, Tennessee. Not About Nightingales. New York: New Directions, 1998.

Williams, Tennessee. One Arm, and Other Stories. New York: New Directions, 1967.

Williams, Tennessee. Orpheus Descending. London: Secker & Warburg, 1958.

Williams, Tennessee. A Perfect Analysis is Given by a Parrot. New York: New York Dramatists Play Service, 1958.

Williams, Tennessee. Period of Adjustment. New York: New Directions, 1960.

Williams, Tennessee. The Red Devil Battery Sign. New York: New Directions, 1988.

Williams, Tennessee. The Remarkable Rooming-House of Mme. LeMonde. New York: Albondocani Press, 1984.

Williams, Tennessee. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. London: J. Lechmann, 1950

Williams, Tennessee. The Rose Tattoo. New York: New Directions, 1951.

Williams, Tennessee. Short Stories. New York: Ballentine, 1986.

Williams, Tennessee. Small Craft Warnings. London: Secker & Warburg, 1973.

Williams, Tennessee. Something Cloudy, Something Clear. New York: New Directions, 1995.

Williams, Tennessee. Steps Must Be Gentle. New York: Targ, 1980.

Williams, Tennessee. Stopped Rocking and Other Screenplays. New York: New Directions, 1984.

Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: New Directions, 1947.

Williams, Tennessee. Suddenly Last Summer. New York: New Directions, 1958.

Williams, Tennessee. Summer and Smoke. New York: New Directions, 1948.

Williams, Tennessee. Sweet Bird of Youth. New York: New Directions, 1959.

Williams, Tennessee. Three Players of a Summer Game. London: Secker & Warburg, 1960.

Williams, Tennessee. The Two-Character Play. New York: New Directions, 1979.

Williams, Tennessee. Vieux Carre. New York: New Directions, 1979.

Williams, Tennessee. Where I Live. New York: New Directions, 1978.

Williams, Tennessee. You Touched Me! New York: S. French, 1947.

List was provided by http://www.etsu.edu/haleyd/TWbib.html (but not in MLA format)

Criticisms of Williams work:

Bjorneboe, Jens. Online Archive. 1999. 05 June 2009. <http://home.att.net/~emurer/texts/williams.htm>

The Author states that Williams has three variations of one theme. The theme is cruelty weather the cruelty to humans, from nature, or from God. Williams was also condemned for immorality and lack of faith in the goodness of mankind. Although this seems to be a negative article the author concludes saying “and like everything Tennessee Williams has written for the stage it is world-class contemporary drama”


“Tennessee Williams” American Masters 05 June 2009.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/williams_t.html>

This author spoke highly of Williams but he also spoke about his alcohol and drug problem. The author felt as though some of Williams works did not gain the popularity they deserved because at the time of publication Williams life was a mess. The author also felt that is was unfair that Williams was treated so poorly during hard times in his life especially with the death of one of Williams close friends. Through all the heartache Williams’ experiences though, the author ends with “his genius was in his honesty and in the perseverance to tell stories”. Even in the hard times of Williams’ life he was able to create masterpieces.

“Tennessee Williams 1911-1983” Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol. 30 05 June 2009
<http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/williams-tennessee-vol-30>

This talks about Williams use of his family and emotions to write character and plots of plays. This article also talks about how Williams allowed emotional currents to control his plays. As Williams advanced in his career critics felt as if he lost the “freshness” of his style. Critics felt as if he was just rewriting old plays. Critics said Williams was still “remarkable” even though his work seemed inconsistent toward the end of his life.

“Williams, Tennessee 1914” Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol. 19 05 June 2009.
<http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/williams-tennessee-vol-19>

Although Williams was a very important author of this time he was again accused of having a one-sided view of human nature. This author feels like Williams was not able to death with the horrible events that occurred later on in life and that his work suffered because of it. In Memoirs Williams even comes out and admits to his homosexuality. His work was concerned with “the conflict between illusion and reality.”

Reception to Williams works:

Williams had his first taste of fame after graduation from college. He won a $100 prize for American Blues, which allowed him to win the Rockefeller grant of $1000. A year after he received the grant Williams wrote his first full-length play A Battle of Angels. Unfortunately there was not a good response to his play. This failure however, didn’t keep Williams from continuing to write. Five short years after his failure he wrote a second play “The Glass Menagerie”. This was perhaps his most famous play. It was accepted by the public at it first performance in Chicago in no time went on Broadway. It also won the New York critics circle award. A few years after the debut of The Glass Menagerie Williams wrote his second masterpiece A Streetcar named Desire”. This work one him the Pulitzer Prize and his second New York critics Circle award.  Four year later Williams had moved to Key West and written A Rose Tattoo. This one him his first Tony award. In the same year A Streetcar Named Desire became a motion picture. Williams continued writing while his previous works gained popularity both nationally and abroad. In 1955 Williams won his second Tony Award for A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He also won Tony award and a Drama Critics’ Circle Award for The Night of the Iguana, which later became a motion picture. Audience members were very receptive to Williams plays because they provided elements of realism. Many of the characters in his plays were his own family members, people he knew and in some cases himself. He used many of his like experiences to be the plot behind his most famous works. His family struggles and issues with drugs and alcohol were also seen in his works. During the 1970 the problems seemed to become more apparent. In the bar of a Tokyo Hotel was about the authors struggle with alcoholism. Along with the alcohol problem came a feeling of worthlessness and self-doubt. Williams not longer felt that he couldn’t write. These feelings are evident his work The Two Character Play which was a failure as soon as it reached Broadway. Critics felt that Williams allowed his personal problems to effect his writing. Although this brief period of failure hit Williams hard he once pressed on. Toward the end of his life he wrote Memoirs, which showed a great depth of his personal life however the story was not well received by critics or his supporters. Overall Williams work was generally well received at the time of publication and now. Williams career had is share of failures but was overall work was brilliant. Some critics felt as though Williams’ fame as a playwright overshadowed his short stories. Other critics said that his short stories were just  “simplified and sharp versions of his plays”. Williams is recognized as one of the leading playwrights in America. Williams was known for tackling the hard issues or life and specific elements of the south and presenting them in a believable and realist way. Many times his topics and story line shocked his audience making his works unforgettable. Even though critics claim that he later work was inconsistent with his earlier works he is still recognized as a famous playwright today. 

Williams Biography

Thomas Lanier Williams was born on March 26, 1911 to Cornelius and Edwina Dakin Williams in Columbus, Mississippi. Tennessee’s home life thoroughly prepared him for a career in writing about the social outcasts in society. When he was seven years old, Williams was diagnosed with diphtheria. The disease paralyzed him for two years. His mother encouraged him to use his imagination a lot because he was so limited in what he could do. A few years later, his mother bought him a typewriter and encouraged him to write stories. His father was a traveling shoe manufacturer and was almost never home. When he was home he drank and gambled. Cornelius favored Dakin, his youngest son, which pushed Tennessee further from his brother and his father. His older sister was emotionally unstable and would most likely end up in a mental institution at some point in her life. Because of his strained relationship with his dad and older brothers, he spent most of his time with his mom and older sister. After high school, Tennessee went to college.

In 1929, Thomas set off to the University of Missouri. This experience was short lived however, because he moved back home after a year. His father was not happy that his son was aspiring to be an author. Cornelius would make Thomas work long hours at the shoe factory in hopes that he would change his son’s mind and that Thomas would pursue a career in business. Cornelius’s efforts failed. Thomas ended up in the hospital because of exhaustion and a heart condition. In 1937, Cornelius agreed to allow Thomas to go back to school. This time, Thomas chose the University of Washington. After spending some time at the University of Washington, Williams decided to transfer again to the University of Iowa to finish out his studies. It was at this university at Thomas acquired the nickname Tennessee. He published his first story under the name Tennessee Williams. Tennessee didn’t want to be remembered for his past failures and the new pen name gave him the out he was looking for.

When his dreams of joining the Writers Project of Chicago failed, Williams moved to New Orleans. He wrote the “Glass Menagerie” much of which was based on his home life. The play took off and made him a success almost overnight. Although the “Glass Menagerie” was successful many of his other plays had not yet gained popularity. During this time, Williams worked as a theatre usher, teletype operator, and a writer, to support himself. In 1943, he got a job as a scriptwriter.

In 1945, he wrote the play “A Street Car Named Desire”. The story later won the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Award. Although Williams’ career was starting to take off, he was beginning to pick up some of his father’s bad habits. He began drinking excessively. He was lonely and alcohol became his escape. His sister was permanently put into a sanitarium. Later, the drinking became so bad he had to have surgery to remove a lump that he had gotten from drinking too much. Williams feared that he would end up insane like his sister Rose.

Williams’s career began to take off. He traveled through parts of Europe and Africa and then settled down and had dual residency in Key West and New York City. Many of his plays were being turned into movies and Broadway plays. On February 24, 1983 at his New York City residence, Williams took his evening pills to help him sleep. Later that night he reached for another pill but having poor eyesight, grabbed a plastic cap instead. The cap got lodged in his throat and took his life.