Tennessee Williams is widely known as one of the greatest playwrights in American history. Tennessee Williams's personal life and experiences have been the direct subject matter for his dramas. He uses his experiences and universalize them through the means of the stage. His life is utilized over and over again in the creation of his dramas. Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams, born March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, the second of Cornelius and Edwina Williams' three children. Raised predominantly by his mother, Williams had a complicated relationship with his father, a demanding salesman who preferred work instead of parenting. Because his father was a traveling salesman and was often away from home, he lived the first …show more content…
He published two articles in national magazines and wrote a collection of stories for the school paper that were so popular he was asked to continue writing them even after graduation. After Tennessee finished high school, he went to the University of Missouri to study journalism for three years until he failed ROTC. At the university he began to write more and discovered alcohol as a cure for his over-sensitive shyness. After his third year, his father forced him to leave the university and get a job in the shoe factory in St. Louis. He worked there for two years; he later classified this time as the most miserable two years of his life. He spent dreary days at the warehouse and then devoted his nights to writing poetry, plays, and short stories. After two years of working all day and writing all night, he had a nervous breakdown and went to Memphis, Tennessee, to recuperate with his grandfather, who had moved there after …show more content…
After his rest in Memphis, he returned to the university (Washington University in St. Louis), where he became associated with a writers' group. Here he wrote and had some of his earlier works produced. He later attended the State University of Iowa and wrote two long plays for a creative writing seminar. After graduation, Williams submitted plays to a competition in New York. Since the age requirement was twenty-five, he changed his birth date from 1911 to 1914, and his name to “Tennessee” Williams. He won a special $100 prize in the contest and was, from that time on, known professionally as Tennessee Williams. Williams started a lifelong habit of travelling. During this period, he realized he was homosexual. All of his attempted relationships had ended in heartbreak. Sadness, loneliness, and the search for love all became themes in his plays. In 1940 his first professionally produced play, Battle of Angels, flopped. Broke and in debt, he traveled constantly, working numerous odd jobs and living off the support of family members and kind strangers. Williams’s breakthrough hit, The Glass Menagerie, was filled with characters based on his own troubled
Theodore Samuel Williams was born on August 30th 1918 in San Diego, California. His father, a photographer, named him after the late outspoken president Teddy Roosevelt.His mother was a salvation worker of Mexican descent ("My Turn At Bat"15). His parents, who he later came to resent, were poor and constantly working
Hank Williams Jr as we know him was born Hank Randall Williams, born in small town Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 26, 1949. Hank Jr was only three when his father Hank died, but that did not stop his music dream. At just the age of 8 Hank Jr began singing his dad songs on stage. “Williams made his stage debut at the age of 8 and his first appearance at Nashville's famed Grand Ole Opry at age 11. At age 15, Williams had his first Top 5 hit on the country charts. " (http://www.biography.com/) Even though his father was gone, Hank Jr helped carry on his legacy through music. His mother being his biggest supporter, helped him along the way.
When he was fifteen years old, his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years, he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career.
Tennessee Williams was a well renowned playwright, who highlighted his personal experiences in his plays and stories. He had a colorful life and he enjoyed writing about what was considered taboo subjects in the 1940's, 1950's and the 1960's. Williams explored homosexuality, alcoholism, violence, greed and sex.
Tennessee Williams has been described as the most literary of the major dramatists and one of America's best playwrights (Bloom, p.2). He has been praised by critics for his compassionate understanding of the spiritually downtrodden (Gale Databases, p. 8). One of his most famous plays, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, has been described as his most powerful, and deals with the then taboo subject of homosexuality (Becker, p. 2).
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21,1951 in Chicago. Both of his parents were middle aged with grown children so Williams was raised as an only child. His father was a Ford Motor Company executive and his mother was a fashion model. Because his parents both had successful careers and were often absent the maid of the family raised Williams. He later explained "though he knew they loved him, they found it hard to communicate their affection. In fact, he says he began in comedy through his attempts to connect with his mother I'll make mommy laugh, and that'll be okay.' He was marked by the experience, being left with an acute fear of abandonment and a condition he describes as Love Me Syndrome'"(Wills 1). The family moved frequently because of his father's job. Moving constantly never gave Williams a chance to establish friendships. He was a larger child and often made fun of. Williams developed his quick humor as a way to defend himself from taunts and teases. Finally, Williams' father retired and the family settled down in Marion County, CA. Williams was finally able to establish a place for himself and make friends. At last he felt accepted and like he "fit in."
Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911. As a successful playwright, his career was greatly influenced by events in his life. He was noted for bringing the reader "a slice of his own life and the feel of southern culture", as his primary sources of inspiration were "the writers he grew up with, his family, and the South." The connection between his life and his work can be seen in several of his plays.
Hank Williams was arguably the most influential country music star of all time. Though his life of fame was short-lived, his legend continues to live among millions of fans. Hank was the first legendary country music singer, and he was an innovator of his time. Hank helped country music spread from the rural south to other parts of the nation. Hank was launched to fame with many songs such as “Your Cheatin Heart,” “Jambalaya,” and “Cold, Cold Heart.” The legacy of Hank Williams continues to influence country music fans worldwide.
In the study of Tennessee Willliams' plays: "Suddenly Last Summer" and "The Glass Menagerie", we can find a great deal of autobiographical connections. "The Glass Menagerie" is particularly considered the author's most biographical work. It is described by the playwright as "a memory play"; indeed, it is a memory of the author's own youth, an expression of his own life and experiences. Similarly, "Suddenly Last Summer" includes many of Tennesse Williams' real life details.
Thomas Williams lived in Clarksdale, Mississippi for several years before moving to St. Louis in 1918 at the age of seven. At age sixteen Tom had his first brush with the publishing world when he won third place for his essay "Can a Good Wife Be a Good Sport?". Besides winning third place, he also got five dollars from this National Essay Contest. In 1927, also at age sixteen, he published "The Vengeance of Nitocris." In the fall of 1929 he attended the University of Missouri to study journalism.
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the child of Laurie McLaurin and Robert Fitzgerald Williams. His mother was a former model and his father was a Ford Company Executive (Robin Williams - Biography). As a result of his parents’
Tennessee Williams was one of the greatest American dramatists of the 20th century. Most of his plays take us to the southern states and show a confused society. In his works he exposes the degeneration of human feelings and relationships. His heroes suffer from broken families and they do not find their place in the society. They tend to be lonely and afraid of much that surrounds them. Among the major themes of his plays are racism, sexism, homophobia and realistic settings filled with loneliness and pain.1 Tennessee Williams characters showed us extremes of human brutality and sexual behavior.2 One of his most popular dramas was written in 1947, and it is called A Streetcar Named Desire.
he was called horrible names because he was chubby and played alone in the families big home. Robin wanted to be accepted in school so bad that he wanted to really find a way to make the other kids like him. He didn’t care how much they liked him he just wanted them to stop the bullying. Robin realized that he was really good at making people laugh so as a way to be accepted he made the other children laugh. Finally after hard work on voice studying and trying so hard to fit in he was accepted just by making something as tiny as laughter happen. Williams graduated and attended Claremont Men's College, studying political science and playing soccer. Robin quickly realized he didn’t want to play soccer for the rest of him life so he took lessons on improvisation at Claremont. Robin was at the head of his class in improve, they said that all of his practice over the years had really paid off and he was a wonderful comedian from what they had heard. He had all the skills he needed to be a comedian.
In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams presents us with four characters whose lives seem to consist in avoiding reality more than facing it. Amanda lives her life through her children and clings to her lost youthfulness. Tom retreats into movie theaters and into his dream of joining the merchant seamen and some day becoming a published poet. Laura resorts to her Victrola and collection of glass ornaments to help sustain her world of fantasy. Finally, Jim is only able to find some relief in his glorified old memories. This essay will examine how Amanda, Tom, Laura and Jim attempt to escape from the real world through their dreams.
Jackson, Esther Merle. The Broken World of Tennessee Williams. Madison: & of Wisconsin P, 1965.