Tennessee Williams Research Paper

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Tennessee Williams was originally born and given the name Thomas Lanier Williams, III. He was born on March 26, 1911, to Cornelius and Edwina Williams in Columbus, Mississippi. Tennessee was a brilliant writer, who used the characters illustrated in his writings to depict his own life and strife that daunted him. As a child, Tennessee hardly ever saw his father due to his job, which left his mother to raise him and his siblings. When Cornelius Williams was around it was not always pleasant because he was an alcoholic. In 1938, Thomas Williams moved to New Orleans, where he changed his first name to Tennessee and came to grips with his sexuality. The change in scenery and the acceptance as a gay man, gave him the elements to write “A Streetcar…show more content…
In, “An Intimate Biography” Dakin Williams and Shepherd Mead stats that, “Edwina and Cornelius were in a state of open warfare”(Mead and Williams 35). Evidently Williams parent’s relationship had a huge impact on his life because it showed up in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Stanley and Stella’s dysfunctional relationship was nothing but a mirroring image of his parent’s relationship. Tennessee writes, “There is the sound of a blow, STELLA cries out. Blanche screams and runs into the kitchen”(Williams 1430). This was an illustration, of an episode of Stanley being physically abusive to Stella. Another incident that occurred in “A Streetcar Named Desire” involved Eunice and Steve. The incident starts out “I heard about you that blonde” and ended with “Call the police, I’m going to call the police”(Williams 1437-1438). This similar incident also occurred in Williams’s person life, when his father slapped Rose. Dakin Williams and Shepherd Mead states, “When Rose complained, he slapped her. She ran out into the street in tears, crying that she was going to find a policeman to lock up her father”(Mead and Williams 36). This must have been hard for you Tennessee to see his father take this type acting. The element of rape was also another a key feature in Williams’s life and also his

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