A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

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A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

Thomas Lanier Williams III or better known as Tennessee Williams is the author of A Streetcar Named Desire. Along with this play he has written Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie, and The Night of the Iguana, which for all plays he won awards for. He also wrote one special play dedicated to his partner; Frank Merlo called The Rose Tattoo. His college friends, due to his Southern accent and his father's background in Tennessee gave him the name Tennessee. His origins and where he comes from is reflected in the play since it is set in a Southern state and one of the main characters Blanche is from Tennessee. When he was younger Tennessee was diagnosed with diphtheria and for two years could do almost nothing, but his mother Edwina Williams encouraged him to use his mind and imagination, and when he was thirteen she bought him a typewriter. In 1918 his family moved to St. Louis Missouri. It was there that Williams won $5 for an essay published in smart set, 'Can A Good Wife Be A Good Sport' in 1927 the age of 16. A year later he published 'The Vengeance Of Nitocris' in Weird Tales. By 1935 Williams wrote his first publicly performed play Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay! Williams was close to his sister Rose who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, her parents eventually allowed a prefrontal lobotomy in an effort to treat her. Unfortunately the operation went badly and Rose remained incapacitated for the rest of her life. This may have been a factor that led him to alcoholism, this links to Blanche who is also an alcoholic, and is believed to be based on Rose. Williams was a homosexual and this relates to A Streetcar Named Desire by the characters living in a community where everyone is accepted for what they are. Williams died at the age of 71 after choking to death on a bottle cap, and in 1989 he was inducted into the St. Louis walk of fame.
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The two sisters Blanche and Stella are from the same family background and have had the same upbringing but they are different in many ways like the way they speak and their clothing. Stella has changed ever since she got married to Stanley since he is common Stella has taken on his traits. Blanche on the other hand has been living the life of a rich person or so she makes out to her sister. Stella is more concerned with Blanche's well being than her own.

Blanche's stage directions are very lady like whereas Stella's are more ...

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