Symbolic Elements in Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams

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Symbolic Elements in Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams

The most striking feature of Tennessee Williams Summer and Smoke as performed at the Guthrie Theater was the transformation of the characters. There are several elements that reflect this transformation. These elements are set, costumes and character mannerisms, which are all symbolic. As a result of these complexities, the audience is exposed to a very deep and meaningful production. Summer and Smoke illustrates the transformation of the human mind and body through eloquent symbolic subtleties that are present through out the play.

The set is a powerful tool in the hands of it's designer. The feel of a set to the audience and the characters is an important facet of making a production successful. The choice of furniture style and décor can help the audience get a feel for the characters that are portrayed as using this furniture. A person with a rough-cut personality is usually portrayed with rough furniture. On the other hand, a softhearted character is portrayed with furniture that relays his/her softness.

In the production, the choice of furniture styles and décor in Alma's house and John's house indicate that these two characters are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Alma's furnishings consist of velvet cloth furniture, which is a soft, nurturing material, that symbolizes her child like naivete and her family's good heartedness. On the other hand, the doctor's furniture in the first half of the play, is pale yellow wood furniture. This choice seems to scream at me that the characters that are being portrayed with this particular set are inanimate and cold just like the wood. The pale yellow color in the furniture hints at the fact that a particular...

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...ner wild side was also let loose. All these changes intend to show us that she has lost all hope and gone to a more defiant and less respectable route. John, On the other hand, is now sporting a black, more conservatively cut suite. It is also painstakingly obvious that he has abandoned his renegade ways, and has now become a more responsible and respectable man.

Character transformation is evident in the Guthrie Theater's production of Summer and Smoke. The set, costumes, and character mannerisms are all symbolic elements, which reflect these transformations. If picked up and understood these symbolic elements add more depth and meaning to the production. These transformations improved the production and made it more interesting by hinting at the minute and otherwise unnoticeable subtleties in the characters and their actions.

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