AP+2014+Tennessee+Williams



__Audience - Sam__ Tennessee Williams, a brilliant and prolific playwright, primarily would have live viewers as an audience for his pieces of work. The main assumption that Williams could conclude about his audience is that they were average people who all have a slight taste for theater and strong desire to be entertained. Also, he could assume that a small selection of that audience would include critics. With this in mind early in his career, he crafted his plays to capture his viewers attention, in which he did successfully because, “He was awarded Drama Critic Circle Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom” (“Tennessee Williams”). A few of his plays were even adapted into movies due to his tremendous success of grasping the attention of his viewers. The reason why Williams was able to capture his audience is because his works often reflected his own life. Williams did not have an ideal upbringing due to the marriage shared between his parents, which allowed him to turn inward and focus on writing with his family conflicts as his fuel. The characters within his plays would often reflect Williams’ parents, “His mother became the model for the foolish but strong Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, while his father represented the aggressive, driving Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (“Tennessee Williams Biography”). Since Williams was capable of using his personal life as inspiration for his work, it allowed for him to breath real life into his characters. Thus, allowing for him to draw the attention of his viewing audience.

"Tennessee Williams." PBS. PBS, 8 Feb. 1999. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "Tennessee Williams Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

__Aim- Olivia__ Tennessee Williams was a playwright who moved to New Orleans, after college. New Orleans had a great impact on his writing by inspiring it ("Tennessee Lanier Williams."). One quote from Williams gives an insight into his aim behind his writing. He stated that, “When I write I don't aim to shock people, and I'm surprised when I do. But I don't think that anything that occurs in life should be omitted from art, though the artist should present it in a fashion that is artistic and not ugly. I set out to tell the truth. And sometimes the truth is shocking” (Rader). This explains that Williams aim was to show everything in life but to “present it in a fashion that is artistic and not ugly”(Rader). His plays were written to show people the “truth” of life. The reason that is work shocked people was because life is shocking. Williams aim for his writing was to show people the truth of life and if it was shocking, he did not seem to care because it was the truth.

Rader, Dotson. “Tennessee Williams, The Art of Theater No. 5." Paris Review. Paris Review, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "Tennessee Lanier Williams." 2014. The Biography Channel website. n.d Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

__ Cultural – Natalie __ Tennessee Williams had a lasting cultural impact not only during his time period, but for the future of literature and playwriting as well. Williams’s writing was deeply emotional and portrayed a lot of the inner struggles between anxiety and tranquility or anger and happiness. This type of writing was not very common for his time (the 40s and 50s), but this made his writing noticeable since it had these differing elements. The appeal that Williams’s writing had, while dark, showed that, “ He wrote with deep sympathy and expansive humor about outcasts in our society. Though his images were often violent, he was a poet of the human heart. His works, which are among the most popular plays of our time, continue to provide a rich reservoir of acting challenges,” (“Tennessee Williams”). This influence that Williams created on his culture transcended into today’s culture as well. Because of the change in playwriting that Williams initiated, the very city that so affected his writing actually ended up being affected by him. New Orleans holds an annual literature festival where, "The Festival's mission is ... to honor the creative genius of Tennessee Williams, who considered this city (New Orleans) his spiritual home," ("1987 | TWFEST"). Tennessee Williams impacted his cultural condition that ended up transcending into today's as well. Because of his influential writing, his works became a cornerstone in how plays were written and how much emotion was poured into the piece as well as how much the author inserted his or her own personal experiences into the writing as well.

"1987 | TWFEST." TWFEST. Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "Tennessee Williams." News. The New York Times, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

__Historical- Jennifer__ Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi. His early childhood he always described as being happy and joyful, however when his family moved all that changed for Williams. As soon as he moved his happy life changed into a more somber time and he turned to writing as an outlet for his new life. While Williams was writing he would often use his family an inspiration for many of his characters, “ His mother became the model for the foolish but strong Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, while his father represented the aggressive, driving Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” ( "Tennessee Williams Biography"). As Williams works started to gain in popularity they also started to receive more and more criticism. They received this criticism, “... for openly addressing taboo topics, were finding more and more detractors. Around this time, Williams’ longtime companion, Frank Merlo, died of cancer. Williams began to depend more and more on alcohol and drugs and though he continued to write, completing a book of short stories and another play, he was in a downward spiral” ( "Tennessee Williams"). Despite this downward spiral Williams was still able to create pieces of work that are still used today and are still seen as culturally important.

"Tennessee Williams." PBS. PBS, 8 Feb. 1999. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "Tennessee Williams Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.