Tennessee Williamss Life Story
Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, originated in the memory of Williams. Williams' family embodied his father, Cornelius Williams, his mother, Edwina Dakin Williams, his sister, Rose Williams, and his younger brother, Dakin Williams. Cornelius was an alcoholic, always away from home; Tennessee and Cornelius did not have a strong relationship, "By the late 1920s, mother and father were in open warfare, and both were good combatants. He came home drunk and picked up a bill-perhaps for Tom's clothing or schoolbooks-and he'd fly into rage."(Spoto, 18). Edwina, on the other hand, revered "refinement and the good manners of Southern gentry." (Barron's Book Notes, 2). Tennessee adored Rose immensely and were close as they could be. The Glass Menagerie is based on a mother and her two children who live in a dream world away from society. Williams' play is drawn heavily upon his family life and experiences; they are very much parallel to the events that occur in Williams' life. Tom is modeled after Tennessee, an ardent poet who works in a shoe factory; Williams was passionate about writing, "He[Cornelius] saw that Tom devoted to his writing as unnatural for a boy his age... worse
New York: Crown Publishers, 1955. His mother disapproved of him writing as well as his father, "Despite Tom's being published, Cornelius persisted in his belief that his son was wasting his time and should be thinking of a more practical way of making a living. He strikes a match and crouches below the door. Amanda Wingfield mirror images Williams's mother, Edwina Dakin Williams. She not only became emotionally fragile, but self-destructive as well; Rose blamed Cornelius of trying to get her in bed which might have added to her mental deterioration. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. But even with the persisting mothers, both Laura and Rose drop out of the class because they are shy, " . Laura and Tom do not like the dismal atmosphere of the apartment, "The new apartment had only two small windows, in the front and in the rear rooms, and a fire escape blocked the smoky light from a back alley. They were struggling with life's cruel realities which they were not able to face and defeat, but instead, ran away from. Laura would rather have collected tiny glass animals rather than correlating with other people.
Common topics in this essay:
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Glass Menagerie,
Laura Tom,
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St Louis,
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streetcar named desire,
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edwina dakin williams,
barron's book notes,
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Acceptance Essays
