Tennessee Williams - (1911-1983)
|
Belleville Township High School East in Belleville, Illinois
Read another essay on Tennessee Williams written by Mississippi students
Chris Brooks and Sally Dao. I. Biography A talented writer, Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams, was born on March 26, 1911, in
Columbus, Mississippi. In 1918, Williams moved to St. Louis, Missouri with his family. This included his parents Cornelius and Edwina, his brother Dakin, and his sister Rose. He
entered the University of Missouri in 1929. He was not very successful in this school so he went to Washington University in Saint Louis for a short period of time. Finally, he finished his BA in 1938 at the University of Iowa. Darryl Haley, an author who studies Williams, says, "Williams father was a salesman for a large shoe manufacturer, so he was always traveling and was hardly ever around. His
mother was a Southern Belle, and would always tell him stories about the south" (3). His mother has a big influence on his life, and is used as a character in The Glass Menagerie.
However, no one influenced him like his grandfather. His grandfather created his love for books, and this led to writing as an escape from the world.
The University of Mississippi notes that, "At the young age of sixteen Williams won his first prize for writing. He won third place and received five dollars for an essay entitled "Can a Good Wife Be a Good Sport?" in
Smart Set. It was only a year later that he published "The Vengeance of Nitocris," in Weird Tales. Besides writing, Williams also
worked for a Saint Louis shoe company. Then, in 1937 his first play Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay, was produced in Memphis. This was probably the beginning of his literary and
stage career (University of Mississippi 1). Although Williams was a homosexual and his grandfather was supportive, he hid this information from his mom (Haley 3). His homosexuality really influenced his style of
writing. Many of his plays dealt with sexual frustrations and problems with his family life. The physiological make-up of his characters is what interested him most. By the age of
thirty-four, Williams had become very successful. He died on February 24, 1983 in New York City. II. Local Connection
Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, Mississippi, but anyone can tell he was a resident of Saint Louis by reading some of his plays. For example, in The Glass Menagerie
, a play set in Saint Louis, Williams refers to Famous Barr, a common department store for the Saint Louis Area. III. Publications Williams is more well-known for his plays such as: IV. Audio An audio for The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, can be found at this site:
The Glass Menagerie (1945)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
You Touched Me! (1947)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)
The Rose Tattoo (1955)
Not About Nightingales Republished (1998)
V. Links of Related Topics
For more of Williams literary works, see this website:
VI. Sources Anderson, Robert, et al. Elements of Literature. New York: HBJ, 1993. Gateway! New Orleans. Tennessee Williams. 27 Oct. 1999.
University of Mississippi. The Mississippi Writers Page. 27 Oct. 1999
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/williams_tennessee/
This essay was submitted by students of Kimberly Richey, a teacher at Belleville High School East in Belleville, Illinois.